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now theres an idea too, except the stock bushing still sucks lol. but at least you should get 50k out of em.

 
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I need to replace my compliance bushings as well. Can you guys confirm that these can be pressed out and in with just a vise?

Do you have to press the metal sleeve out? How do you get the old one out?

 
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yes, i can, and yes, u have to get the metal sleeve out, and all u need is a hammer and chisel, or an air hammer

 
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Thanks for the conformation. Here are the instructions from energy suspension but it doesnt say to remove the sleeve. Just says to remove the bushing. According to the picture of the bushngs it just looks like you remove the rubber and replace it witht he new poly ones....leaving the metal sleve intact.

I will use my sawzall and eat away at some of the material before I use the chisel. That will make it alot easier to do if in fact you do have to remove the metal sleeve.

http://static.summitracing.com/globa.../ens-17357.pdf



Correct me if Im wrong. Or do the metal sleeves come out and you use the new poly bushings with no sleeve inside the OEM arm?

 
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dont the es bushings come with the sleeves?

 
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mine didnt, and ull have to remove them to get the new bushings in, the compliance bushings are a tight squeeze, so u have to remove them to get em in, no biggie tho, if u get the bushing out, thats the hard part, unless its completely torn like mine was, compliance was the easy part

 
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I see whats going on now. The compliance bushing needs the sleeve taken out while the rear horizontals dont? According to the instructions your supposed to bend the lip up on the rear bushings and cut it off, then press the bushing out. Does this mean the sleeve stays in?

If not its no big deal because I have a sawzall and can cut halfway through it then use a sharp chisel and hammer to cut the rest of the way through it.

I have a 6" vise so I can press them in with that.

 
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no, both sleeves have to come out, basically strip the lca down to holes, then install, the back bushings are split, and go in easily, the compliance have to be pushed in by a vice, or step on it, but it comes with grease so its not too bad, install is the easy part

 
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Yes, both the sleeves need to be out. The bushings are solid, so there is no need for sleeves.

 
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I just talked to ES Tech Support. The guy on the phone ( Matt? ) told me that the stock metal sleeve is supposed to stay in place. Your only supposed to remove the OEM rubber.

He told me that he will submit a change to the instructions to reflect that. I told him alot of guys on the civic boards have been removing the sleeve and he said that they have done it incorrectly.


Edit.........

Just talked to another guy over there ( Kevin ) and he told me that the sleeves have to come out. Im going to go with that because he seemed to know what he was talking about.

 
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Thanks for the help guys. I was able to do the bushings with no special tools. Just basic hand tools. I cut through the sleeves with my hacksaw and sawzall. Below is the basic stuff u need to get this job done. Sawzall optional but make sit easier to cut through the sleeves. Car handles a whole lot better and doesnt wander on the road now.

Vise
hacksaw
chisels
sawzall

 
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well im really disappointed. after spending $225 to have all the bushings put on + full alignment, there is no difference! nothing at all, no better handling or feel, the steering wheel still shakes like a **** at 65+ mph. so much for this idea.

 
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gearbox, have u had ur wheels road force balanced??? i really think that this could help, it is able to tell offset, spoke placement, and if u have bad tires or not. also has 'smartweight', which enables the user to use less weights, with the same amount of balance, its what i use at my dealership, on my wheels, and it works wonders, balances really well, especially on small profile wheels. sorry to hear that it didnt work out for u, i know on mine it at least helped with front end noise, since both my bushings were completely torn

 
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oh, see now with the new bushings my car sounds like its bottoming out going over every bump when before it was silent with torn bushings. now its very loud and makes a scrape sound. go figure. this gets gearboxs worst useless mod of the year. and i had sears balance my tires, they said they were out of balance which seems to happen every time i visit a new shop for some reason, so they balanced it their way and now it doesnt vibrate as much altho its still there 65+ and comes and goes. nobody in town has road force. and sears thinks its the aftermarket rims causing it. and i tend to agree, which is what i thought the first day they were installed. oem alloys never vibrated upto 100mph it was like the car was sitting still.

 
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do u have hubcentric rings on the rims??? this may help!! send me ur rims, or let me pick em up, or meet half way, and ill roadforce em for ya, free!!

 
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okay i need to stop jumping to conclusions lol. these bushings didnt feel any different with normal driving, but after going around and really pushing the car for a couple hours, wow. these things deliver, ALOT. cornering at high speeds is greatly improved, so is acceleration and braking performance. feels like a different car to be honest and i was doing things i was scared to before. it felt so good in a turn and wanted more gas! i was making 45mph rated curves at 65mph no problem. these are really nice! makes the car feel like it did a long time ago and better. its too bad about the noise, but its worth it.

as for the shaking, i took it back to sears and had them recheck the balance, and now its actually not that bad. it still shakes, but not nearly as much and if you grab the wheel hard, you wont even feel it. i wish it could get a tad better, but this is def acceptable to me. also they said one of the hub rings on the back wheel was gone, im not sure how that happened but he said it wouldnt affect the shake since its in the rear. still, i wanna get a new one. but im not even sure where to buy from...any ideas? do they have metal instead of plastic? thanks for the offer on the balance, but these are the only rims i have so i cant really drop em with you. and i think its good enough already that im not gonna worry anymore and just have sears do all the balance from now on lol (its free for life anyway). altho i did have to retorque all the lug nuts to spec and replace one they lost (good thing i got the 5-lug package lol). and i took off all the weights that they very poorly stuck on the dirty rim and some of them on the old stick pads, and i cleaned everything and remounted with 3m moulding tape. they are not going anywhere now. excuse me while i wipe off the thick layer of brake dust on the sides of the car now

 
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i knew ud come around, and yea, sorry bout the ring being missing man, i dont even have any, and still dont shake much, but as far as getting new ones, they only come in plastic, and u dont want metal, cuz they would rust and corrode, ud hate it, wheels would get stuck on the hubs. if u want to get new ones, the next time u get new tires, talk to discounttiresdirect.com and they will usually give em to ya free with a purchase of tires, all u gotta do is tell em what kinda car and wheels u got, and they will send u a whole set, otherwise, i have no idea where to get them, as i dont run them.... ive always thought about it tho, wonder if it would make a difference

 
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hmm yeah and do we really need em? cause dont the lug nuts taper match the rim and tighten it down evenly? ive heard if cars require them, the wheel shakes so bad you can barely drive the car without em.

 
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that was my understanding, i dont know that we even need them man, ive done without for 2 years

 
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Any of you guys experience any stiffness with these ES LCA bushings installed?
What i have right now is the Prothane Control Arm Bushings, and just replaced a whole new set of Tokico Blue shocks with OEM spring, but the ride quality really sucks. It's really stiff and feel like the shocks are bottom out. I just ordered a new set of ES LCA after i saw this thread but haven't decide to put them in yet before i get any input from you guy's experiences. Thanks for the help!

 
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messed up install? I call BS on the ride quality sucking or the wheel shaking because of the bushings. I think it is a problem with something else. The bushings are solid and should reduce lateral and horizontal deflection.

 
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true story^^^^ im betting on tie rods

 
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if i close my ears, they perform very well. otherwise they are quite noisy making all sorts of rubbing sounds over every lil bump. but ride quality did not really get any worse. its a tiny bit firmer, but i bet most people would not even notice it. as long as the noise is normal, i have no problem with it for the benefits it gives.

 
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Thanks for the input, guys. As for the tie-rod, i just replaced all the tie-rods both outer and inner, got myself a wheel alignment and wheel balance but the steering shake crazy, and lot of wandering at high speed. So i double check it again and found out that the Prothane Bushing from the control arm got some nice cracks on there, you guys think that might be the problem??? I'm still waiting from the new ES bushing to arrive, i might pop them on to give it a try.

 
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when i swapped the bushings to the ES ones, my steering wheel shake was still bad. so the bushing has nothing to do with it. then i took it in to sears for a balance and there is much less vibration. i would recommend going to a few shops and as ive found out, going to an expensive alignment shop isnt always the best idea. every different shop i goto says they are off balance lol. but sears is the only one that after the first round, the wheel is very acceptable at 65+mph with not much shake if you grip the wheel enough. could be better, but it was alot worse before. i also wanna get my outer tie rod ends replaced sometime cause the boot is torn, but for now i see no need to waste close to $200 for parts and install.

 
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The last post you did made it seem like the bushings were the problem, rather than improperly balanced tires. That's what I was commenting on. Then you go and edit your post - bastard! You are correct, you won't feel them unless you push them laterally.

outer tie rods are like a 30 min job and cost like $40 new. It's not that hard, why would you pay for install.

 
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wait what? i didnt edit anything lol. i just said that after the bushing install, my wheel was still shaking. the other shop told me torn bushing was to blame, so they were wrong not me haha. so are the crunchy noises normal for the ES bushing?

about the tie rods, i can get each side for $40, so thats around $80 total. now i heard its not hard to do, but then would i need another alignment??

 
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ideally, yes, there is some differentiation between all tie rod ends, but u can get it close if u mark the tie shaft

 
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what about the crunchy noise from the bushing, normal?

 
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did the installers lube the bushings and sleves? i bet its poly on metal.... i lubed the **** outta mine when i did it