I have a 1990 Civic wagon.

Due to a number of extenuating circumstances I was left with little choice but to run a poly rear trailing arm bushings (will be referred to as "RTA" bushing from here on out) because the stock fixed rubber ones would not line up.

Click HERE for info on why I went the poly RTA bushing route.

Anyways I've never liked the idea of poly RTAs but here's what I've got:



So basically I have done some suspension work and realigned my 1990 Civic wagon, and since the repairs the back end feels very vague. When wrenching the steering wheel back and forth quickly it literally feels like the back end is lagging behind the front end, as if there is a lot of body roll/lag back in the rear of the vehicle. My 2005 Element feels more stable when steering quickly.

So I'll give you guys the before and after set-up to see what your thoughts are.

Before:

Eibach Pro Street S full coil-overs for EF sedan/hatchback
DA Integra front sway bar
Front camber -1.7; toe was 0
Rear camber -2.2; toe was 0 (dead center stock spec is .08)
Stock RTA bushings (hard to tell how long they were ripped)

After - everything the same except for:

Rear camber set to -1.0 using longer grade 10 upper control arms bolts + shims
Rear toe set to dead center stock specs of .08 degrees
SPC rear toe links (stocks would not allow toe to be in spec after such large amounts of camber correction/taking negative camber away by 1.2 degrees)
Poly RTA bushings without fixed mounting ears

I have owned a few EFs before, and also currently have an EH2 with a very similiar alignment set up. None of my former cars, nor the numerous customers' cars I've aligned and camber corrected drive like my wagon. I'm worried that perhaps the trailing arms are actually moving laterally when I steer sharply. I feel as if in the event I needed to swerve hard to avoid something the back end might keep swaying and allow me/force me to lose control. It's a hard to descibe, uneasy feeling from the back end.

So what do you guys think?

I'm leaning towards going back with a stock design rubber RTA bushing with fixed mounting ears like so:



The only problem is that the fixed design will definitely be tweaked hard due to the large change in trailing arm angle since the camber correction has forced me to shorten up the toe arm a lot in order to achieve the dead center .08 rear toe specs I've got.

I have only widened the rear track by setting the camber out to only -1.0 degrees. I cannot tell if the change in overall geometry is the biggest offender, or if the poly RTAs are binding, of if the poly non-fixed mounting ear design is allowing for radical lateral movement of my trailing arms, etc. are making the back end feel so wishy washy.

Thoughts?

 

i think youve just proven wagons arent meant to be lowered.

 

I'm curious. Since the rear camber was addressed by moving the rear UCA pivot point out (and widening the tack width), what do the rear camber and toe curves look like now?

 

What LCAs are you using? It seems so strange that you have so many problems with it.

You could look into the PCI spherical joints. They allow all the movement you need and have sliding joints. Or maybe you can try pressing the oem bushing in at different depths to help the holes line up and put less stress on the bushing. Not sure if that's possible/ safe or how much leeway you have. Might be possible though since the part holding the bushing is much narrower than the bushing itself.