sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

how do u know its broken?

1. look at it, its cracked. DUH
2. u hear a "*thump* or a weird banging noise from ur suspension.


TOOLS NEEDED:
17mm socket (take off ball joint nut)
19mm socket (take off wheels)
22mm socket (bake of the 2 LCA bolts)
socket wrench (1/2 is best)
jack stands
jack
some plastic cups (to mix the polyurethane)
plastic fork/stick/chopsticks (to mix the polyurethane)
rubber gloves
polyurethane (look at step 3)



optional (but really helps if you have it)
breaker bar (or a cheater bar)
impact gun



my right (passenger) side broke at 110,000 miles.


you have THREE options:

1. buy new LCA (lower control arms). but they're not cheap. $XXX price range
2. buy energy suspension front bushings set. however, they are a pain in the *** and regular joe-shmo will not be able to install them because you need to first cut and press out the bushings. this requires a press (like a hydraulic press)
http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...prod=16%2E3116

3. (my way) fill your bushings with polyurethane. it's like the same thing as the ES bushings.



step 1. jack your car up and put it on jackstands (I SAID JACKSTANDS PEOPLE)

remember kids, safety first.


step 2. take off ur LCA:

its held on by 3 bolts: 2 in the chassis and 1 on the balljoint.

remove the two chassis bolt. it's a 22mm (i think. ill check in the morning).

then remove the ball joint bolt. its a 17mm

now BREAK the ball joint.

there is a few ways u can do this:
1. go to autozone and RENT (free) a ball joint separator. this is the best and easiest way.

http://www.autozone.com:80/autozone/...uestid=4135097

here is how it looks like in action: (borrowed form hond@tech thread)





or

2. you can also break the ball joint (if ur cant rent the tool...or dont wanna spend the $14 to buy the tool) with a 1/2 socket wrench.

watch the youtube video. notice the wrench in between. then you press down and BAM. the ball joint is out. (you will have to push down pretty far)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISY8b...layer_embedded


NOTE: DO NOT.....I REPEAT, DO NOT HAMMER THE BALL JOINT BOLT. YOU WILL DESTROY THE THREADS AND WILL HAVE TO REPLACE A WHOLE NEW BALL JOINT!!!


step 3. fixing the LCA bushings by pouring polyurethane



3.1
look at ur bushings. as seen here, one of mine is torn. eek



if you notice, this is the top of my front LCA bushing. its broken and you can see that its been banging against the top of my chassis.



3.2
prep the LCA.


tape the bottom of the broken bushing.

make sure the center cylinder is CENTER

i cannot photoshop/use paint if my life depended on it, so i drew it



bottom view






press on the bottom so polyurethane wont fill the cylinder



i also cut a piece of the lower part of the cup, and build a little wall around the TOP of the bushing mount area. that way, you can fill the polyurethane almost to the top.

then saran wrap the bottom with some more ductape and more tape. MAKE SURE U TAPE IT WELL SO IT DOESNT LEAK. u will be sorry and make a big mess if it leaks.

top view with the lil wall i built




3.3
prep the polyurethane.

there are a few polyurethane mixes you can use.

devcon flexane is a good one. but its really expensive $50+

i used one i bought on ebay. search "LIQUID CASTING RUBBER Shore 75A" or the seller's name is "aeromarineproducts"
http://cgi.ebay.com/LIQUID-CASTING-R...item4cf34e766c

for those of you who are wondering, SHORE is the hardness/flex level.

1/2 a gallon is enough to fill every motormount and bushing for quite a few cars. unlike the devon flexane, u only get like 16oz (16oz = .125 gal)


so on to the mixing!

wear protection. includes gloves, and eyewear.
it came with instructions as well, so i suggest u read that.


you want to mix it in a plastic container....not paper, wood...etc again read instructions that came with it.

i work at starbucks so i get unlimited cups.


i poured and measure it


mix it for 1-2 FULL MIN.



pour it in.


you will notice i put a piece of tape on the top of the metal cylinder thing. thats to prevent the polyurethane to come in and ill the hole. we dont want that.


AHH HA! it leaked a little, but the saran wrap saved it!!!



3.5
manual says it will cure in 5mins, and allow 12 hrs for it to dry before use.

i would highly suggest u let it dry for at least 24hrs.



then take off the tape AND the lil wall made out of a cup. i use a dremel to slit a line in the middle and peeled it off.


if u drive ur car everyday, you will notice that your handling/turning will be much more precise because it will have a LOT less flex from side to side.


reinstall everything in the opposite order and ur done.

go grab a cold one.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

you can also repair motor mounts as well. there is a DIY on it but ill show u anyways since i did it:


our front motor mount only last about 100k before it breaks.

there are 3 bolts holding ur motormount.

you'll need a 17mm and a 12mm(or maybe it was 14mm)


jack ur car up, and put it on jackstands.

now take ur jack and support ur engine BEFORE u take off ur motormount.

this will allow the engine to stay in the same place, so when u take ur MM out, ur engine isnt going to fall or sag.


broken MM FTL



so put the center back in, make sure its centered and tape the bottom




REMEMBER TO TAPE IT WELL and remember to also use SARAN WRAP after the tape.....and some more tape.


i forgot to put saran wrap + more tape and look what happened:


FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL. SH*T EVERYWHERE!!!!








after its done, MAKE SURE U SHAVE OFF THE TOP AND BOTTOM. use a dremel or a drill. drill will take forever tho




if u leave it completly solid, ur car will vibrate LIKE CRAZY durning idle. and i mean CRAZYYYYYYYY.

if u shave it like what i did, you'll be ok. it'll feel like stock.

kbook

sl33pyriceboi,

Thanks man, nice DIY. How is your suspension doing so far besides crazy vibration? firm? no *thump*

I realize that mine 04 might need both of them replace soon. That whole big piece probably is called "knuckle".

Great job man.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

at first, i didnt shave off my motor mount and left it completly solid/filled with polyurethane. the car vibrated like crazy. (2nd to last pix of post #2)

a few days later i shaved it up (last pix of post #2) and i have NO more crazy vibration. feels like stock again.

about $30 worth of polyurethane will fix everything.

MindBomber

You beat me to it!!

I was going to write this DIY when I finished exams lol

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

Great DIY!
we are missing a lot of these
Sleepy, the lab table looks like straight from colombia

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

I spy ugly gills, slipstreams, and OMG! YELLOW SKIN! Must be a ricer :P

Great writeup

Mr_Plenty

iTrader: (3)

nice diy!

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

mmmmmmm........rice....

fake bmw fenders, over played kenny-hating rims, and yellow oil stained skin.

Kennykid2002

iTrader: (1)

Sums it up quite nicely doesnt it?

MelJ

LoL. I remember that ball joint separation video. Good write up! The balljoint setup on the EM2s must be different because my car has retaining rings.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

maybe they are aftermarket?

my stock ones didnt have retaining rims...however, when i replaced them with duralast ball joints, they had the retaining ring (c-clip)

MelJ

Know what? I didn't even check. Lol. I had to get my axles replaced, but a number of factors(mainly the 10 degree weather and non-heated garage)came up and I had my mechanic do it. Where was this damn FAQ last week? . I was afraid of messing something up and got a separator which didn't even effin' work. I had thought the Pitman arm was just for the TRE job.
Edit: Dammit. Upon looking at the TRE layout and lower balljoint layout, the setup is essentially the same.

chuntera

energysuspensionparts sells a "DIY Motor Mount" kit.

I haven't bought it, but the page has some useful info.
http://www.energysuspensionparts.com...sp?prod=DIYMMI

MindBomber

Thats literally identical to buying generic polyurethane off ebay, except they only give you much less material for the price.

qijian

iTrader: (6)

how sturdy is the polyurethane? i might just fill up my passsenger motormount when my new one goes out again... great write up!

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

more sturdy than stock rubber for sure, but there are many grades of poly from very soft to rock hard. the harder you go, the more you feel vibrations thru the chassis.

qijian

iTrader: (6)

so adding polyurethane mix to old rubber is fine? hmm interesting.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

im not sure about that, if the oem is torn then i wouldn't recommend this method to just fill around the rubber. i doubt it would stick and could come apart later. the ES mounts press in from the sides around the oem rubber and stay put due to the preformed shape (no adhesive). the diy method will work if you clean up all or most of the oem rubber first and then do poly. but im not sure i agree with cutting parts of the mount when youre done either. that would compromise structure and its not the reason youre doing the mod (if you want stock vibration, get a new stock rubber mount and keep replacing as it breaks).

specialized7

Can i get this stuff locally?
how do i tell how strong or flexible this stuff is?

MindBomber

I know Acklands Grainger carries it, but I'm not sure if they have U.S. locations

It comes in two hardness levels, the lower number is basically the same as OEM except solid and the higher level is like a hockey puck.

specialized7

Acklands? great. my dad gets 15% off there. i live in saskatchewan
Which one should i get?

2002ExCivic

iTrader: (1)

I used the energy suspensions ones. Perfect. I mean Perfect. Although, it might have only been so much better because I was grinding into my arms -___- Big Big tip that might help someone else, Had to pay for the bushing to be replaced because you do need a machine press. And save yourself all the hard work and when placing in the arm back to the car, start with the smaller bushing first, then slide the vertical bushing in to the car haha.

busafreak

Instead of that whole process with two part messy stuff, why not just use the 3M window weld? Plus its found at ur local auto parts for like $17

Tragedy

iTrader: (10)

http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/buy...e-gaskets.html

btw good classic diy

Hondan

Nice DIY.

ProAc_Fan

Very nice DIY job but I have to wonder is it really worth all that effort. My LCA cost about $60 IIRC so spending hours fiddling with polyurethane seems unnecessary.

Mike

Drew0306

Good info.

awdcivic2

Thanks for the guide i got some on the way gotta do my a arms and 2 or 3 of my motor mounts, gonna get creative on the upper mount lol.

Also what do yall think of pmc-780 dry urethane? thats what i bought anyways.
its supposed to be industrial and its tear strength was 200 pounds per linear inch (pli) vs around 80 pli for the other Shore 80A mixes i found.

Edit: poured my suspension bushings (theyre were pretty solid after just like 4 hours) front trans mount and passenger upper engine mount, seems pretty solid i think i drilled the sides out of my front trans mount too soon but should be good enough, better than it was anyways. Seems like good urethane to me ill report back when i put it all back together, it says cure time is 48 hours but ill probably leave it longer.

redraif

Perfect timing for this diy... I was just told by the mechanic, during an oil change, that my front and rear motor mounts are toast. Now to decide... new with poly inserts or rebuild the old ones....