Radius Arm Bushings, have you done yours? you should.
quarters
Council Member
Anyone that's been on the board lately knows of all my suspension problems over the years. you name it, i've had it go wrong. This last week was the radius arm bushings. these bushings are OFTEN overlooked as they are not really visible.
ordered some a complete repair kit, ( MOOG part #K9735) comes with the little metal sleeves and washers. At first i was just going to order the bushings, glad i didn't.
first nut i try to take off is the one on the front of the pass. side arm, SNAP. the nut & part of the arm snap off. it was completely rust welded on there and the sleeve had been hammered out and was never going to come off anyway. I took off the other side without a problem. FYI: remove the two bolts on the control arm before attempting the front nut. You won't be able to get a socket & extension on there otherwise.
next morning: waiting at the wrecker before they open, he knows me by name already and just kinda laughs to himself when he see's me. i grab an arm off a wagon and he says i can just take it. BONUS! Get home, put it all back together and.... things are noticeably better. The car now tracks nice and straight, even after my alignment last week it was all over the place, not anymore.
IF YOU CAN BEND YOUR BUSHING IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND IT IS SHOT! the new moog bushings where about 1/2" taller than my completely worn out and pancaked bushings. that's a lot. i could also bend them in my hand. the new ones, i tried jumping on them, hitting them, and even jedi mind tricks would not change their shape.
So what i am really getting at is... for a $35 kit and about an hour of your time you can noticeably improve your car's feel. and you probably already have the very minimal amount of tools required.
-17mm deep socket (1 nut on front of the radius arm)
-swivel adapter thingy for the socket (this will save you much frustration but it can be done without it)
-17mm wrench (2 bolts on the control arm)
-10mm socket (removal of plastic under rad support)
-screwdriver (removal of the plastic wheel well stuff)
-19mm (only if you take the wheels off, you don't actually need to but it makes the job easier)
-a few extensions for your ratchet as well.
you don't even need to raise the car if you don't want to.
i used some grease on the metal sleeve as well.
no pics as usual.
even the most mechanically challenged can do this.
ordered some a complete repair kit, ( MOOG part #K9735) comes with the little metal sleeves and washers. At first i was just going to order the bushings, glad i didn't.
first nut i try to take off is the one on the front of the pass. side arm, SNAP. the nut & part of the arm snap off. it was completely rust welded on there and the sleeve had been hammered out and was never going to come off anyway. I took off the other side without a problem. FYI: remove the two bolts on the control arm before attempting the front nut. You won't be able to get a socket & extension on there otherwise.
next morning: waiting at the wrecker before they open, he knows me by name already and just kinda laughs to himself when he see's me. i grab an arm off a wagon and he says i can just take it. BONUS! Get home, put it all back together and.... things are noticeably better. The car now tracks nice and straight, even after my alignment last week it was all over the place, not anymore.
IF YOU CAN BEND YOUR BUSHING IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND IT IS SHOT! the new moog bushings where about 1/2" taller than my completely worn out and pancaked bushings. that's a lot. i could also bend them in my hand. the new ones, i tried jumping on them, hitting them, and even jedi mind tricks would not change their shape.
So what i am really getting at is... for a $35 kit and about an hour of your time you can noticeably improve your car's feel. and you probably already have the very minimal amount of tools required.
-17mm deep socket (1 nut on front of the radius arm)
-swivel adapter thingy for the socket (this will save you much frustration but it can be done without it)
-17mm wrench (2 bolts on the control arm)
-10mm socket (removal of plastic under rad support)
-screwdriver (removal of the plastic wheel well stuff)
-19mm (only if you take the wheels off, you don't actually need to but it makes the job easier)
-a few extensions for your ratchet as well.
you don't even need to raise the car if you don't want to.
i used some grease on the metal sleeve as well.
no pics as usual.
even the most mechanically challenged can do this.
Comments
Can't really say it fixed my suspension problems, I just did them along with a complete suspension overhaul.
Something for us rust belters to keep in mind.
i also had the suspension shift around, new bushings fixed it right up.
yessur!
I used a torque wrench when I did mine back in August. Followed the Honda Repair Manual specs.
today i noticed that when i was turning right at highway speeds i would get a lot of thudding and vibration. Pulled over, and instinctively looked at the nuts on the front of the radius rods. the one on the right had backed off about 3/4".
Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I'll be replacing my Radius/Strut Rod bushings here shortly and was curious about these torque specs. I don't have a manual and couldn't find anything on google. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks.
I know this is an old post but I just wanted to add that if you are just replacing the bushings, and there is no hardware with the kit, you need to order a new self locking nut for the end of the radius rod from a Honda dealership. The nuts are made to only be torqued down once, and so once they have been removed they don't self lock very well again, and the actual amount that you should torque them is different. So make sure and use new self locking nuts and DON'T OVER TORQUE ANY SUSPENSION COMPONENT PEOPLE!!
FSM specs are 32 lb-ft for the self locking end nut, make sure not to over torque it! If you have to reuse an old self locking nut then at least put some loctite on it.
Thanks for the info!