I have something a bit strange going on on my 96 JDM ITR.

When I first got the car I realised the trailing arms were slightly different, how i came to find this was the protector plate that bolts on to the arm and covers part of the caliper assembly was missing, so I bought a new one and when i came to fit it, the hole on the arm was a different size to the other side. Started looking and noticed other subtle changes between the 2.

I wasnt particularly freaked out - I came to the conclusion it had been replaced either because of damage or wear. probably damaged but I wasnt concerned as if it had been in a very bad accident I would notice other things after 2 years of ownership.

My problem is that one of the bushes needs replacing, now I have been using the searches and found that the best option are mugen bushes which I ordered and received and was so excited as I am a mugen virgin! Problem is the guy fitting them measured the diameter of the mugen item and compared it to the left trailing arm bush and told me the new items are 5mm in diameter too short - I was there when he measured them.

So at the weekend I dropped both arms and measured each bushing as I knew the arms were different - now i have found the bushes are different sizes which has flamed me and the bush actually looks different in each arm too i.e. different markings etc.

So what do i do? obviously one arm is original and the other isnt, the one that bush is perished is not the original one.

1. Do I buy myself a new rear trailing arm(i really cannot be arsed swapping everything, and dont really want the explense)
2. Do i find an old trailing arm with a duff bush and rebuild it, with my new mugen items - but bearing in mind this is a R it would be hard to find a second hand item in the uk.
3. Can I identify the arm on my R and find the bush for it?

Whats everyone think out there? we are talking approx 5mm diameter difference, does anyone know what other honda would maybe use a similar bush in the rear trailing arm but is 5mm larger?

I would like to find the monkey that fitted it to the car and make them fix it.
P.S. Sorry if its a long post just thought I would explain all before you guys asked me why the arm is different.

 

A new trailing arm isn't _that_ expensive from the dealer. If you don't have the Mugen bushings already it might be more cost effective to buy two new trailing arms from the dealer. The bushings aren't available separately.

edit: I didn't read 96 JDM ITR. I don't know about parts compatibility or similarities, but it's possible that one arm is a 96 arm and the other was replaced with a euro spec 98 arm. It's likely that they'd be different...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18C5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't know about parts compatibility or similarities, but it's possible that one arm is a 96 arm and the other was replaced with a euro spec 98 arm. It's likely that they'd be different...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats a really good point didnt think of that, does anyone know if the trailing arms are different on 96specs?

I have bought the mugen items already unfortunately.