I am in need of rear LCA's for my eg hatch and was wondering if its worth getting aftermarket LCA's. I ask because i have an opportunity to get FREE stock gsr LCA's. To my comon sense, aftermarket looks 100x's better, but what are the other advantages? Light weigh? Stronger?

 

Pretty much bling and that's it. Some cars didn't come with LCA's with sway bar mounts. It does have very little weight savings.

 

2.5- 5 lbs savings/side, pretty much bling but if u still insist on aftermarket lcas get function 7's

 

I'm learning a lot about LCA's now and it seems like Function7 or OEM are really the only ones worth getting. Function7 gives you harder bushings and easier replacement and come with a lifetime warranty. That's not the case for OEM, but the OEM bushings are of a very high quality and seem to last a good while. I need to replace my bushings now and I'm in the same boat, trying to decide between LCA's (or whether to pay a shop to press in new bushings in my case). Of course, if I had access to free GS-R LCA's that's probably what I'd get! So if you decide to get aftermarket and are going to pass up on that chance... LOL

 

thanks everyone for your awesome replys! im concidering aftermarket now because of the weigh!! thats a lot you estimated!!! but Function7's are HELLA expensive!!! im thinking ebay!

 

the weight saving isnt even much,

 

as in not even 5-7 lbs? cause 5-7 is a lot! forget carpet removal. lol

 

When you buy the LCA you're also buying bushings. Function7 bushings are the only ones worth buying; Ebay, Blox, Skunk2 -- all have terrible bushings that will only last 6-24 mo. After that you'll be either pressing in new bushings or buying new LCA's. The advantages of the F7 are 1) more reliable bushings 2) easier to replace bushings 3) lifetime warranty. I've also heard that there are some problematic design faults with the LCAs themselves on the cheaper brands, although I don't know the details. IMO if you don't want to pay the extra $100-120 for a pair of F7s, just get the free GSR LCAs. Those are perfectly good arms and the bushings are very high quality and will last a very long time.

Remember that the LCA is a critical suspension component and that the bushings are located at very high stress points.

 

Just take a dump before every time you drive the car...

Are the OEM lca's prone to 'flexing'? I know alot of cars that have this problem and thats why they are replaced (I'm originally a domestic guy).

 

Exactly! All those other companies use awful bushings in nearly every suspension part they make. They quickly get ruined around the 6 month mark (happened to me twice with my Skunk rear camber kits). It is rediculous.

Honestly all the hoopla with LCA's is kind of funny to me. With suspension arms on vehicles the most important thing is stiffness, nothing else! You want as minimal compliance as you can possibly through your suspension arms. And the wonderful shiny uber bad *** aluminum pieces they make are never going to be as stiff as the OEM steel ones. So if you wanna drive around and have some nice looking red/blue/gold/whatever color parts then by all means get some aftermarket ones (because I'll admit it they look pretty cool), but I will personally never get them. As recommended, I would go with the F7 pieces strictly based on the great history they have had with the quality of bushings they use.

 

At an absolute maximum, you save 10 lbs. If you go with anything other than function 7, you will be spending more money for less reliable parts, with less weight savings then you would get from say, taking a dump. Your carpet weighs about 25 lbs.

 

thank you everyone for your thoughts. so far this sums up; FUNCTION7 the best around performance/realiable bushings wise.
but i think im gonna get a better idea, new bushings (any recomendations? im thinking energy suspension) with the free gsr LCA.
so far, this will the a good choice because; price wise because Funcion7 too out of price range, nothing beats oem realiability, cheap LCA's are not worth it, and all i need to do is take a dump.
what do you guys think of my cheap setup?

 

Get the OEM GSR LCAs and put Prothane or ES bushings in and paint them. I painted mine silver and put black bushings in and they look pretty sweet. +1 for Honda OEM.

 

whats ES bushings? im thinking Prothane right now for the oem gsr setup (which i will probably do).
yea, my friends painted theirs gold and it looks like aftermarket!

 

Read up on the ES bushings. Lots of people complain about noise and fragility of those bushings. If stock bushings aren't good enough for you, you could check out HardRace. They make full sets for ca. $250, but you'll have to pay to press them in unless you have access to a decent hydraulic press. I don't have personal experience with any of them but I'm in the process of getting new bushings/LCAs and those were recommended to me.

 

ES= energy suspension. Their bushings are good the only ones ive heard problems with are their rta bushings. And thats pretty much because aftermarket/stiffer bushings arent needed there.

I would follow your oem plan.
1 Drive your car as it is.
2 press new bushings into teggy lca
3 swap them when the new bushings are in = no downtime for your car

 

Oh and you have oem reliability and new bushings, which sholdnt go bad for years

Paint them whatever color. Take a dump... And enjoy

 

ive decided. Yes, this is what im gonna do.
besides that i have nothing in the rear right now! its on jack stands (im doin all corner gsr brake conversion)

 

thank you everyone. i am now smarter! honda-tech guys rule.

 

and remember to tighten the lca bolts while the wheels are on the ground or lcas on jack stands so there isnt any preload on them

 

very good info coming in. these small but important things are the stuff always left out. thank you.

 

Wow there's a ton of mis-information in here..

1. Lighter weight LCA's reduce unsprung weight which if you pay attention to race cars or exotics is the number one most important area to reduce weight. The lighter they are the more quickly they allow the shock/spring to adjust to changing road conditions.

2. ES bushings are fine as long as you properly grease them I've had mine on my civic for over 6 years and no squeeks or ripped bushings.

3. The ES RTA bushings are no good becuase they do not allow for the proper movement required of the RTA and can cause binding/deflection under high loads... there are a couple companies that make acceptable RTA bushings.

4. replacing the bushings with ES is not "just" anything.. it's a huge PITA. I have access to a fully furninshed shop including a press and it took me nearly 6hrs to swap out all the bushings... it's a HUGE pain in the ***.

 

 

oh yea, and i thought i'd be funny to add another theory of mine involving aftermarket LCA's: AERODYNAMICS!!! lol

 

i know this is a very VERY old thread, but like i said, i went with stock gsr with red ES bushings (lca painted Rusoleum "Gloss Black")