I need a part number and brand for urethane rear control arm bushings....all 6 for a rear lower control arm set on a 96-00 civic. I don't know why it's not easier to find this ****.

 

um, not that hard at all. www.energysuspensionparts.com PN 8306 Prothane rear upper and lower control arm bushings

http://www.energysuspensionparts.com....asp?prod=8306

wow $123 seriously? For POS urethane?

This is a straight up lie. Polyurethane absolutely DOES deteriorate with every day use, and MUCH faster than OEM rubber in my experience. Polyurethane binds, sometimes deforms, and sometimes even cracks, where rubber bushings always return to their original position.

Why not just go with HardRace hard rubber bushings for about $250 to replace every bushing in your entire suspension, except for upper shock mount bushings?

 

I agree with patrick, I was also planning on going to with ES, however I will likely be going to with PIC hard rubber. 232.50 with free shipping right now. (From thm)

When you compare the costs, it really does make sence to go with almost the entire car for around $100 more. Also, you wont be replacing the rubber bushings in a few years.

 

Its a drag car, never sees street time, so deterioration is not a factor. These sites are so cluttered, I get really impatient trying to decipher the terrible organization.

what about prothane, thats what i put in the front?

 

I have heard terrible things about prothane. However I personaly have no experience with prothatne products, so I really can only say what i hear. It may or may not be true.
There many people who have had great experiences with poly and just as many with bad experiences.

If you are not worried about longevity, or anything, go for the poly.

 

Track only car? Spherical, period. No point really in using poly on the street or track.

 

This^^

 

LOL, spherical LOWER CONTROL ARM bushings?

 

LOL YES WHY ARE YOU WORRIED ABOUT COMFORT ON A TRACK CAR.



Yes, spherical bushings on your track car makes 10 kinds of sense.

 

yes sir, you should get these

http://www.function7.com/products/eklca-sp

 

I have never heard of spherical bushings for the control arms. I already have control arms, so id rather just get bushings to upgrade the crap that came in them. No one ever said anything about comfort.

 

Spherical is great for track use on any bushing that controls the suspension's geometry, since they allow ZERO unintended movement. The shock bushing on those F7 EK arms are not spherical as they do not affect suspension geometry.

 

I can see where they can serve a benefit but i think that is more for Road course type stuff.

 

I will be doing a short term/long term test on poly bushing and continue to update for some solid evidence. Theres some serious haters, and theres people that love them. I have 175 miles on mine so far, no signs or any wear, ride is noticably more stiff. You feel the imperfections of the road but thats not a bad thing. Its not bouncy at all just firm. Handling is out of this world feeling! I have yet to come close to reaching the limits of my car and the best way to describe it is like an older F1 car or a shifter cart where in the turns fast enough you almost chirp around the turn. Wheel hop is impossible and transition between a launch or the turns is spot on. The best part is once you do them, its so easy to replace. No need to press out sleeves and cut or burn. If they last me a year with a good bit of racing time, well worth the $140 and time to put them in.

 

Hardrace offers spherical bearings installed into OEM LCAs. I don't know if they sell just the bearings separately. Even if they did they probably wouldn't fit into your aftermarket LCAs. I'm just saying the option is out there and has been for some time.

 

175 miles?? hahaha. Check them out after a couple of years...they're **** then.

 

Agreed. A short term test in a warm weather climate isn't really putting the bushings through their paces. The complaint with urethane is how they hold up DD over a mid- to long-term scenario.

 

And after going through the pain in the *** that it is to replace all those bushings, the last thing you want to do is install them again 4 or 5 years later.

 

Why laugh at 175 miles? Thats all that has been put on so far and for those 175 miles I have enjoyed the handling. If they last a couple years I am more than happy. It amazes me that people think performance oriented items will last as long as OEM. I also don't see the trouble with replacing them every few years. So what $140 and some time? Even if you payed someone $60 to install them and you figure 10,000 miles a year you spend $0.02 a mile driven. Cmon now thats cheap! and thats saying they will only last a year.

 

Saw an old thread yesterday in which F7 explained the use of the poly bushing for the shock mount. They said when they tried using spherical in all 3 locations, the LCA itself was free to rotate on the mounts to some extent, with unwanted vibrations at certain frequencies. Keeping the shock mount as poly eliminated that vibration, and also reduced some of the NVH into the cabin.

IMHO that's just genius. Props again to F7 for putting in that R&D instead of just slapping in the sphericals in all 3 spots and selling them.

 

It's just silly to recommend a product based on such limited use man. It's not a personal attack in any way. The performances gained from replacing the bushings with brand new OEM is probably the same or even better than going with poly and the OEM rubber will outlast any poly bushing. I've been down the Energy Suspension road and I went back to new OEM bushings.

I just bought a set of ITR style Koni Sport shocks and I am going back to OEM ITR LCAs. Why? Because the Junk2 arms on there now have turned to mush after only two and a half years of California weather. I noticed severe deformation of the bushings while installing some PCI trailing arm bearings. I'm sure that you can make the same monetary calculations for them OEM stuff and increase the time frame at least ten fold.

OEM or Spherical > Poly

 

^^ quick question, what did the PCI rta's run you??
I can't find them anywhere.

Sorry about the thread jack OP