Ok, 212k chassis = pita

so im trying to put on some integra shocks and springs on my 93 civic because the shocks are worn and bottom out in hard cornering. im doing the rear first and when i go to take off the lower arm shock retaining bolt, the head snaps off. seized bushing. Now the problem is im a newb to autocrossing (actually havent gone yet cos my car will never be ready) and i dont want to start upgrading my suspension so much before i learn how to drive. So what do i do? Replace the rear control arm bushings with polyurethane? Replace the lower control arm bushings with oem?(expensive). Or should i just drill the bolt out, and reuse the old one?

I'm leaning towards the polyurethane route, im already in street prepared because of my wheels, i was jsut going to put stockers back on for the event but oh well. im putting a d16z6 in this summer anyways so i will be in street prepared for sure after that. but if i do use polyurethane for jsut the rear control arms with no other new bushings, how will that affect my handling and my ability to learn car control?

 

upon further research it seems like oem or mugen bushings would be better, but there so damn expensive, especially mugens. is there any other alternative?

 

I like my urethane just fine.

 

ditto... I have had no problems with the urethane bushings. IMO much better than oem. I can't tell you what affect replacing just the bushings in the rear lca's would have because I did them all at once and was very happy with the results.

 

you might want to read this link http://www.crxsi.com/resources...rflex/ regarding urethane. personally, for daily use and A/X, i would go with OEM. the bushings by themselves are not all that much. the metal inserts can help stiffen them and are relatively inexpensive also. since they are part of a service bulletin, should be legal for stock.

to remove the broken bolt, if you were going to trash the shocks anyway, i'd cut it off with a 4.5" grinding wheel with a cut-off disc. not pretty but effective.

you got to get out there with those old tires!

 

That article is old news... You might want to do a little more research before taking the bias word of one man's perceived experience as gospel. There are plenty of people that use these bushings and are perfectly happy with them to counter his argument.

From the looks of his pics and his own admission, that suspension sees a lot of dirt road use and abuse... that coupled with the fact that it looks like they were only greesed when first installed and never again would explain the "wear" on some of the bushings. Also, you don't want to gob the grease on because that will attract dirt to the bushing like a magnet.

He keeps making references to how there are signs of movement with the ES bushings... well duh, the ES bushings are a free floating non-binding design and not fixed (pressed) in one position like oem. They are designed to move freely giving you a better durometer and geometry. He also keeps making reference to how they are dry... well hello, grease is not a lifetime thing, you don't do it once and forget about it.... it's a service thing, you got to stay on top of things that require service. The grease they give you is not magical. Also, when I spoke with a few of the ES techs, they actually reccomended that I use the blue marine grease since it will last longer and holds up better to the eliments since it is designed for marine applications where it is often submurged in water for extended periods of time.

 

Your point is well taken. I realize its old news but I think that jaxle's car is going to see daily use and is not intended for track only events.

Daily use in Michigan means road construction dirt and dust in the summer and salt in the winter.

greasing urethane bushings is something easily neglected.

 

yea i definately dont want to be dealing with yearly bushing greasing. i just wish i knew where to get reasonably priced oem bushings, 19$ per bushing from hondaautomotiveparts.com is way to expensive.

in the meantime im picking up some used lcas so i can get these shocks+springs on. i already broke the bolt head off hehe