maverickfhs

So my brother recently came back from the mechanic and he told him that LCA bushings need to be replaced for 2003 Honda Civic LX with AT. Also, lower ball joint for both sides needs to be replaced.

Question is, should we replace whole LCA or can bushing just be replaced for a DIY person without any press?

Any suggestions for the parts, OEM or aftermarket?

Thanks for any help and advice.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

pretty difficult without a press. I installed polyurethane LCA mounts in my car, and I had to finagle a press using my dad's vice and some planks of wood

guitarsnlikker

if you have any ambition and some common sense you can do the job yourself. You can buy the new lower control arms (new bushings already installed) and ball joints and simply change them out yourself . Rent a press for the ball joints watch a bunch of you tube videos and you will save a crap load of $ and hopefully have some fun in the meantime. I did this exact job on my 2005 civic. I bought quality control arms from napa (not Dorman crap) and honda oem ball joints from online. I rented a press from advanced auto and here is the tricky part the press must have thin sleeved pieces to fit in the knuckle area. I had fun doing it, did it in one afternoon with all the tools I already had in hand wrenches jacks, jack stands etc. However, if you can't afford to have the car out of commission for a little while then by all means pay the guy to do it. good luck.

maverickfhs

Thanks for the advice, I can rent a press or even take it to a local shop to see if they can press them in?

What bushing and ball joints do you suggest? I plan to go OEM, but they are expensive as hell.

maverickfhs

Thanks, I plan to DIY if weather gets a bit warmer or maybe wait till April/May time frame from weather perspective.


Were you able to do both sides in one day? Can you suggest which ones did you use from NAPA and how are they holding up now?

Thanks for your help.

guitarsnlikker

Yes both sides in one day and I'm a 51 year old guy that can't move as well as I used to. But I do love saving $$. It's not that bad a job just have to muscle the control arms in place and have the press for the ball joints and a ball joint separator tool. I also did the sway bar end links (honda oem) since i was there. My car runs and drives very well, but I also changed out all 4 struts not long after I did the LCA ball joint job. After about 200K miles everything in the suspension has to be replaced. Of course I watched videos for about 1 week before I did it.
The Altrom parts from NAPA are the arms I used. Im sure some of the cheaper ones are OK too but I have just heard so many bad stories about Dorman that I avoid their stuff completely.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Ball joints, I've been running Moog brand for a few years now, no problems. $27.50 each on amazon, and yeah, they're prime eligible.

For bushings, I'm rocking energy suspension poly bushings, and they're rather inexpensive ($40-$50 for a set), but they can be squeaky. I tapped my LCAs and installed zerk fittings so I could re-lube them with silicone grease. ~$42 + shipping on thmotorsports.com (they come in red or black) or $45 shipped on amazon, prime eligible

maverickfhs

Thanks for your valuable input and help, makes perfect sense. I am planning to DIY. Not going to pay anyone, plus I can use that money towards good parts. Altrom seems like a good brand(canadian and not chinese crap).

Which one did you choose?

https://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/s...tForm-savedveh

In terms of sway bar links, should I be looking at them too or they can go longer? Car has ~148K right now.

Thanks for the help.

maverickfhs

I like 'moog' suspension components, they can make a day and night difference in ride. BTW, I might opt for whole LCA since I don't have a press, I can rent a press but not sure how difficult it'll be?

Are you aware of an easier or rather simple way, in which I don't have to shell money on whole LCA, instead rather replace just the bushings?

I am in 'research' phase and trying to discover all options, so that I am not 'crying or cursing' during replacement time.

Thanks for your help in terms of all links.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

nope. AFAIK, it's either get them pressed in, fingale them in like I did, or buy the whole piece. You could try a local pick-a-part to see if there are any 01-05 civics out there with spotless front ends. That'd get you by for a good while. I'm not gonna lie, I used a vice, a dremel (for the compliance bushing), a few different sized impact sockets, and a 3 pound mini sledge to "press" the old bushings out.

Dooner

Maverickfhs - just order all Moog parts from Rock auto. You can order the LCA's with bushings pre-installed, lower ball joints, sway bar end links, inner/outer tie rods, and any other parts you might need. Prices are reasonable, and if you have a discount code, you can save even more. There's even a DIY on this site IIRC, use the search engine or check the DIY section.

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

i thought it did not pay off to change bushings. Just swapped new ones - they were cheap enough.

now, if you need to press ball joints out (and in), then it might be worth.

maverickfhs

Thanks so much for helping out, I appreciate it.

Yeah that definitely seems like a lot, in terms of pressing it in. Problem with pick a pull is, I would be spending almost a day, finding and pulling a part and again not sure how long that part would last? For now, I am leaning towards replacing with a whole new LCA.

Thank you

maverickfhs

Yeah, you are right, thanks for your suggestion and input. I'll price out everything and then take it from there.

maverickfhs

Sorry, what do you mean by it? You mean, buying (or loaning) a press?

Which LCA did you get? From Napa or moog? Care to share a link, please?

Thanks for the help.

maverickfhs

What do you guys this about this kit? Do you guys think that inner or outer tie rods are also needed based on mileage? I'll try to post pictures tomorrow.

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....415663&jsn=361

Or just LCAs and will get ball joints OEM or locally:

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo....415663&jsn=392

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

Mine were several years ago, links would not be helpful...

at the time, LCA for a 02 were 100 bucks.

now i have one spare LCA that i can put bushings at my leisure (the other LCA was cracked)

now, like mentioned, if you need to press the ball joints anyway, it might pay off to press them using a rented press (or get a harbor freight 20 ton press (now they are almost 200, but when i got mine they were 100 some bucks)

a few trips to a machine shop will surpass the price of the press pretty fast.

maverickfhs

Makes perfect sense and I am with you. Thanks very much.

I'll order parts in the coming weeks(weather permitting) and will bump this thread for any help. Thanks again to everyone for their contribution and help

Dooner

I'm not sure if I ordered the kit, or individual parts separately. I did order inner/outer tie rods, and the sway bar end links...may as well replace those while you've got the front end in pieces. That kit is fine otherwise. It's not a bad job to do.

Dooner

Oh, and don't forget to have an alignment done afterwards...

maverickfhs

Great, thank you. BTW, how difficult are inner tie rods? Can everything be done in two days? One on Sat and one on Sun?

I'll order the kit, should I be replacing anything while I am at it?

Thanks again

maverickfhs

Yeah alignment without a doubt!!!

Thanks for the reminder

Dooner

Tie rods on this car require a special tie rod tool to remove/install. If you have that, it's not bad. If you've never done the LCA removal & replacement before, do one side, then the other will go probably twice as fast. I did both sides in the better part of the day, and that included running to the auto parts store 2x. Make sure you get the tie rod tool ahead of time, and have a pickle fork to remove the tie rods from the knuckle on each side.

Dooner

Found a good DIY you should follow...

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...necessary.html

maverickfhs

Are you talking about that one which looks like a big socket and it locks the ball and unscrews it from the rack?

Yeah, sound advice in terms of picking all tools up front. I have ball joint removing tool and pickle fork so far.

I don't see sway bar links in the kit, will buy them separately.

Does anyone has any heads up for moog lower ball joints? Does it go into the knuckle like an OEM? I have read somewhere(Amazon, I think) that fitting might be a challenge at times for them?

Thanks for the help, again.

maverickfhs

Very helpful, I have gone through it while I was browsing the forum, thanks for sharing.

maverickfhs

Also for inner tie rods, does it have any pins on the inner tie-rods or a crush washer bent on 2 sides(did that on my 1994 Honda Accord), as explained in this video?

I can check the play on the wheel, but at ~150K, should I replace inner tie-rods or they should be good for another 100k?

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Almost 200k on my car, I have never touched my inner tie rods. Outer tie rods, that's a different story. lol

maverickfhs

Thanks for your feedback.

maverickfhs

Bumping this thread up since will be replacing outer tie rods, lower ball joints, stabilizer bar ends and LCA's for both sides on the front. We ordered all parts from rock auto. Everything is Beck Arnley, except LCA's, which are Moog.

Found out today after emailing Beck Arnley, everything we ordered for them is Made in Taiwan, hoping they'll be from Japan.

Have not received the parts yet, but should we be concerned about it? Has anyone used them, if so, how's their reliability?

Thanks for the help.