I am going to refresh the suspension in my Civic fairly soon. I was thinking of replacing the bushings, ball joints, tie rods and adding some performance shocks and springs (like one of those Tokico sets). Anything else I should replace while I am there?
Any reason not to just replace the whole control arm but the time I get new bushings and ball joints it isn't that much cheaper to just buy the whole control arm assembly?
Just depends on if the extra money is worth the hassle it saves.
I'd likely say yes, since you'll have the extra, as soon as its apart, you can start putting it right back together. And not stop to press out bushings/ball joints, put new ones in, THEN start putting it back together.
Bushings are a PITA, and on a daily, I wouldn't bother. Possible exception being the trailing arm bushing. They tear (like all the rest) but since they are half air in the way they are made, when they tear they flop around (unlike the rest).
Balljoints and tie rods - I'd just inspect to see if they need replacing or not. No need to replace a fine one.
Shocks and springs - For a daily I'm pretty fond of Bilsteins and Neuspeed SoftSports. In fact - if you're interested - I have a set of those springs for an EG that I could sell.
The bushings feel dead in my Civic and the back end is making a bit of a crunching noise sometimes when it goes over bumps.
DILYSI Dave wrote: Bushings are a PITA, and on a daily, I wouldn't bother. Possible exception being the trailing arm bushing. They tear (like all the rest) but since they are half air in the way they are made, when they tear they flop around (unlike the rest). Balljoints and tie rods - I'd just inspect to see if they need replacing or not. No need to replace a fine one. Shocks and springs - For a daily I'm pretty fond of Bilsteins and Neuspeed SoftSports. In fact - if you're interested - I have a set of those springs for an EG that I could sell.
How much?? They fit EK Civics I think.. right?
OP is buying them at the Mitty. 
DILYSI Dave wrote: Bushings are a PITA, and on a daily, I wouldn't bother. Possible exception being the trailing arm bushing. They tear (like all the rest) but since they are half air in the way they are made, when they tear they flop around (unlike the rest).
On the trailing arm bushing, is there a heavy duty version out there that doesn't do that and isn't made of urethane?
Mugen makes one; that's what I run. There's a lot of speculation and conjecture about how the Mugen RTA bushing differs from what you can get from Honda, but it's reasonably priced (IMO) and they've held up for me for nearly 10 years now.
eta: Actually, Hard Race makes a more reasonably priced alternative now.
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