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I knew last August that I'd eventually have to replace some bushings after I saw some rubber starting to split. But after hearing a bit of squeak/grinding going over some "nice" speed bumps I decided to check again and found this.



So time to get ordering parts. Car is an 04 Civic EX manual. I am planning on getting Energy Suspension bushings but I've seen some people saying that the polyurethane bushings can cause problems like causing control arms to fail. Is that true? If so are there any up rated control arms available for the front? I know there are some for the rear.

Now, as for upgrades, since the bushings would help give better handling I was thinking of replacing my sway bars as i have seen people saying that upgrading really helped. I have seen some people use bars from other models of car and some using upgrade kits such as from progress Progress. Any recommendations on which route to go or which kit to get?
This car will eventually become my project car and I am planning full suspension upgrades and a K swap so if third part kits would be better then I would like to go that route.

I know its a lot of questions but I appreciate all the help and advice

 
Rep Power: 196

I don't think I've ever heard of the front control arms failing from ES bushings. As far as I know pretty much everyone who used them loves them. They will just squeak a bit in the cold if you get the red ones. Also I don't believe anybody makes a performance front control arm. Just stock replacement

The front sway bar should be more than adequate, but a lot of people (including myself) have the RSX rear sway bar (either 19 or 21mm depending on model if I remember right.) I would stick with one of those until you go all out on the suspension.

 
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Thanks for all the info

So go for black instead of red and try and get a cheap RSX sway bar until I am doing everything else.

I was looking at the ES catalog and it has 2 sizes listed for the front sway bar, is it 16mm or 1 inch?

Oh and is there any reason that the red's squeak more than the black?
Never mind, found the answer.

 
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Sounds like a good plan!

It depends on the year. I think the 7th gen either came with a 24 mm hollow front bar (1 inch) or a 16 mm solid bar (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I forget which years had what though. I want to say 03-05 had the solid 16 mm bar. If all else fails just measure it. You'll easily be able to tell which size it is since there's such a big difference.

 
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I forgot to ask, is there a specific year of RSX bar to get or anything from the 01-06 range?

 
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Are you talking about the rear or front rsx sway bar?

All rsx rear sway bars are 19mm
All rsx-s rear sway bars are 21mm
Rsx front are 24mm

The civic has a 24mm in the front with the exception of the 2001

2001 has a 27mm front sway bar

 
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is it worth upgrading the front sway bar? cuz im getting the rear and a strut bar in the future...is it wise to get the front sway bar or is that the same as a strut bar?

 
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there is no need to upgrade the front to a bigger bar. our cars are designed to understeer (not good, but honda purposely makes our cars understeer for safty reasons), and if you put a bigger front sway bar, it'll cause our cars to understeer even MORE.

what you want is a bigger sway bar in the rear to neutralize the handling. ask anyone who has a 19mm or 21mm rear rsx sway bar and they'll tell you how much better their car handles....even on stock suspension.

 
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Talking Rear sway bar, forgot to add that part. Is there much of a difference in terms of handling between the 19mm and the 21mm?

 
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I picked up a nice RSX Type-S rear sway bar over the weekend and now going to order some nice black Energy Suspension bushings. I went out and measured the front sway bar and it's a 16mm so i think it's more than just the 2001 that has the 16mm bar.

Also, since I am going from a 12mm to a 21mm rear sway bar would i need to upgrade the links that connect the sway bar to the trailing arm?

 
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if they start clunking or other kind of noise, yes easy enough to replace, waiting for them to arrive takes way more longer.

 
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So I can just leave them for now and go ahead with the rest of my upgrades. Time to order some bushings

 
Rep Power: 367

sway bar listings can be found here :P

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/4...-vehicles.html