Poly bushing install?: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

Subscribe get a full year for only $23.95 Sample Free Test Drive—no strings attached

June 19, 2009 12:34 a.m. bigbrainonbrad New Reader

I'm getting ready to replace the steering rack and balljoints on my 94 civic. Since the front suspension will be torn apart I was thinking of installing urethane bushings. The car has koni sports and eibach linear rate springs on it but still feels a little sloppy. I was hoping that by replacing the 15 year old rubber, some life would be restored to the car.

I've read different approaches from burning out the originals to having a machine shop press everything in and out. Just wondering what the general consensus on installing a full urethane bushing kit on a honda is? I'm not afraid of spending some time on this, I'm house sitting my parents place and have another car to get around in. I'm just concerned that freezing the bushings and using a torch to expand things a bit won't cut it. Any words of wisdom???
June 19, 2009 12:55 a.m. fiat22turbo SuperDork

It isn't a Honda, but this might give you some ideas....

http://polybushings.com/pages/1020instruc1.html

They have a great lubricant for bushings as well.
June 19, 2009 5:14 a.m. Taiden Reader

I've done a lot of research on bushings for civics. You have a few options...

--OEM (expensive... no performance gain over, well, OEM.... hard rubber)

--Hardrace (~$250 iirc, there have been issues with the rear trailing arm bushing, hard rubber)

--Spherical bearings etc (mad expensive... supposedly not a good idea for street use)

--energy suspension bushings (cheapest, poly bushings, doesn't come with every bushing. if you buy trailing arm bushings there have been a loto f people who hate them... more on that later)

--Suja1 Bushings (hard rubber, harder than stock, tougher than Hardrace, every bushing on your suspension is included, $215 shipped if you buy through k20a.org. these were co-designed by PIC so you can expect it to be good)

everyone here seems to like poly bushings. In my research I found that people with Hondas don't like poly bushings. They deform over time, they do not allow free movement of your suspension. The trailing arms in our cars move on two axis, and the ES trailing arm bushing only really allows it to move on one axis. Hard rubber is supposedly the better choice, but after you remove the stock bushings you need a press to install rubber bushings. ES bushings pretty much slide right in...

Hope this helps. I've decided that Suja1 bushings are the best, while ES bushings are the cheapest/easiest to install

Oh, and you get shifter bushing, steering rack bushings, ball joint/tie rod boots and top hat bushings with the ES master kit... which is a bonus.
June 19, 2009 5:28 a.m. foxtrapper SuperDork

Read up on the various articles about installing those particular bushing in that particular car. Makes all the difference in the world. Some poly bushing drop in with a push of your thumb, some will break an 8" vice.

Roughly similar, the removal of the existing bushings. Some come out fairly easily, others are only lubricated by your blood and tears. Especially the steel sleeved ones.

The Volvo broke my vice doing just one of the poly bushings on the front suspension. I did one bushing, and and included all the rest with the car when I sold it. One was quite enough. The Toyota truck never did give up its spring bushing. Even after I cut the spring apart and worked on it with a chisel and grinder (the spring could no longer be used, obviously, it was just frustration at that point). The Mustang and Spitfire both dropped their bushings out with a pair of pliers and the urethane ones pushed in by a thumb.