Removing and replacing rear struts on '90 wagon

lalunettelalunette familEE
in Suspension, Braking & Wheels
The process seems pretty straitgh forward so I want to replace the rear struts myself. I also want to replace the bushings on the trailing arms.

I know I have to jack up the car and secure it before I remove the bolts holding down the struts and the trailing arms. The workshop manual adewuately details this process.

However, don't I have to do something to the springs so they won't come shooting out or does jacking up the car remove the load on the springs?

Can anyone describe the process for me??

Thx !!

Comments

  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    Hi!

    The spring and shock should unbolt as one and you will need to use a spring compressor to remove the spring from the shock.

    :D
  • kyle h.kyle h. Wagonist
    You remove the spring and strut as one piece, use a spring compressor to compress the spring, remove the mounting/bearing plate, slide the spring over the new strut, install bearing/mounting plate. uncompress spring.

    the trailing arm bushings are fun! May I suggest using a torch and burning them out. Replace them with something nice like ES. They are the same bushings from all civics.
  • lalunettelalunette familEE
    Thx for the awesome info.

    Concerning the bushings, a fellow car hobbyist who owns a '52 Vauxhall is going to show me his method for removing and installing bushings using a C-clamp... but burning them out sounds like fun !!
  • shenrieshenrie Council Member
    A c-clamp??? That c-clamp better have a longass handle! Those bushings are in there good. We use a press and the correct sized socket to press them out, and that stresses the press quite a bit. Like stated before, a torch will work pretty effortlessly, but that method is very messy and smelly. If it were me and I didnt have access to a press, Id find someone with a vice and a good set of oversized sockets.
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    Dont use a torch. if your unexperieinced with a torch, use the C-clamp method. People have used the torch and ended up warping the trailing arms.

    Hondas official method is to use a rubber hammer.
  • kyle h.kyle h. Wagonist
    The trick to the torch.

    Take trailing arm off.
    Burn bushing.
    Eventually bushing with catch fire.
    Walk away.
    Repeat until you can get the rest of the rubber off with a wire wheel (motor driven).

    I took my trailing arms to the local mechanic up the street, to have them pressed in and out, among some other work to be done to them. He gave them back to me in the same state that I gave them to him. Said he couldn't do it. More like he didn't feel like doing it...but you get my point.

    also I severly doubt you can warp a trailing arm by using a standard automotive torch (can't remember the name of the gas, not map gas!)
  • HaydzHaydz Moderator
    No way you'd ever catch me heating it up to the pint where it catchs fire, but thats just my humble opinion. All you need to do is loosen the outside of the bush as it is vulcanised in place, heat can do this but the honda tech says you dont actually need the heat. Then you can belt it through with a rubber hammer. It takes 30 minutes if you leave the arm on the car... ;)

    I actually just called the service dept and they told me this over the phone.
  • SystemSystem
    I can see there are quite a few different opinions on the best way to remove bushings...

    I'm a bit of a fire bug myself but only when it involves things that are meant to burn and I don't risk burning anything important... like my Honda...

    I think I'll try the C-clamp method and report on my progress...

    Of course none of this will occur until the weather improves here in Fortress Arctic (aka Canada).

    Cheers !!
  • kyle h.kyle h. Wagonist
    doesnt take much to catch fire, seeing as it's dry rotted rubber. are we speaking of the same bushing? Maybe it's because I installed the ES bushings, they dont have the metal bushing around the rubber, you are too leave the stock metal bushing in place and cut/burn/remove all the rubber from in, and then clean and slide back together...which is where I used something like a c-clamp. get some pictures of this feat!
  • quartersquarters Council Member
    i just did these bushings yesterday... PAIN IN THE ARSE! be sure to take the LCA (lower control arm) completely off the car. Good chance you'll run into siezed bushings (like all of mine) have fun cutting bolts. buring the bushings out and then using a bushing cutter tool on an air hammer works good. you may turn into macguiver before your done.

    you'll know when you see it... pain in the arse, i'd rather change the motor again than do anymore bushings.
  • loodoodloodood Band Wagon
    ha ha bushings are a nightmare!!!!! i took off every part that had a rubber bushing (on my ef) and took them all to work so i could use a hydro-press......if i remember correctly the gage was reading right around 18-20,000lbs of pressure and about 20 seconds of warping the half inch thick steel press table b4 popping the bushing against the floor...and across the shop. i had to turn custom fixture bushings so that i wouldn't stress the condrol arms/trailing arms and bend them all to hell with the pressure. sounds funny but true, and i can't even imagine how long it would take to do this with a rubber mallet...or without it removed from the car...lol. they were put in with a press, and never intended to be replaced; i guess these manufacturers would expect you to get a whole new arm once the rubber rots away.
  • sic944tsic944t Wagonist
    if you take a dremel tool air air pencil grinder with a tiny carbide bur tip you can cut the rubber than score the metal enough for it to pop easy with a chisel
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