Ok, so i thought it was a good idea to get red energy suspension bushings kit for my eg. I didnt do much research until after i already installed them on my car. Its not completely installed onto the car yet so i didnt get a chance to test them out.
so far, i see all these bad comments about energy suspension and polyurethane bushings!!! was it a mistake? how long do they usually last?
i thought it was gonna be a good upgrade for a low budget build.

 

I have some on both of my cars and they're pretty sweet. Much better than torn old stock rubbers.

 

thank you. at least i have one good feedback.

 

lil bit better u can feel the difference on some bushings especially motor mounts

 

motor mounts are gonna have to wait till i decide to pull the motor...
anyways, i hope i feel the difference even though i never really pushed the stock bushings...well, i tried taking a wide 90 degree left turn and oversteered like crazy around 30-35 mph. then i tried violently turing wile 15-20 mph and i could hear/feel the oversteer already! maybe it was the cheap tires...

 

the motor mount bushings are hell of a difference.

 

they dont last as long as rubber bushings. also they will squeak to hell and back if not lubed properly

 

Good thing i didn't brought it as yet because i knew something wasn't right about it.

 

they work great if you install them correctly. i've been on a set of energy bushings and the motor mounts for 2+ years. no issues, no squeaks.

 

Actually, the polyurethane bushings should last MUCH longer than the rubber ones. The main difference is that poly isn't affected nearly as much as the stock rubber is by road grime, oil, all the stuff that sprays on standard suspension components. As long as they're properly installed, they're just as quiet as the stock bushings-just tighter. I bought a 12-ton hydraulic press at Harbor Freight for a little over a hundred bucks, and pressed them in/out very easily.

 

edit: the polyurethane bushings SHOULD last much longer

there i fixed your post. Look at the price of the complete poly kits. you get what you pay for maybe if they were using top end materials the kits would last MUCH longer but there is a reason everyone complains about the longevity of these things.

 

I don't think it's fair to say EVERYONE complains about the longevity of these things. I fixed your post as well. I have two cars with them with no complaints, I have several friends that have them on different cars ranging from a 1997 Mustang Cobra to a custom 1987 Fiero GT. None of them have any complaints at all, I said SHOULD last much longer, but the point was that a lot of people who complain don't always install them properly. Using a torch and a hacksaw is NOT the way to properly install them-they need to be properly pressed out, properly prepared, and greased to prevent problems. I'm not saying they're perfect, but for a decent value for the money, they're actually pretty good. Much less creaking and leaning during cornering.

 

A friend of mine has had the full energy suspension kit on his 02 Mustang GT for over 100,000 miles. He has just recently decided that they are beginning to wear out because the car isnt as tight as when they were first installed. Regardless 100,000miles on any bushing is a long time.

 

Bushings can only be pressed out in one direction. then pressed back in, in the reverse direction as most bores are tappered.

My problems with poly begin with poor engineering or the wrong application. Some bushings are poorly engineered and do not allow suspension systems to work properly and in such an application they will bind...trailing arm bushing and toe control links for 96 - 2000 civic for example.

In general, I might suspect that a lot of these poly bushings are appropriate for drag cars and not necessarily for road going fare. I have zero experience setting up a drag car, but a road course set up requires careful camber and toe curve articulation.

 

Not in my experience. I had ES polyurethane shifter bushings, which don't see NEARLY the stress and loads that suspension bushings do. Yet after only a few years they were dry-rotted and had more play than my TWELVE YEAR OLD 200K+ mile rubber bushings. I replaced them with new OEM rubber shifter bushings and shifting fell 1000x better with my short-throw shifter.

I still have ES rear sway bar bushings on my ITR sway bar with grease fittings on them. Those might last a bit longer, but when they're done I'm tossing them for OEM rubber.

Pretty sure this is not the case with Hondas. I haven't seen anything about pressing out/in bushings in a particular direction mentioned in my Helms factory repair manual.

 

I have finally installed the whole front bushings kit and onto my car.

this included: LCA bushings and shock bushings, the uppercontrol arm bushings (not ball joint, the two behind it), endlinks, shifter bushings.
While at it, i did install a stock gsr sway bar that is all rusty and should be sanded and painted but wasnt. the sway bar bushings were also junk....but no money at the moment.

since i didnt do too much reasearch, the gsr sway bar endlinks are a 90 degree angle where as the civic sway bar enlinks are staight.
i only replaced the ones contacting the LCA and for the "90 degree" i left stock and they all worn out!
you could practically pop them back out! I cant find any aftermarket endlinks for the gsr sway bars! or at least cheap ones.

since it was my first time doin these bushings job, it took me 12 overnight hours to do the left LCA!!!! no press....no power tools....ghetto style only.
I basically tried various approcaches and ended up tearing the bushing out, then hand saw the shells.
i hope that dont effect the performance and make noises because i did leave some markes inside the LCA.
for the right side, it took me about 30 minutes each bushing as i drilled the bushing between the shell and the center metal peice. then c-clamped the middled to tear it out completely, then hand saw the shells.

oh yea, i did "preload" the suspension when i tightened everything very tight.

.....now for the rear!!!

note: i hadn't had a chance to test it out yet.

 

Some Honda bushings can only be pressed in one direction - like the rear compensator arm and rear trailing arm. Others can be pressed out in either direction.

You don't have to preload urethane bushings. The material isn't bonded to either the center cartridge or outer race so there's no binding.

 

oh man! oh well, i didnt know about the non preload stuff....oh well, its only an extra min wasted.
do you know of any bushings that are only one way pressed out besides the trailing arms? i'd be helpful just to know information.

 

i feel for you. before i bought a 20 ton press from harbor freight i did a poly job on the front arms. drilled the rubber and hacksawed the shells. it's a pain and time consuming.

 

im doin the exact same procedure as you once were. i would get a 12 ton press from
harbor frieght also, but this is my dad's house and there is no room to put it were he would actually agree.

 

Patrick,

This is very true with most honda products. A 99 Si for example...rear lower control arms and toe control links...the bushing bore is a flange and the side the flange is formed on is the direction the bushing should be pressed...removal is the reverse. Very important!
It is also extremely important to make sure that when all suspension arms and links are installed they basically tightened enough to hold the components in place until the full weight of the car is on these components - and the weight isn't important, final ride height is. Only then can the final torque values be set. If the bushings are torqued while the suspension hangs down for example, the bushings will gain some spring rate when the car sits at ride height. This will cause them to wear faster, AND, if you plan to corner balance your car, you will notice a difference...the bushings will add to rebound rate.

Pretty sure this is not the case with Hondas. I haven't seen anything about pressing out/in bushings in a particular direction mentioned in my Helms factory repair manual.[/QUOTE]

 

Finally got it out for a test drive. so far only the front poly and gsr strut bar and gsr sway bar put in and i gotta say.....street driving feels the same.....
When i tried to violently turn left and right at about 30mph, no understeer! which is very good cause last time i tried that before the setup, i was understeering.
I forgot, but when i bought the car, it had cut stock springs front and rear...maybe thats why. its now replaced with stacked sleeves ebay coilover up front and stock springs in back.
I just got done preparing my car for used tokico blues with used skunk2 coilover all around. my car is on jacks all around right now with all suspension taken out.
Also at the same time im gonna do the the rear LCA bushings this weekend!!!
Also at the same time, im gonna replace the outer axle boot cause its ripped....
too bad i just ordered new outer tie rod ends and inner tie rods....i would have also dont it too, but i guess that'll have to wait for this weekend.

AND ALSO, im not dont yet for this weekend, im gona change the rear hatch window that has a windsheild wiper, for one that dont have a windshield wiper...i like it more.

AND MORE YET, i might put my brothers ebay exhaust b-pipe with a WS2 (yes, world sport 2) axle back!
.....getting a little off topic...

 

Yes, I and many others in here always tell everyone to preload rubber bushings by jacking up the suspension before tightening the bolts. It's not exactly ride height for a number of reasons, but really you can only do it right on a certain type of lift or with a pit, which 99.9999% of us do not have. Jacking up the suspension until it lifts off the jack stand (would be better done w/ swaybar disconnected) gets it close enough.

Preloading is not necessary with poly bushings, because as phunhaus mentioned the inner metal sleeve is not bonded to the bushing material like with rubber bushings.

 

thanks for the input

 

I replaced all my front bushings with the black ES poly bushings. Great upgrade for the price. The best thing about them is that if and when they do go bad, they are a hell of a lot easier to replace then rubber ones that have to be pressed in. I would recommend these to anyone (except the rear trailing arm bushing). I track my car and noticed a huge difference on the track. Much more positive feedback.