i finally got around to installing my springs/struts....

wouldnt you know i get 3/4 done and the strut bolt on the rear passenger side breaks at the head... this is the bolt that holds the strut to the LCA.

so i cut the bracket off the strut (turned the n to r) and removed the strut only to find out the bolt is frozen inside the bushing. i called my friend who is an acura tech and he told me when that happens, they replace the LCA

cant i just replace the bushing? this sucks, my car is on jackstands til further notice :sad:

hopefully somebody can tell me this happened to them and let me know how the dealt with it.

 

I had to burn that fokker out with a torch, hack at it with a sawzall, pound the bujeezus out of it with a punch and learn a few new curse words to get that thing out. I ended up totally destroying the bushing. Yeah, you could just replace the bushing, but you'd need to take the LCA out to do all the work. The shop probably just replaces the LCA to cut down on the PITA and charge people more for parts.

When you put the new one in and bolt it up, use some anti-sieze so this never happens again... I swear this is one of the most common civic/teg issues... it really sucks

 

very common. i had to drill those bastards out.

 

yeah i knew i had heard of it happening to people before... trust me some words were said to the car and anybody else within an earshot...

once i destroy that bushing, im gonna make a keychain with it so i can constantly remind myself that i owned that f*ker

ill sleep better knowing that i dont have to find an LCA - the fear of being without my car for any extended period of time was gonna eat away at my sleep habits...

hopefully, the local honda dealership has that bushing and a bolt to hold my strut in and i can give the car some hell with the new susp. on it....

 

i went to my local honda dealership... 28 bucks for the bushing, 7 bucks for the bolt... i paid an extra 15 to get it here tomorrow afternoon so i dont have to leave my car in the garage too much longer.

tonites project is gettin the old one out, tomorrow hopefully i have time to get the new one in....

how hard was it for you guys to put the new on in? hopefully not as hard as i know removing the old one is gonna be.

 

I put in aftermarket ones, so my experience probably wont help. I'm pretty sure you'll need a press to get the OEM ones in.

 

removing the old one turned out to be easy, i think cuz of the way that i cut the strut bracket...

just hoping i got teh whole thing out...

im gonna install the new bushing with a c clamp and washers... and a lot of hell... seems to have worked in the past and im sure it will work again

 

my dad and i were able to salvage the bushings. we had to be careful, but we were able to drill out just the bolts without so much as leaving a scratch.

granted, we had to take out the entire LCAs as to allow us to more easily attack the seized bolts.

 

i left the lca on... i didnt give a damn for the bushing so i got it out with relative ease.... im not so sure puttin the new one back in will be so easy but with the help of my trusty c clamp and washers, i think i can persuade it to go in.

 

i ran into the same problem with my suspension last week. I ended up taking the LCA out, brought it to a machine shop, they used a 50 ton pneumatic press, pushed out the bolt and ripped the bushing. then torched what was left of the rubber bushing. never-seezed the hell outta the new one, and stuck it in.