Hopefully, most people know what clocking bushings means. It is the act of tightening bushing bolts down at ride height to prevent them from tearing. It should be done when suspension work is performed, and/or when new ride heights are introduced.

Currently, I see procedures that involve jacking the car up off a jack stand using a LCA. There are several issues with this method:

-You're not getting a true ride height clocking. The suspension is usually overloaded or underloaded.

-Its dangerous to have the car teetering like that whilst you put your body under the fender to tighten (crank on) bolts.

-You can damage the LCA or bend the rotor dust shield.

My way is safer, easier, and more accurate (It only works with height adjustable suspensions). A rear suspension on a 00 Integra Type R is shown. But the principles are the same for most cars.

1.) Turn the coilover down all the way. Or way lower than you plan on ever coming close to.


2.) Install the coilover as you would normally. For any bolts that you reinstall...leave them loose.


3.) Make sure all the bolts that need to be clocked (circled in red if you have a older civic/integra) are fastened finger tight or LOOSELY so that the bushings can turn. Civics/integras also have toe control arm bolts that should be loosened (not shown).



4.) Put a wheel on. Two lugnuts will do.


5.) Jack up on the LCA.



6.) Keep going until the wheel ends up at your desired "ride height". Since the coilover is fully collapsed from step 1, the LCA will go up freely and accurately to your desired "ride height" position. The car is still on all 4 stands.

7.) Measure this distance and write it down. You'll use it later.


8.) Remove the wheel. LEAVE THE JACK at its current position. Tighten/torque the bolts from step 3.


9.) Now lower the jack. Then turn the coilover back up. Keep turning until you can "best guess" that it will be at the right ride height. A guess is fine at this point.



10.) Repeat all steps above for the 3 other corners. Put the wheels back on...and put the car down on flat ground. Adjust the coilovers as needed to get to your ride heights you measured in step 7.


Done.


Again, this was done on a 00 integra. But is repeatable on other cars. Find out which bolts you need to loosen to clock for your own car beforehand, if you plan on doing this.

Hope yall find it helpful.

Mods please move this if its in the wrong forum/area.

 

How is the shock bushing clocked when you tighten the bolts with the coilover perch set at a lower ride height? The load on the shock would be different depending on the set height.

 

I'm not sure what you mean.

The reason for fully lowering the coilover is so that the LCA goes up freely. You stop jacking the LCA when you reach your intended "ride height". You're not jacking the LCA up until the spring is active...that would defeat the purpose of doing it my way. Check out steps 6 thru 9.

Bushings are clocked for position. Not weight.

 

Using your method, if the shock bolt is tightened with the coilover unadjusted, the bushing will not be clocked in the right position. The load against that suspension section is less than it would be with everything adjusted and on the ground. This is all in theory, as I have not tried your method to compare. I'm not seeing how your method is easier than the typical ones used. Jacking up suspension isn't tough to do in the first place. You're supposed to clock bushings after all ride height adjustments are made and with the car on the ground. That way the bushings rest at the static ride height and without being preloaded. Sometimes you can even ask the alignment shop to let you adjust your bushings before they align your wheels...therefore you're already on their lift and can access everything with ease.

 

You're jacking the LCA up with either method. With my method, you are lifting the wheel upward without resistance. Thats the only difference.

The bushings are clocked to ride height position. Even with the coilover fully collapsed.

Its 100,000,000 times easier this way. AND way more accurate.

Why would the bushing become un-clocked if you set the coilover after? The bushing is clocked to your desired ride height. You then adjust the coilover to match the same ride height. Once the bolt is tightened, the clocking can't change. Otherwise....you wouldn't need to clock them at all.

In step 6...you are lifting the LCA up. Right? You jack up on it until you reach the ride height you want the car to be at. NOT until the artificially short coilover starts to contact or lift. Feel me?

In step 7, you leave the jack in THAT ride height position.

You tighten the bushings at THAT position in step 8.

When you do the final adjustment of the coilover, you adjust it to THAT height.

The bushing does not have to be loaded. It has to be in the correct POSITION. The positioning is done by lifting the LCA with the jack to a selected height. There doesn't have to be weight on the bushing. It just has to be positioned correctly.

There are a hundred advantages this way. You're not lifting the car off the jack stand and then getting under it, for one.

Lol....trust me. If followed step-by-step, this is a lot better.

 

This way seems easier than most. I've always just set all four wheels on a set of wooden pads I've made, then just slide under with a creeper and tighten everything up. That way I don't have to spend time messing with the springs.

 

Why not just set the suspension on the jack stands with the wheels off to simulate normal ride height?

You can hold the height of each jack stand constant (i.e. 1 notch up, 2 notch up, etc.) then place the stands in (roughly) the same location from side to side and as far outboard/distal as possible (closest to where the wheel is).

 

Because its much harder to do that than what is described above. And less stable. And you'd need to correctly set your coilover's initial height.

Lets say you're installing a new set of coilovers. You'd need to guess what height to put them at in order to get the bushings clocked to the correct height. Or you'd have to put wheels on, set the car down, adjust the height, then pick the car up, take the wheels off, then put it on stands again at the suspension arms in the furthest spot from the body (good luck). Then clock.

Why would you do all that? This way has no guessing related to clock angles. You jack up the LCA until you get the wheel sitting where you want it. You don't have to compress the spring to clock your bushings. That's an advantage.

Way less steps. And more accuracy. You want a "1 finger gap"? Sure. Jack up the LCA WITHOUT RESISTANCE to your "1 finger gap". Tighen bushings. Raise the coilover to a guess (this is the only time you're guessing...and its non consequential). Then set the coilover to your 1 finger gap after putting the car down.

Why does everyone want to fight the springs? There are quite a few disadvantages and no advantages to doing that.

 

You also don't get the same weight on each corner because you cannot put the jack stand on the lug nuts, they are not meant to hold the weight.

 

Do it my way instead...

Tighten the bolts so they're just snug then set ramps on the skirt of a driveway and drive the car up on the ramps. Assuming the skirt is of average pitch your car is now level AND you can get under it to tighten everything down.

 

Yes. But you have to have ramps.

It also poses the same issue as trying to clock bushings on a drive-on lift:

-If your car has bolts that sit inside the wheel barrel or are obscured by the wheel.

So...if you have an accord, TSX, S2000, 8G+ civic, etc, you're boned. Also...integra/EG/EF front UCA bolts. And integra/civic rear LCA-to-trailing arm bolts. These bolts aren't impossible to get to...but are much harder to get to with wheels on.

I guess I should have mentioned that I've tried every percieveable type of way to clock bushings in order to make the claim that my way, as described, is easier/more accurate/safer than the rest. Hopefully nobody takes that comment to mean anything other than what it does.

The next easiest way is with a lift and hub mounted jack stands.

My way requires tools that any ******* has laying around.

 

Good point, I'm only thinking of an Integra. Only reason I suggested blocks because we know that not everyone is capable of using a tape measure, as silly as that sounds.

 

LOL. This is true. Tape measures can somewhat be considered special tools.

What about the "2 finger" or "1 finger" method?

Or cut a piece of cardboard as a go/no-go gauge.