Hello, everyone!

I'm Vyn from Asia (Philippines), just got my second civic which is a 1994 Civic ESi Sedan.
I'm in-fact new on this platform and would very much like to replace all of the underchassis/suspension stuff on it as it rattles like a can, given that we have really poor road quality.

Just wondering if anyone has the list of all the components that needs to be replaced / rebushing on it that can majorly impact the driving quality.
(Planning to buy each part every payday until I complete it, starting from the most important & secondary)

Cheers guys!

 

There are 26 rubber bushings in the suspension. I changed every one on my Civic so I'll try to help you out.

Front:

Each lower control arm has 3 rubber bushings; inner bushing(connects to front sub frame), outter bushing(connects to strut fork), and the large rear bushing(those normally don't go bad).

Each upper control arm has two small bushings; they are pressed into these mounts that look like I-bolts. Some people replace the whole upper control arms to get the new bushings and upper ball joints.

Rear:

Each lower control arm has 3 bushings; inner bushing(connects to the lca bridge), middle bushing(connects to the strut, expect those bolts to be seized), and the outter bushing(connects to the trailing arm). Note that the inner and outter bushings are the same part number.

Each upper control arm has two bushings; an inner one with a steel bracket built in(which connects to the to the frame. This bushing has to be clocked in the arm) and an outter one(which connects to the trailing arm). Some people purchase the whole arm.

There is a small arm at the front of the trailing arm that is used to adjust the rear toe. It has two bushings that have the same part number. Some people replace the whole arm.

There is also the notorious trailing arm bushing, which always breaks with age. You have to use a straight edge to mark where the originals are clocked and install the new ones clocked to that position.

 

Ball joints:

There are 3 ball joints on each side, at the front.

Upper ball joint: Pressed into the upper control arm and retained with a large C-Clip. These have to be clocked and have a locating detent that faces towards the wheel. You also have to use epoxy under the metal lip of the ball joint, before pressing it down, to fill the gap between it and the control arm.(easier to buy the whole upper control arm than to replace the ball joint)

Lower ball joint: Pressed into the knuckle. It can be replaced with a ball joint press but a bit of a PITA because of the small working space. Easier to pull the knuckle and change it with a press.

Outter tie rod: This ball joint is part of the tie rod and can not be seperated. Have to replace the whole tie rod.

Note: Ball joints typically don't have to be replaced unless they're very loose and/or have internal play. If they are in good shape, you can clean out the old grease, push new grease in them, and replace the boot. Rubber boots can be hard to find but polyeurethane boots are available and cheap.

Also, if you want OEM ball joints, look up Sankei 555. You can still get the upper and lower ball joints from them and they're made in Japan!

 

Wheel bearings:

You can inspect them and replace if they're loose or make noise.

Front: The front wheel bearings are usually inexpensive because they are seperate from the hubs. You remove the dust ring, remove the retaining ring, press the hub out, press the bearing out of the knuckle, remove the inner bearing race that is surely stuck onto the hub, press the new bearing into the knuckle, press the hub into the bearing(with something against the bearing inner race, to keep it from coming apart), replace retainer ring, and replace dust ring.

Rear: The rear wheel bearings are built into the hubs so they tend to be pricey, if you get a good brand. Remove everything from the hub, remove the hub dust cap, remove the spindle nut, install the new hub.

Note: The good brands to get for front wheel bearings are Koyo and NTN. NTN is the oem brand for the rear hubs but they tend to be pricey.

 

Last things for suspension:

Struts: They have rubber bushings at the top that can go bad but usually don't. The shock absorbers can go bad but you can check those by pushing down on the car, at each corner, a couple of times. If the car keeps bouncing then they're probably bad.

Inner tie rods: The inner tie rods(connected to the rack, behind the boots) can go bad and cause front steering play. Pull back and forth on the outter tie rods to check for play.

That's about it for the suspension parts. If you plan to change these parts yourself, a shop press comes in very handy. At $10 per bushing, shop price, my 20 ton press paid for itself and then some, when I changed all my bushings. If that's not an option for you, you can pay a shop for pressing or buy the control arms with the new bushings already installed.