i have heard they make the car very noisy. this is not my concern. my concern is that i want to replace my worn out suspension bushings, and i would like to hear from people who have done so. please reply if you have replaced your bushings, and how they felt compared to before.

if anyone has replaced their bushings with new stock ones, i am interested to hear about those as well. thanks. steve

 

id put up w/the squeaks...my body already does anyway...and supposedly they are a definate improvement...i could see how...especially for sway bars and lower control arms...go for it...i will when i get to it....

 

HUGE difference, screw the rubber stock crap. As far as noise goes, energy gives u a bunch of prelube to grease everthing before reinstallation, my car makes no noise--I just took my time.Good luck getting out the lca bushings if u r doing this yourself.

 

Dont you just melt the old bushings out with a torch?

 

sounds to me like you just torch out the old bushings. do you still use the stock metal ring around the control arm bushings? or do those stay in, and you press in the new bushing?

i have replaced stock bushings before, including cutting out the metal ring, and pressing in the whole new bushing with ring. not fun.

 

The energy lca bushings are installed WITHOUT the metal ring---therefore it must be removed---dont **** with cutting it out---i took all four arms to a machine shop and they popped them out whole---all 8 bushings for 30 bucks---as far as putting them back in, heavily lube all contact points, slide the bushings in first, followed by the metal sleeve---good luck.

 

so you are saying to have the whole stock bushing pressed out, including the ring around it.

then replace the bushing after prepping it with lube, and put it back in the arm.

what is this metal sleeve that gets installed last?

sorry if i misunderstood you.

 

the metal sleeve goes in the middle of the bushings you install.
-O-O-O- Uhh, just imagine the sleeve going through all the bushings. the bolt goes through the sleeve. It comes w/ the bushing kit. I just installed the Lca bushings in mine. Def had to use a press and even then it was a lil bit scary, especially when you first get them to move and they go "POP".Ha, you can watch everybody duck or hide a lil bit.
$30 bucks for 8 bushings? Damn, Honda wanted $100 for the lca bushing that the shock mounts to and to press it in. Havn't been able to drive w/ them yet as my car has no motor in it yet but i've heard nothign but good things about the poly swap. As far as squeaking is concerned, you just have to lube everything up good.

 

I have Energy Suspension (black ones) fitted in the whole suspension and am very satisfied with them. I have no squeeking during the summer because I lubed the crapp out the bushing prior to installing . This is VERY important! Enough is not enough! Steering respons is faster and the car just feels stiffer. My stock bushings weren't even that worn but it was a great improvement after all.

The only downside is the improved stiffness will give a harsher ride on bad roads. So if you live in an area covered with bad roads (not unusual) I'd testdrive a car with the bushing fitted (friend?) before making your decision. Ofcourse much of the harsh ride is contributed by the stiffness of your shocks/springs combo and which tires you use (40/45/50 series). You will feel a dime lying on the road and brick roads are no-go because the car with shake and rattle all over. Though when I used my 15's with 195/50 tires it became much better but still no fun. So don't take your grandmother for a ride cuz her teeth will fall out.

 

It's not really that bad. I have a full prothane kit installed on my daily hatch, every last bushing including trailing arm, and my CRX is still stock for now. It's definitely stiffer than stock, and doesn't feel anything like it, but when you start pushing the car at all, you can feel the factroy rubber distorting and adding slop. On 16's with 40 profile, the ride really isn't much worse than without the bushings, it's probably more pronounced on 14's or 15's vs the stock bushings, but with either of those sizes you're running such a large profile that the tire will take away any of the added harshness. You will notice it's louder overall, but hey, you get the same thing with a TypeR. The problem with the factory bushings is as soon as you install them, start the clock because they're just going to go bad again. And if you race the car at all, you'll probably get two years if you're lucky. Just put them in and forget about it, I've had my hatch together (kind of) for a year on the road, and about 20,000+ miles and there are no real squeaks.

 

good review. i have heard of master sets going for $125, what are some reasonable prices? i definitely need all new trailing arm and lower control arm sets, not really interested in changing the ball joint and tie rod boots.

anyone have a set for sale?

 

I bought my ES for $125 shipped. It came with everything. I mean everything that could be replaced. I just have not found the time to put them in yet.

 

http://www.suspension.com ---for the whole energy set---for myself it was $132 shipped to my crib---your best bet is to just do it all at once, I completely ripped my susp. apart, I only took a day---the only holdup should getting the lca's to a machine shop for removal, as well as the front uppers, they to must be pressed out. Now if u have rust issues, this could be a whole diff. ballgame. Make sure u wd-40 the living **** out of ALL the susp. bolts, to avoid snapping.And once the machine shops gives u the arms back, check the holes for rust and if so lightly sand away with 400 grit, lube like a **** and pop em' em, they go in with ease----this is also a good time to pick up new ball joints and rod ends.Once all is said and done go to a reputable alignment shop for a full 4 wheel aligning.---Good luck, this a great mod for 130 bucks. Make sure u buy a crapload of so u keep your cool.

 

Only advice I have is like what REX VT said, if you have to buy a bucket of grease just for this bushing kit...do so haha. We were pratically dropping mine into the bucket and rolling them around...then adding more to the bushing and control arm before sticking it all together. Messy? yes. Worth it? Definally.

Well also, another way to get the bushings out, we burned out the centers via torch. But the stock metal ring pressed into the arm was taken out with a chisel and a air gun. You catch the lip, chisle it a bit till it bends back, and once it bends just push and it will force it out. We had the control arms in a vice for this obviously, and it didn't even scratch them if done right. So if your stuck there is another way for ya. I love mine and the ride is good, little rough but worth it hehe.

 

thanks. i urgently need to do the front lower control arm bushings where the strut forks connect, saggy like nobody's business. the rear lower control arms would be another big plus. the only thing that worries me, when i did my teg rear disc swap, the bolt on the rear compensator arm (allows adjustment of rear toe) came loose, but didn't thread out of the body. felt like there was a bushing in there, and it is separated from the metal ring. or maybe that bolt doesn't come out, just loose enough to play with the rear toe?

as for the kits, do they vary at all between years? i have 88 CRX SI rear lower control arms (passive setup) with the stock 89 CRX SI front lower control arms. will the 88 CRX SI kit work all around?

stupid mutt honda's. they are like lego's. trailing arms and knuckles for a teg, arms for an 88 crx, motor from a japanese crx. blah blah blah. gotta love em.

 

by the way prothane makes a rear compensator arm set as well as trailing, both are pricey but effective---those 2 are my next project then my shizzle will be full polyurethane all around.But all in all i love how u can feel everything in the road, they kinda connect the car to the driver---peace time to finish my 30 o'

 

What kind of grease have you guys been using? I got the Energy susp. engine mount kit and shifter kit and neither comes with grease.

 

Molybdeensulfide, same which goes in your axlejoints.. well I used it when the grease supplied with the kit ran out..

 

Get your grease here:
http://www.spohn.net/index.cfm?fusea...t&productid=33
Don't forget to replace the front radius (strut) rod bushings. They make a whole lot of improvement in the steering department. FWIW, I didn't see a lot of difference when I replaced my rear swingarm bushings with poly
HTH
chris

 

But they don't make them for the SiR so DON'T use the Si ones

 

like others said, $125 is a good price.

<u>do not</u> use the ES kit ball joint boots. they are just a cover and if you remove your stock rubber boot, grease will come out of the ball joint. i wouldn't even touch the ES kit ball joint boots.

 

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i definitely need all new trailing arm and lower control arm sets, not really interested in changing the ball joint and tie rod boots.

just slide them over them over the existing boots, it will make them all the more tiiiiter....peace

 

fo shizzle. i got every bushing on my car done. even the trailing arm buushings (by prothane trailing arm bushings)

energy masterkit i love it. big diff and IMO definite improvement. i would not attmept it urself, i watched a mechanic struggle for 1 hour on a LCS bushing becase the sleeve was rusted to the arm

 

it also helps if you put the bushings in the freezer, they'll contract and be easier to install.

 

I can't believe I just ordered something from a Camaro website!!