So I finally got around to replacing the worn out rear struts in my EJ8. The mechanic tells me the passenger side needs new bushings and a control arm. To his credit that corner is still making a squeaking(not squealing) sound even though the new struts vastly improved the ride quality. They seem like good guys, but isn't a control arm something that simply breaks if something is bad enough? Or did I do some damage to it by driving on my very poor streets with bad shocks? Are bushings something that commonly go bad with 8-12 year old Civics, and if so can they lead to the whole UCA needing to be replaced? I'm sure it didn't help driving around every day with my Craftsman 3 ton jack/stands and an 80 lb bag of tools in the back seat lol. I thought bad ball joints were pretty much the only thing that could ruin a control arm, but I admittedly know very little about the mechanics/geometry of this stuff, so feel free to learn me

Edit: yes I searched

Cliffs: finally replace shocks, clunking/sqeaking noise still exists, mechanic tells me I need new bushings AND UCA?

 

i would say you definetly need new bushings, but no i have never heard of bushing casuing the control arm to need to be replaced. Does the control arm look damaged at all?

 

I have never heard of a control arm going bad. It may be bent from the worn out suspension.

 

I will go out and take a look tomorrow after class. Something is still definitely wrong, but I just don't know how the control arm could need to be replaced, without it breaking. Then again I have had zero suspension issues whatsoever before buying this POS, so I have no experience to speak of.

 

If the bushings have gooten severe, it mite have bent under stress but I highly doubt it...if so when you replace that sucker pst a pic of the damaged one..Id be interested in seeing what the issue was.

 

Just took off both wheels, and about to take pics.... both rear UCAs, ball joints(I think? My manual says there should be a cotter pin and castle nut, but there are just bolts on both ends?) and I'm assuming the bushing in question(up on the UCA mounting bracket, that goes in the round end of the UCA) look exactly the same to me. No visible difference, or damage, that I can see, yet the clunking/squeaking when I stop/accelerate from a dead stop, as well as go over potholes etc. still exists on that one corner?

If I buy a new OEM control arm, will I still have to have the bushing put in, or will it come ready to be bolted in place?

 

Right UCA(noisy side):





Left one:

 

I can't picture those bushings for the upper arm right now. But from that picture, they look broken. A better angle from the side will show you whether broken or not. But as for the squeaking noise. I've seen the arms that connect the Trailing Arm to the body that allow for Rear Toe adjustment cause squeaking noises. It's thrown me for a curve before because they sound like noisy rear struts. While you're at it. Might as well double check those Rear Trailing arm bushings that connect to the body because they tend to go out also.

 

Yeah, I'll take a look at everything tomorrow afternoon. The noise is particularly bad when I get the car moving/bring it to a complete stop. It's almost like a gradual sound, kind of like something is bending/metal is scraping on metal. Otherwise, if the road surface is reasonably smooth, there is no noise, only a clunk or two if there is a big bump or hole.

Does anybody know what the Honda catalog term for these are? I am not finding any kind of rear "control arm" at hondaautomotiveparts.com

 

I just call them dog bones but if you go to honda or get on their parts site- just look under theior parts fiche and you should beable to find name and oem part number

 

The lca/strut bushing is notorious for ripping apart when removing the rear shocks...that's why you needed a new bushing.

 

The service report recommends "upper control arm" and the noise hasn't increased since the service has been performed. It simply says "bushing" for the other part recommended, and I didn't get a chance to talk to the guy who called me on the phone, since he was in the garage when I picked the car up. I'm just going by his ambiguous statement on the phone and this end service report.

Are you talking about the bushing that goes horizontally where the bolt holds the strut to the LCA? I've heard about those, but unless it deteriorated while the stock strut has been planted, I would think it would be the UCA bushing, which boggles my mind because even the cheap $30 aftermarket arms apparently have the bushing in them already, along with the corresponding bracket that mounts to the body. Then again, maybe the control arm is the source of the problem, and the bushing in the bottom needs to be replaced because of the strut replacement? I don't have a clue

 

If you replace the "upper control arm" ( aka dogbone lol) you might look into aftermarket- they sell them. Its what you adjust to control rear camber. Ebay might be your friend on that one lol

 

Honestly, I think what I might do, is put the cheapest one on there I can find, and if that is the remedy, just order an OEM one from the stealership to fix it long term.

 

Hello. Your bushings on both rear upper control arms are shot. I have two good ones with good bushings in them. I will sell them both to you for $50 plus the freight from Austin Texas. Let me know, I can email pictures to you. craiger28@gmail.com

 

Well, I got around to replacing the passenger side UCA, and the bolt for the outer end snapped in half, as clean as can be at the head. I had to hold a propane torch up to the mounting bracket on the threaded side, and use vise grips to get that bitch out.

 

yea that happens from time to time, soak them babies in pb blaster or knock er' loose for a little while before you go at them again. did a 5 lug on my friends coupe and we broke almost every bolt.

 

Yeah I pretty much just sprayed everything once, let it sit for ten minutes, and went to town. After we got everything out, I immediately went and sprayed the other side, and then did it twice again in hourly intervals, and now it's raining FTMFL. I get to hurry up and make it to either the stealership, if they even have the fastener, or a hardware store tomorrow morning and get everything together before class at 11

 

i know how you feel lol, washington isnt the best place to be without a garage, thank god for mine haha, i do have a set of uppers that i think are good shape ill check if your interested, would be the heck out ebay and not paying threw the *** for new if thats not the issue.
i do even have a bag of bolts that are all oem if you need some.....

 

Oh man I have been there to...it sucks! Thats it HT bbq and tinker day- we'll get you rollin, No question! lol

 

lol thanks for the hospitality, but I got it together this morning, just had to go to the hardware store to find the right size bolts, and it took 10-15 minutes to get it installed. I went down the perilous stretch of road near my house, and not a sound was heard from the suspension

lol that body-side bushing was so bad that when I sawed the bolt at the inside of the mounting bracket and yanked the UCA out, the rod that mounts to the body with two holes completely fell out The area that contact occurred was shiny and smooth, but I can't believe there hasn't been any structural damage to the arm or rod so far, especially since they aren't OEM. I hope this car isn't a lemon

 

no problem, damn thats all bad... Glad you got it all fixed, mine has suprised me a few times.
hit a jeep at 35 and everyone was saying no way its fixible the frame has to be bent, and it wasnt

to honda haha

 

lol a friend rear ended a truck with a tow hitch on it in his old DA. After using one of those gear style frame straighteners it was good to go lol.

 

Nice. I got around to replacing the driver side UCA, and now the bushing is seized in place. I can't get the bolt out, even though I can get the threaded end out of the trailing arm or whatever it is. I'm getting so sick and tired of this constant bullshit, now I have to go to the hardware store to replace the saw blade that I destroyed last week to get the other bolt out, and sit and saw this bitch apart and miss the first half of the baseball game

 

damn, psh **** the car, whatch the game drink some beers then saw that thing apart.