i did a search and still have some questions. i made a thread in here before, and was delighted with all the great responses i got, so i decided i'd ask you guys, because the civic forum isn't cutting it.

anyways, i'm trying to put a set of coilover shocks on, and of course, the rear trailing arm bushing is siezed ; so, i'm going to replace it with either the mugen or es bushings.

i need to know if replacing any of the other suspension bushings concurrently is really worth it, or necessary.

should i just replace the trailing arm bushings, or if i replace any of the other bushings will i see significant gains in handling - if so, which ones supply the most bang for buck?

are the mugens really that much better than the es? ive read that the installation of the es bushings is quite a PITA, they squeek, have to be greased often (im lazy ), and wear out quickly; whereas, the mugens are just like oe bushings only harder - but way more expensive.

or, should i just get the es master busing set and be done with it?

edit: car is a 96 ex coupe w/ tein ss, azenis, comptech rear sway/tie bar, spoon front strut bar, & stock motor. daily driven, mostly street use with the ocassional auto cross.

thanks in advance for your help .


Modified by jwn7 at 10:15 PM 10/24/2003

 

ES TA bushing are junk. Get a set of Mugen or Prothane.

 

And i wouldnt even bother with prothane.

Poly doesnt like lateral movement.

 

The Master set is not complete-so use the rear parts plus the sway bar and end link pieces. The TA bushings are a source of many threads. I have the ES ones and so far they are fine for what I'm doing. You may be better served with either stock or Mugen since rubber is more compliant. Any poly part is going to squeak eventually-keep them lubed with silicone grease or similar. We also used the LCA bushing kit for the rear along with the kits for the sway bars. There is a difference in the car versus stock.
THe only reason to replace the front bushings is due to time and wear. We will be doing the radius rods over the winter while the rest of the front may get rubber pieces. There is such a thing as too stiff so I'm told.

 

thanks guys. heres what im thinking: mugen rear ta bushings, es master kit, and when my comptech rear sway/tie kit gets here ill have all the bushings for that.

i dont think ill be too stiff: my spring rates are only 8kg/mm front, 4kg/mm rear, and my shocks and swaybar are both adjustable.

sound good?

 

you dont need to replace the rear trailing arm bushing to put on your coilovers. its the REAR LOWER CONTROL ARM BUSHING that is siezed! just buy the ES hyperflex master kit. its a big time PITA to instal, but well worth the money

 

Seems like the " forums' " opinion has made a huge 180 since one or two people came out against ES.

Anyway... I was personally happy with the feel of the ES trailing arm bushing. I only had a chance to run a couple of events though so I have no longevity reference. That said... I will eventually probably change it to Mugen, to see the difference more than anything else.

 

I like ES stuff. All the bushing in the rear end of my car are ES. I am also not 100% convinced that it is bad to have hard TA bushings.

My beef against the ES TA bushing is the design. Since the bushing and the metal piece which attaches to the frame are not a unit, the bushing has a lot of side to side slide. On one side of my car, the TA has slid all the way over and it touching the frame.

I will swap mine for Prothane or Mugen the next chance I get.