i have a 92 honda civic dx. about 195k on it. Runs fine. I m assuming it is all the original suspension. although i have changed the lower ball joints.

Front tires have been chewed through and i need new tires/alignment. Before i got this done i was thinking i minus well do some suspension work. I was thinking of replacing both inner and outer tie rods and upper ball joints/arms in the front. The back i was going to change compensator arms, trailing arm bushing, upper control arms, and lower control arms. I am expecting my lower control arm bolts to be frozen. I will have an extra set of honda bolts on hand, as well as heat.

This car is my daily driver and i do fear unforeseen froozen/snapped bolts. I hear just about any bolt in the suspension can be frozen.

The car has 195k, and no major rust on body panels. Engine and trans seem strong still. Has been maintained; timing belts, clutch, all fluids, etc.. So my main question is, is it going to be worth putting money into the car? i imagine if i went with moog parts, picked up a couple tools i ll need (ex. trailing arm bushing extractor, crows foot to get inners out etc) it ll be a 750$+ job total. I also think the shocks/struts need to be changed as well, but i think i can go one more year on these struts. Any advice on this? Is it worth dropping the money?

 

Why are you talking about replacing parts that haven't failed? Or have you done tests that you haven't told us about? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

well i think the tire rods are shot. although i do not have wiggle on the tire at 3 and 9 oclock, the tie rod ball joint is just really loose if you play with it. Would rather have something new and stiff and i need an alignment i should get this done. Upper ball joints are in fair shape. but 20 years old with 200k miles on them, boots are a bit dry and have light cracks on them. These are an easy change.

as for the rear suspension. No doubt the trailing arm bushings need to go. As for the rest of the rear suspension, most of the rubber bushings have some cracks in them. But not really "bad" or failed per say. Maybe i should just replace the front tie rods, upper ball joints, rear trailing arm bushings and call it a day?

i just feel like while i m in there i minus well try to replace all the other suspension parts cause i m in there, get the frozen bolts out, put new ones in and slather them in anti-seize and call it a day. if i replaced all the other suspension parts/bolts i would have a peice of mind knowing the bolts/parts were new/covered in anti seize. but again this goes against the if it aint broke dont fix it.

 

Before you go replacing the entire arms, take a look at the Hardrace bushing kit. I think it comes in right around ~$300, but it's literally damn near every bushing under the damn thing.

If your worried about frozen bolts, a few weeks before you do the work spray some good penetrating oil on ALL the bolts. AreoKroil is the ****. Repeat that a few times and it should definitely help you out.

Impacts are your friend here. Quick bursts, don't just grab and hold. Less likely to snap stuff.

 

rockauto.com is your friend here, to get that total down