Where can I find bushes cheaper?

Hi all,

Yesterday I had my suspension checked by Pedders due to a few noises here and there in the front. Found out there are a few suspension-related things (mainly bushes) that need to be replaced in the front-end.

Just for shits & giggles, I called a Honda dealer (that shall remain nameless) and priced up all the parts. It's basically a couple of small ball joints from the swaybar and a few bushes. $800!

Can anyone recommend a good place to get bushes & other such components for a far less ludicrous price?

I was thinking of ringing Repco, but can anyone suggest other places?

Cheers!

US ebay.

you can get an energy suspension polyurethane hyper flex kit which replaces almost every bush under the car for under 200aud delivered :thumbsup:


edit: link here

While you're replacing them it is probably a good idea to do the rear trailing arm bushes too, which are sold separately. They can be bought from the same seller for around 60aud delivered. Beats the honda oem price of ~100 per side

from past experience, n i live in SA aswell. If u want parts u gotta go either honda, or woodville honda wreckers that will supply most parts 2nd hand half decent condition but way overpriced, prolly better off gettin new.

Otherwise maybe pm a few interstate shops such as jdm concept/yard etc n c what they can do.

Perhaps even try somethin like an autobarn n they might have branded bushings etc (whiteline n that sorta stuff) but as far as i kno its mainly aftermarket sizes.

I must admit Adelaide is an expensive place 2 own a honda. Goodluck mate, let us kno wat u find coz im in the same boat, a lot of joints in my teg r gettin a bit squeaky.

Yeah energy suspension off ebay or if you want better quality the mugen ones are very good.You could check with Yonas at JDMYard.

The expencive part is not the bushes themselves but the install costs, some bushes need to be machine pressed and is quite time consuming.

Thanks for your help everyone. I may go for that energy suspension kit.

I will take off my front wheels tomorrow and have a look. I may be able to get away with only replacing a couple of things. I really don't want to have to spend a whole weekend replacing bushes (and getting some replaced professionally) unless I really have to!

I was going to replace all my bushes with the ES ones but I was reading how it makes your car shake/vibrate a lot.

I'm going to get the EnergySuspension kit for mine soon, but just replace the busted/suspicious ones instead of putting them all in - to try and keep vibration to a minimum.

That's a great idea.Hmmm,I might have to copy ya :)

Thanks for all the comments guys. Yes I'd agree that all urethane would make the car a lot stiffer, which may not be good, particularly if your local roads are shit (Adelaide local roads are terrible - potholes and raised sewage drain covers etc.. :S)

I spoke with a very experienced mechanic a while ago and he said that it's sometimes just best to use standard bushes instead of urethane, as it puts stress on other parts of the car. Then again, I'm the right one to talk - I have lowered springs and harder shocks! LOL

I also took my right front wheel off tonight and had a look at the bushes. The swaybar 'D' bushes (the ones that join it to the chassis) look a little worn, but the rest look fine. I'm not an expert in this field, but it's pretty easy to spot a worn bush, and I couldn't see any issues myself. I think i'll just buy new spring top mounts, new D bushes and strut top rubbers and install them first. If the noise is still there then I'll look at taking it to someone else to get checked out. I don't know that I trust Pedders very much....

Sir_Revalot,
i have 2 reccomendations and 3 words... energy suspension ftw.

these are $1000000000 cheaper then OEM.
picked up every single Bushing for my DC2 for under $250.

The Energy Suspension Master kit comes with every bushing except the Rear Trailing Arms.
Rear Trailing Arm bushing can be purchased from Sprint Auto Parts (heaps around in adelaide) or from Energy Suspension as well.

So where so u buy these ES Bushings?
http://www.energysusp.com.au/

Quote:

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Originally Posted by specialst

i have 2 reccomendations and 3 words... energy suspension ftw.

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But that's 5 words technically :D:D:D

today i completed my front bushings at a workshop with my mate and needless to say, the fronts were quite easy.

Also, a hoist press and rattle gun made life a zillion times easier.

total time to complete the front, 2hrs including smoko =D

Tmr me and my mate will do the rears... he says they will be a biatch to do. See how things go =]

wow, i just read every post in this thread and theres quite a few adelaide ppl on here lurking....

i thought i was the only person having bushing problems....

since theres so many ppl on here... i thought id add that since my front bushings have been done, i can say that it doesnt feel that much stiffer.. but ill add more tmr night after the rears are done. so far im just happy the squeaking an creaking has gone away..

be prepared to pay big bucks on labour =]

Thanks again for the replies all.

I did the shock top-mount bushes on the weekend and they were easy. Took about an hour all up. The noise is still there.. :(

I'm going to put my old front springs & shocks back in the front only and see if the noise remains. That will only cost me a small amount of time, but no money. At least that way I can tell for sure if it's the shock. Then again, it might not make the noise as the original suspension is so much softer. It's worth a try though. If that fails, looks like i'll be buying some bushes from eBay!

prolly the control arms

Cheers Specialist. I'm thinking that as well. Was listening to the noise as I was driving home from a friend's place about half an hour ago. I reckon it's the Radius bushes. Pedders said that they were noisy. I also forgot to mention above that Pedders were right about the shock top-mount bushes. They looked OK externally, but they were quite squashed and didn't have that slight movement that rubber should have (compared to the new ones I got).

I'm going to get a set of Hardrace rubber bushes from eBay US. Just waiting on a response from seller as to how much postage will be. They include radius bushes (full separate unit so I don't even have to take the control arms out!), front control arm bushes, rear trailing arm bushes plus some others. Should be around $250 delivered, which is far better than Honda's OEM price!

For the control arms I'd just take them both out, ride my pushie to the nearest mechanic with them and get them to press out the bushes, press the new ones in and then take 'em home and install them myself. Rear trailing arms are the hardest, but you can get a tool from Matco (USA) specifically designed to do these and you don't even have to take the arms out to do them with that tool either!

I'd be interested to know how you go with your replacements too, given that we're doing the same thing.

just email Dave from http://www.energysusp.com.au/. he's prices are cheaper then ebay ;) since he is a wholesaler direct to the public.

i got everything there. except the trailing arm bushings which i bought from sprint auto.

yeah u gotta have a press to push out the control arm and trailing arms. oOoo interesting tool u speak of, let me know more when u use it.

unfortunately my mate has been a bastard and procrastinating on the rears... LOL but they'll be done soon enough. yeh, we'r doin the same thing n we even in the same city...hehe

Not surprising we're doing the same thing in the same city. I guess all Integras of ~10 years old would need this done, particularly if they have aftermarket suspension installed.

I reckon I'll go for mostly rubber bushes. Urethane doesn't have much play in it and can sometimes prematurely wear other components. With certain parts I'll use Urethane if I have to, but will try to avoid it if I can. A few of my bushes at the moment are Urethane (upper wishbone mounts in the front - due to camber kit installation - & rear swaybar; an aftermarket item).

The only downside with the Matco tool is that it costs around $300 and it's unlikely one could be sourced locally (it's been specifically created only to do that job). There's a great suspension place in Edwardstown called 'Action Suspension' - they deal with crash-damaged suspension and can do any suspension job. I've had a few things done there so far and their prices are good (as is their work). I'm going to see what they'd charge to replace the rear trailing arm bushes. If they want to charge more than the tool will cost then I'll do it myself. If they charge less, I'll get them to do it as I really CBF having to do the job and wait for the tool to arrive from OS if they can do it for less!!