I'm trying to bring my '96 Accord sedan with 235k miles on it back into good working order. This car has been my daily driver since about 2001. I would love to bring her back to as close to a new car feel as I can, and I'm wondering what work needs to be done on the suspension - as far as arms and bushings? What is most important/necessary to do? And then, whose parts can you recommend - OEM or a particular aftermarket brand? I want this car as my daily ride and I'm not looking for any sport feel or track feel. I just want it to ride like a new car. I want to do all the work myself, and I don't want to spend a fortune - ie, I don't want to spend more on parts then the car will ever be worth at this point. As far as I know (and I'd pretty much know), all is original on the car. It rides pretty rough at this point, feeling every bump I drive over with some squeaking and bounciness. And something major is "off" in the suspension. For a few years now the steering wheel has been about 10 degrees off center to the right, and if I take my hands off the wheel the car will pull to the left pretty sharply. A few years ago I got new tires and alignment and hoped that would take care of the steering wheel and pulling problem, but when I picked up the car the wheel was still off. I asked the guy about the alignment and he said the car is aligned fine and showed me the readout. So something besides the alignment is off that is causing the feel of a bad alignment. Which is probably understandable in a car this old, right? Also, both front tires have serious inner and outer edge wear. What failure is that indicative of?

Strut assemblies in the front both look bad, covered in oily road grime. Backs don't seem too bad, at least no noticeable visual signs. The springs all seem fine as the corners are all the same height?? Regardless, I'm planning on replacing all four corners with new complete strut assemblies. What else should I focus on? And should I replace entire arms, or just the bushings in the components you all deem necessary? If not OEM, who's parts do you recommend? Or different brands for bushings vs. bars vs. ball joints? What work on the rear to go along with the front?

To tell you where my head's at, after the research I've been doing, in addition to the four strut assemblies, I'd be inclined to replace front UCAs, replace front lower ball joints, replace tie rods (those boots look shot), replace control arm bushings. I'm really confused as to whether or not to replace the LCA bushings, and what to do on the rear, besides replacing the rear Upper Arms? Does that sound like too much? Too few? More bushings necessary? Replace more complete arms with bushings? Do I need to worry about radius rod? Or trailing arm? From what I've read on here and elsewhere, I'm thinking I'd stay away from poly bushings and stick to hard rubber - make sense? Is there a kit that would easily and efficiently take care of the main trouble spots? I've seen on amazon DLZ kits or Detroit Axel kits? Are those junk, or worth considering? Any brands you'd recommend?

Whatever it is, I'd appreciate the input. Hoping for some consensus from the community. Thanks in advance!

 

With that mileage, pretty much everything that is original will need replacing. It makes alot more sense and install time to buy control arms as opposed to ball joints, except for the lower ball joint that sits in the knuckle. Pretty much anything that's old and cracked will need replacing.

Your shocks and springs isolators need to be replaced without question. That's what is giving such a poor ride; no damping force. Sway bar end links, sway bar frame busings, outer tie rods will need replacing as well.

Brands quality come and go. You can spend hours reading on what's good and not, I know I have. Some will say x brand is **** and others swear by that same brand. It really comes down to what's available at your local parts store or what you want to order online. I've used Moog, Dorman and mevotech over the years without issues. Replaced my shocks with kyb with no issues for almost 3 years.
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You can go to the alignment shop and ask them to straighten the steering wheel. Most don't unless you ask them too. It should be at no cost.

If your not installing these parts yourself, you would be better off to buy all the parts at once and get a shop that will install your parts after hours or over the course of how many days it will take. Alot of shops won't install customer parts these days, and the parts they will order from a store will cost more than sourcing them yourself online. Comes down to how much you're ready to spend because the labour will be alot for that much work.

 

Whatever shop did your alignment before, never let them touch your vehicle again. Anyone that does not have the pride in their work to make sure a steering wheel is tracked straight after an alignment is not someone you want to trust with your vehicle. When I did alignments, that was the #1 thing we checked for. And sometimes it was a pain to get the wheel straight but I never worked for anyone that would let a car go out with a crooked wheel. It can be time consuming to straighten the wheel, but well worth it.
Onto your current state...you can buy complete suspension kits on ebay, but I don't really know about the quality of the parts. Honestly, the biggest issue I personally have seen with cheap suspension parts is dust boots on ball joints and tie rods. Cheaper joints have junk boots that don't last. I had an old pickup years ago. I replaced both lower ball joints. 1 was a Moog, and the Parts Plus I was shopping at only had the 1 in Moog and I really wanted the truck back together, so I bought a house brand joint for the other side. Within a year the house brand boot was cracked and split open, which pretty much puts a death sentence on the joint. For a car of the age, it might be worth the gamble to buy one of those kits and give it a go. Something to consider might be a set of quick struts from Monroe. That all depends on whether or not you are comfortable changing just the strut cartridges and disassembling the assemblies.
The strut rods have a bushing on the front where the mount to the sub frame of the car, but that is all that would need to be serviced with them.
Good luck and ask any more questions!

 

Thanks guys. I appreciate the input.

I was figuring on complete strut assemblies because I've read messing with the springs can be very dangerous. And the springs are 20 years old as well, so why not get the complete system? I was looking at the KYBs after reading some forum input.

Northernlightz - do you recommend complete parts instead of just bushings because you think the arms could be bad? Or just to save time and energy? I don't have a press, but I've read enough how-to's and watched enough youtube that I was willing to give the bushing replacement a try by hand. But if you think the arms could go bad, I'd rather get new parts then put new bushings into bad parts. (and save myself the headache of removing and replacing bushings by hand!)

The kits I'm seeing on Amazon and ebay are mostly by Detroit Axle, AM or DLZ. Moog and Dorman don't seem to make kits with arms - just bushings. I take your point about everyone having a different opinion, but has anyone on here used parts from any of these brands? Any first hand experience you'd like to share? Also, does anyone know if the bushings these companies use are rubber or poly?

The front is coming into focus as to what needs to be updated, but does anyone have any input on what's important on the rear?
thanks.

 

The rear is usually built to last. You may not need anything in the rear unless you actually hear some clunking.

For the front, You should buy from rockauto. Just avoid anything Mevotech. Most other brands are going to be solid. It's likely the inner tie rods are bad and no matter how much they align it, because it's so worn it's going to cause tires to wear.

Just think about how good the car is and how long you are going to keep it. If you plan on keeping it for a while I would just redo the entire front. For the ball joint, unless the boot is torn and it's worn you don't really need to replace it. It should be fairly tight.

 

It saves alot of time and energy and it's just more practical to replace the entire arm. An OEM replacement type part will always be rubber.

Yeah I've read mevotech is crap as well, but the same about moog. It's just the endlinks that I have. Slight cracking in the bushing after almost 3 years. It was either that or shitty Napa ones that rust out and crack within a year. There isn't many parts for a prelude when compared to a accord or civic.

 

I don't really hear any clunking specifically from the rear, but the rear upper ball joints look as old and cracked and worn out as all the other rubber under the car. But I guess that's really just the boot, and the joint could be fine??

OK, so here is what I'm thinking -
strut assemblies all around - probably KYB
New aftermarket front suspension kit to take care of new UCAs/with bushings and ball joint and LCA with bushings, outer tie rods, stabilizer arm end links and frame bushings, lower ball joint - will look on RockAuto for OEM replacement type

Sounds like I should look for inner tie rods as well if I want to correct the alignment? Is that accurate?

Any other thoughts/advice? Thanks and wish me luck!

 

You need to be sure to check your inner tie rods as well. But the plan looks good. Have you been able to find complete strut assemblies with the components you want to use?

 

KYB Excel-G (formerly GR2) would be a good choice for shocks. They are OEM replacements, and will be much higher quality than the cheap ones that most auto stores will sell you. Also, I believe Tokico HP are similar.


Otherwise, what everyone else said is pretty spot on. The rears on our cars are solid. Only piece that really wears is the ball joint on the upper arm, and evne then the rear is never as bad as the front. Other than that, the only other pieces worth replacing on the rear would be the sway bar bushings.

Moog used to be the go-to brand for OEM replacement bushings, but in the last 2 years especially their stuff has really declined. Some is still good, but its more hit or miss now, which really sucks. If you don't mind spending a bit more money, I'd definitely stick to OEM balljoints/bushings for the main stuff (that needs to be pressed in). For the smaller stuff that can easily be swapped, if it doesn't last quite as long its not a big deal if you need to swap it in 3 years. But for the big stuff you need pressed it, assuming you will pay a shop to at the very least do the pressing, its not something you're really gonna wanna repeat in a few years.

 

When you guys are talking about brands being crap, are you referring to the entire brand, or just a product line within the brand? For instance, in shopping on RockAuto, I've come to realize the Moog makes R-series stuff, or their Problem Solver lines. Are they both crap? For Mevotech, they make Original Grade or Supreme. Are both lines crap? Or if I stick to the expensive line within each manufacturer, will those be quality parts?

Anyone have any opinions on ACDelco or MAS for Honda suspension parts?

 

What do you mean? I was just looking at the KYB SR4047, SR4048, SR 4049, SR4050 available for this car on Amazon. is there something I need to be aware of to make sure they work with other components? What do you mean by finding assemblies "with the components you want to use"?

thanks.

 

the moog problem solver ball joints i bought were crap.
really wimpy paper thin boots.
too bad they used to make good stuff. 8(
get 555 or stealership ball joints.
honda has used 555 in the past.

 

Mevotec and Moog have 'grades'. It's a joke. If you get the lower 'grade' it will be junk, even the Problem Solvers have 'grades' too.<br /><br />I had to go through several boxes of LBJs from MOOG to find the correct 'Import/Japan/whatever' ones has a red stripe on the box. But now it is far cheaper to get the LBJs from the dealer.