Old suspension bushing photos

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/old-bushings/

The numbered pics were taken before I started the job. I had plans of
adding this to the FAQ, but due to the intensity of this job, I decided to
just concentrate on doing it right.

Notice the heavy grease coating on the pictures of the compensator arm (in
the numbered pics). That's 14 years accumulation of the "drippy"
rustproofing. Both compensator arms, and both upper arms cleaned up in a
parts washer to the point that they literally looked brand-new. Even the
white paint on the upper arms (indicating "up") was clear. My wife even
asked, "Did he put on new ones?"

The big trailing arm bushings were better than I expected, but the rubber
was VERY soft compared to the new ones. I expect it had fatigued
considerably over 14 years.

The lower arm suffered the most corrosion, with both outer bottom bolts
being stuck fast by rust. One of them had to be cut off, as it would not
let go no matter what.

A chase with a tap fixed the upper arm bolt that wouldn't go in yesterday.

Had the car for a tentative drive around town and it feels fine. I don't
dare push it until I have a proper Grade-10 bolt in the right lower control
arm. One big pothole, and...

The bushings (entire rear end) were $432 Cdn not including taxes ($340 US),
and the machine shop work was $248 Cdn ($195 US).

Thanks very much to jim beam for all his help and advice.

 

<snip>


An update: Got the suspension realigned today. It was closer than I
expected:

Rear
L: 0deg
R: in .10deg

Front
L: out .10deg
R: 0deg

The rear end definitely feels quite a bit more controlled and solid than it
did before the bushings were changed. As jim beam said, a VERY worthwhile
project.

Gotta do the fronts now!