ok, while im driving my 2002 ex on a smooth road, its fine. sometimes i will hit a bump or while im turning and hit a bump will make a really loud pop. its not continues like a u-joint, if i go up a drive way at a angle it pops. any time i really move the susp while turning, it will pop. ive been looking under the car, i dont see anything wrong. axles look good, motor mounts look fine. steering look great...??? can it be the u joints? anybody else have this prob? please any help would be great! thanks

 

did u lower ur car?

 

Sounds like my friend, he just put in a cheap set of coilovers on stock shocks and when he angles out of a drive way or anything, there'll be a popping noise.

 

i no there was a problem with the steering rack on our model...just a lil noise you get on bad roads

 

If you havent recently lowered your car then maybe your ball joints or tie rods have worn out and have some play. Best to get it checked or remove your front wheels and have a look around.

we do not have "u joints" on our civics

 

sway bar links?

 

It's the front control arm compliance bushing. I just did this.

 

no the car is not lowered, but i belive it is the lower cont bushings, they say the 02 had this prob. im going to check it out, ill let u know. thanks

 

simialr to mine.. but i dont have a right upper mount on my coils.. mine only creaks at low speeds

 

this happened to me... honda replaced the whole front suspension for free

they said that 01-03 models where made with bad shock, struts, bushings, knuckles, and all that jazz. take it in and have them replace it but idk if they will do it for free. they told me 3 grand.. the manager is a buddy of mine so he helped me out

 

Here's what bad bushings will look like:



Good bushing:

 

is this something fairly easy to diy or do you have to bring it into a mechanic to get pressed in?

 

I just bought new control arms with new bushings already installed and swapped them out myself. Yes it's more expensive that way, but I got to skip a step. If I had a press at home (and possibly more paitence and time) I would have just put new bushings in my old arms. Yes it's more expensive that way, but I got to skip a step.

It took me about 6 hours total, not including studying how to get to the right side rear bolt and running to the dealership to replace the anti-roll bar link I had to cut off because of corrosion.

 

Its a midget with a hammer

 

I've noticed something new about these lately. When those bushings go out, they not only knock but cause the effected front wheel to shimmy back and forth. For instance, I would diagnose it on the floor by jouncing the vehicle and watching the front wheels. You'll sometimes notice that it moves back and forth while the vehicle is still parked. I then just raise it up to confirm the torn bushings. You can usually press these bushings out, but I don't because it's much easier for me to just replace the arm. No point in taking any chances when it's not my car. For all I know, it could've rusted on there and I might just end bending the arm instead. It's a little different when rust is involved.

Hell, I've even had times where I had to cut the front bolts off because the bolts seize to the bushing and it's already completely torn off it's sleeve. Now that's a headache that I don't know how anyone would deal with at home. So what I usually do is make sure the darn bolts even spin free before quoting anything.