Ok... so I discovered that my rear trailing arm bushings are ripping and shot. Mechanic says $750 to fix (all the labor of disassembly and cleaning out the old bushing). So I'm looking for alternatives.

Has anyone tride making their own urethane bushing using 3M Window Weld (caulking urethane) to fill the bushing? Example:

http://importnut.net/motormount.htm

This is a picture of a motor mount, but I'm thinking this will work for the rear trailing arm bushing too because it's not sollid.



BTW, if it turns out this doesn't work, can the urethan just be torched out? or what?

OR... has anyone installed urethane bushings to the rear trailing arm without removing the whole assembly?

 

you're talking about jacking up the car, squirting in urethane while everything is still together and on the car? It could'nt hurt, but bet on the car being debilitated for a couple days while it "sets."

I just took off the trailing arms and installed new bushings. Not particularly easy, but guaranteed to work. :dunno:

:edit: total cost ~$40 for bushings, total time spent probably 6 hours with lots of dremel/chisel time.h:

 

trailing arms.

 

Yea, I actually read the post lol. At any rate, just pull them off, drill out the old bushings, and put in the new ones.

 

The thing I'm worried about most is cleaning out the old bushing, cuz like you said, it's time consuming.

So... you said drill out the old bushing... Is that the only option if I don't want to take about the whole assembly? Isn't there a metal retaining ring in there to worry about?

I read that the ES bushing "doesn't need to be pressed in, but reuses the stock bushings metal hardware" while the prothane "needs to be pressed in, but has all of its own hardware". Does anyone have experience with these?

Also, if I use the 3M window weld method, does that mean I've done something permanent to my trailing arm?

Is this a good opportunity so just rear disc swap? (But I have the problem of finding a set that has ABS, as that's necessary.)

 

Ok... I'm finding some really informative stuff with askjeeves.com.

Conclusion is: URETHANE BUSHINGS ON TRAILING ARMS IS A BAD IDEA because it binds when the suspension needs to flex in a way other than the (obvious) axis.

http://www.ef-honda.com/ben/EFsustune.html
http://www.performanceforum.com/wesv...g/bushing.html

Not only that, it looks like the way the Civic trailing arm bushings are set up, ANYTIME YOU LOWER YOUR CAR FROM STOCK HEIGHT, YOU STRESS THE BUSHING. The reason is, the bushing can't rotate, so the resting height preloads the bushing. This makes me wonder if everyone who has lowered the car (and that's almost everyone here) is stressing their trailing arm bushings. Especially on older cars, that means ripping, which is what's happening to me.

http://web.ask.com/web?q=how+do+I+cl...vic&qsrc=0&o=0

 

umm... I installed ES trailing arm bushings two or three years ago and have been autocrossing, daily driving and having regular allignment checks since with absolutely no ill effects.

If you want to know what kind of effort is involved, do a search in my name (white_n_slow, Sh*tBox ) or Bumnah's name on the topic of bushing install, trailing arm bushings or anything like that. You should have no bushing stress issues (and definitely no tears) with any quality poly bushing unit.

 

Aside from some squeaking, urethane bushings are fine in the trailing arms. Yes, when you lower your car the bushings are stressed, but, if you "clock" the bushings, that is turning the bushing relative to the lowered height of the car, they will work fine with no undue stressing.

 

The easiest way to get the bushing out is to burn it out with a torch. Takes minutes instead of hours. Makes a stinky melting drippy mess. Heat up the metal parts until they're red-hot, then get a huge punch and a hammer and bang that sucker out.

WindowWeld is supposed to be used on engine and transmission mount bushings. I wouldn't use it on a suspension part, but it works great.

 

ppl who bitch bout polyurethane t/a bushings r pansies. at htech, they all r so scared to run em, talkin about stuff that u just describing, binding, ect ect :blah: i have ran my es poly t/a bushings for close to 2 years now with no problems and i love the stiffness feels it gives in the rear. and they r cheap, 35 bucks i paid from modacar for them.