I recently bought a 95 DX hatch. While replacing the clutch I noticed the front outer lower control arm bushings were in need of a replacement. I figure if I'm replacing a couple bushings its not a bad idea to preemptively get a kit and do all the suspension bushings. I've seen these forums talk about the Hardrace and Energy Suspension kits favorably. This car is primarily going to be a daily driver. As such I'd prefer not to stiffen the suspension, and I'd like to keep it as stock and OEM as possible. Is there anything out there as far as a genuine Honda suspension bushings kits? Or would I have to order each bushing individually? How different from stock are the Hardrace and Energy suspension kits?

 

Just use the standard rubber pieces from Energy Suspension or Hard Race, not their Polyurethane bushings.

The rubber pieces aren't going to be noticeably different than the OEM bushings, assuming the rest of your suspension is stock.

 

Maybe mugen might sell them as a kit, at least per side, it seems that way from king motorsports.

If you are planning to hold onto the car for the longterm I'd stick with mugen or OEM especially after seeing my friend's civic wear out hardrace bushings in daily driving on stock ITR suspension on his civic for most of it putting less than 50k miles, I am a bit wary of using them. And yes he clocks his bushings, and also torques everything to spec.

 

So I take it polyurethane vs the rubber is what really makes a difference? Is OEM rubber much different than Hard Race / ES rubber?

I'll likely have it for a few years minimum, so I'd like to get the OEM but not seeing any sort of kit for it. Shopping at estore.honda.com purchasing each bushing individually comes out much more expensive than the hardrace or ES kits. A friend mentioned the possibility of purchasing new OEM suspension arms with the bushings already pressed in as a way to save money and time pressing in / out the bushings.

 

Poly Vs. Rubber is where 75% of the difference will be.

Make sure you preload the suspension when torquing everything back down, or it can cause premature failure as the bushings will be forced to twist awkwardly when the car has it's weight back down on it.

 

Spoon has a set. I think the rear control bushings might be different due to the control arm differences, but the rest should work
https://www.rhdjapan.com/spoon-sport...t-dc2-db8.html
I'd check if it ends up costing similar to OEM by piecing the bushings out individually.