1999 Acura Integra Gs-R
Koni Yellows + 400/500 Ground Controls


After ten years, I thought it was a good time to replace the bushings on the car. In searching Honda-tech, it was obvious the Energy Suspension and other urethane-type bushings would fail very quickly, so I opted for the harder than OEM durometer rubber Hardrace complete suspension bushing set (and I’m trusting they are…as I’ve found no published testing data to prove these are). I understand these may be “Megan Racing” bushings (www.importgenius.com) and PIC Performance sells a similar set. I chose to largely avoid spherical bushings because of the question of longevity on a car that sees some daily use. I feel getting 90% out of bushings that last ~5-10 years is better than 100% out of sphericals that perhaps last 1 year.

My initial impression of the package was positive. I had heard of a couple mislabeled sets going out with the wrong size pieces, so make sure yours match up. The steel used is very cheap, so after pressing I coated all the ends with a little paint (Rustoleum enamel if you’re interested…). I’ve learned a clean car is easier to diagnose, so many rusted parts got simple greened (be careful with this on anything aluminum), spray bombed with marine-grade primer, and then painted. I had aluminum colored paint handy, so everything came out shiny (no one but me will see it, and it actually reflects light into the engine bay to make it easier to work on, woohoo!).

On to the install…

The install involved the use of a Harbor Freight 20-ton floor press. At one point, I managed to (exceed the limit) slightly bend the press, so I think it’s safe to say anything lighter-duty would not work. I make a point of hosing down the undercarriage of the car during the winter, so there was minimal rust (you may wish to precoat with PB).

Having gone through this process, I have the following install notes:


Front Upper:
I prefer the factory Honda units because of their clearance and the quality of their balljoint. I do not recommend aftermarket (be it Ingalls, Skunk2, etc), but installed the Hardrace bushings with ease. In terms of installing on the car, leave the bolts loose, lower the car and mark where the horizontal center line of the hub is on the fender (do this before the install if you’re smart!). When you torque these down, use a jack and lift the whole suspension assembly up to this center line so you properly clock the bushings.

Front Lower:
Three of these went very easily, the last one crushed two sockets and had to be hacksawed out. It worked best to push the rubber with a socket and then hacksaw two slits and chisel out the ring. The Hardrace units run about $150 on eBay, and I recommend these if you don’t have a few hours to risk, though I can’t speak for the quality of the metal used on them (may be very porous and weak!). The compliance bushing looks nice, though the welds and steel on it look a little cheaper than Honda (it was already rusting so it too, found a little paint). Time will tell. Like the front upper, tighten with the car on the ground so you don’t tear these (my OEM ones were ripped from doing this wrong years ago).


Rear Upper:
Unless you maintain perfectly square pressure on these, they’ll bend. Ask me how I know. Ended up buying the Hardrace adjustable ones so I can do camber too (nice on a lowered car). The clocking of these is a big issue and one I haven’t fully sorted out.


Rear Leading (aka Toe adjustment):
I would soak this area in PB before attempting. After seeing nightmare stories of people ruining the welded nut in the subframe, you might just want to avoid the area (lol). In all seriousness, I feel these links are just as weak as the Rear Upper arms, and recommend buying the Hardrace adjustable units.


Rear Trailing Arm Bushing (“RTA”):
I debated which unit to run for this. Similar to the front, these need to be properly aligned or “clocked” and this adjustment varies when you lower a car, causing the OEM RTA’s to tear even earlier unless you press them out when lowering your car. While my car is daily driven, I opted for the PCI Spherical (in JDM-speak “pillowball,” which is a horrible translation that’s stuck!) units. These are sold through Kiwi @ SMS Products. I feel these are the best choice because you can hammer out the old ones (inside to out is recommended) and simply bolt these in place without having to heavily clock. Note they are also user-serviceable, so you can replace wear parts without having to buy whole new units. Fun fact of the day: the bushing diameter is roughly the same as an oil filter!


Rear LCA’s:
In running a Integra TypeR LCA’s, the Hardrace kit did not include the correct bushings. I have not figured out what I’ve do with these. I may buy Gs-R Koni’s and run Gs-R LCA’s. Note most aftermarket LCA’s put the swaybar hole in the center (not along the Top like factory) and should be avoided. Of the aftermarket units, I like the Function 7 the most because they uses 7075 aluminum (not 6061) and have an anti-corrosion coating. The F7’s use ES urethane inserts, but they claim to warranty them. I will probably stick with the Hardrace and buy some Gs-R Koni’s.


No pictures at the moment, but I welcome any comments or thoughts! A standard Craftsmen socket set was used for most of the pressing, with the help of a couple large sockets (~36mm) on the receiving side to allow even pressure. I did not touch the swaybar endlinks (Hardrace sells a fibre reinforced plastic set I may try but that's another forum topic!).

 

I just finished this same project on my 97 GSR this week. I ran into the same problem that you are talking about on the rear LCAs. The shock fork bushing is correct, but the inner and outer bushings were too small. I had the stock LCAs and worked with Special Projects Motorsports (who were very helpful), but we were unable to find the correct bushings after two tries.

I then went to King Motorsports for the Mugen replacements and they too would not fit my LCAs. In my research the only bushings that would be available for the stock LCA are the OEM.

In order to properly mount my ITR sway bar, and due to my track event this week,I went with the F7 rear LCAs.

 

i have installed two sets of these on my cars and enjoyed them. some people say that are not the best for daily driving cause they get sloppy way to fast. Is this jsut your track car or DD or what?

 

It's used for both, and it sees Baltimore (=****) roads, so I pray this stuff holds up. Where have you heard bad experiences?

Per my original post, I'd really like someone to analyze this and see what the compound is.

If they suck, it'll be going to Mugen...

 

Good info there. I'm going to be pissed if these get sloppy too quickly. My stock bushings are 15 yrs old, and while they are in pretty bad need of replacement, I wouldn't say there are totally sloppy. I cannot move the inner bushing sleeve with my hand on my original bushings like I've seen happen with some ES bushings after a couple of years.

As for installing, I would be using hardened black impact sockets, not regular ones.

I also just installed new rear LCA's last weekend so I have my old OEM LCA's to practice on before I decide to try it myself, or just pull off all the arms and take it to the shop where I get my alignments and have my guy there replace them in their press.

 

yep me too!

 

I'm now on week 2 or 3 with these are they are still holding well during my hour commute.

I do note that on the rear toe and camber links, the painted nuts have rusted from where I used a wrench to snug them up.

 

bumping this up, I'm 3/4 of the way through the Hardrace bushing kit install... Some of the bushings have been really tough (using a HF 20T press and various sockets/ball joint press sleeves):

Both of the rear LCA shock bolts were seized in the bushing (I'm doing a GC/Koni install at the same time so I just cut my shock fork off)
Both of the rear LCA shock bushings were seized in the control arm, had to press out the rubber and hack saw the rest out.
One of my front LCA shock bushings was seized in the control arm, had to do the same as above.

I haven't gotten to the driver's front yet, it was a really long weekend (GC/Koni, Bushings, and MFactory Roll Center Adjusters)... Worked Saturday from 10am to 6pm (got the rears done) then Sunday from 2pm to 10pm (just the passenger front done). I now remember how much I hate working on 11 year old cars... I was able to install coilovers on my old s2000 in ~1.5 hours.

Question, on the rear dogbone, how are you able to press out the bushing where it connects to the body? I don't have a socket long enough to get to it. I still have those and the RTA bushings to do (want to wait until the springs settle before clocking)

 

I'm in the middle of the same process with my 95 GS-R DD. Not a task I look forward to ever doing again. Early into the project my dad and I were burning the old bushings out, cutting the race with a newly acquired reciprocating saw, and pressing in the new bushings with the 20 ton press. We stopped doing this after cutting halfway into my front lower control arms with the overly-able reciprocating saw. Expensive mistake. Awaiting new front LCA's as we speak.

We also had problems with the rear leading arm on one side of the car. The bolt was seized to the inner race of the bearing. I ended up cutting the bolt out and then grinding the head of the bolt that was still seized to the bushing race.

Live and learn I suppose. We'll know better next time. On the plus side we went ahead and painted everything, calipers and all, and sprayed new undercoating in the wheel wells while we were at it. Hopefully the car will feel as good as I think it will when I'm done.

wupike21- For the rear upper dogbone we just set the arm on 2 metal plates that came with the press. We left a gap between the 2 so the piece that mounts to the unibody could poke through. We used a deep well impact on the other side to press the bushing in. Hope this helps, but I think you are going to need a deep socket.

 

Thanks to one and all for your help.

John [Gallagher]

 

I've done all these as well.

Remember, your propane torch is your friend.

If its stuck, heat it up.

 

Gentlemen,
As a major distributor for HARDRACE after reading these posts, I thought perhaps I should put in 10c worth.
Obviously we have all the equipment and fixtures to press in and out all the various bearings and bushings we sell, but nobody ever said it was going to be easy. Personally I hate the job, but we do it for our customers and of course we are always experimenting with our own Race Cars.
I have often wondered when recieving pricing on various products from Hardrace why there was not a huge difference in say - The cost of a set of HARDRACE OE Style Front or Rear Lower Control arms already fitted with Spherical Bearings, when compared to just buying the Bearing set on it's own? Often the difference is only $60.00 or so.
It has not taken long for us to realize that even for the Average guy fortunate enough to have access to a good press, time is money. And often the time and effort required to press these damn things in and out is just not worth it! Especially with the very good chance that you can stuff the thing up completely by bending the arm, crushing the bearing, or even worse cracking a Cast arm and not realizing that it's cracked!
Hardrace actually encourage me to sell the complete Arm, Camber Kit, Toe links or whatever rather than sell just the replacement bearing or bushing kits for these very reasons, although the bushings are not so hard to do, Some of the Spherical bearings are a little more difficult to press in without damaging them or the rubber dust seals.
We have just fitted HARDRACE Spherical Bearings througout our 25hr at Thunderhill car as well as carrying spares for every item. We did not fit any of the bearings ourselves. Every item that would have required pressing I bought the complete arm or part pre assembled. Saved us hours and hours of effort.

Worth thinking about.

Kiwi

 

Hey Jeff... If I brought oyu a set of control arms that were not from a car that you currently do, could you source the bearings and install them for a decent pricing?

 

Yes, Probably Spherical bearings are available in thousands of sizes so as long as I know the o/s diameter, the i/s diameter and the width there should be no problem.

Kiwi

 

Speaking of which, I desperately need to replace one of the bushings that I damaged during install that you sent me, Kiwi. It was a Hardrace spherical. The PCI kit was easy as pie to install with the shop press, but one of the sphericals I damaged by using heat on it. (I used heat on the arm because I thought that exerting that much force on the bushing with the press wouldn't be a good idea) I thought it was all metal, until the delrin came oozing out of the bearing race.

My bad, invoice me on paypal when you get a chance.

 

Justin,
PM me with the model and which bearing it was, Ill get it off to you I have plenty of spares.

 

dude go to sleep

 

PM'ed you a question Jeff... thank you

 

LOL - Plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead!
Getting this car ready for Thunderhill is a 24hr a day job. I just got home and forgot to go to bed!

Kiwi

 

Yes sir...*salute*

 

Would the OEM Honda replacements for the rear LCA work? 88 CRX Si has the same rear LCAs (see #25 below)

 

I haev some hardrace rcas. I accidently ripped the boot. Anyone know if theres a replacement boot?

 

Give me a call at Special Projects Motor Sports 714 998 1258 I can probably help you out.

Kiwi

 

I'm getting ready to install hardrace kit on 97 ls. I may be asking this question too early without trying to figure it out myself, but from the first look I noticed that bushings are arranged in bags in the package, but there are no part numbers to cross reference them to a component they go into. Is it pretty easy to figure out?

 

I figured them out pretty easily. Just match up the sizes. There should be a bag of 6 for the rear LCA's, a bag of 4 of which 2 have a little barbell through them (rear uppers), bag of 4 for front lowers, bag of 4 for front uppers, bag of 4 for rear compensators, and the RTA bushings and the front compliance bushings.