[downest]

I've been doing a lot of hard cornering now that I have my new suspension and tires (it's hard to resist!). When I go decently fast, my car sort of shakes while I'm in the corner. A friend who was riding with me today suggested worn bushings, could that be the problem? I don't doubt the bushings are old and worn, but if they are the cause of this I need to start ordering parts.

 

[SETI20]

Yes that's a good possibility. Especially the lower control arm and connecting rod bushings.

Check out the joints too.

 

[bmaca455]

i may be having a similar problem. I just noticed today that when i corner hard I get a sort of clunking/shaking that appears to be coing from the rear passenger tire.

 

[dohcya]

a very good indicator of worn/bad bushings without looking at your bushings is to drive your car on a dirt road with a decent amount of gravel with some ruts or shallow potholes. you will hear the "metal on metal clanking like sound"; this is lack of movement/energy absorption of your bushings as you drive. you need not drive fast, just meander along and you will know for a fact that its the bushings that most likely need replaced. also, how many miles are on your car?

 

[downest]

Not too many...

I've inspected them since I made the post, and I'm pretty sure the trailing arm bushings are gone, and someone also said the rack end bushings are probably bad too.

 

[dohcya]

lol, "not many"; me either lol. i just rolled 217k on mine last week; she's just now broken in =P. I too need to replace the bushings on my front end and the chatter on my car is horrible at times. I have a friend who had energy suspension bushings installed all the way around on his crx and he says he loves it. The thing is, the entire energy suspension kit runs around 150. Of course, that includes everything. I want to replace it all; might as well take care of everything at once and not take any shortcuts. Are you looking at replacing the bushings in the near future?

 

[downest]

Yes, I was going to do them along with the shocks and springs a couple of weeks ago, but I backed out at the last minute because of the really harsh ride I'd heard so much about. I think I'm going to replace everything, but with a combination of poly and rubber, I've been looking into which I need to do in rubber and which polyurethane. I want to do it before the summer, I can use the hydraulic press at the shop at school which will make it much easier.

 

[dohcya]

Thats awesome that you have access to the press; my buddy didn't and he had to get a shop to press them in. Energy's website says you can press them in by yourself but I havent talked to or seen anyone that has been able to do it without a hydro press. Lemme know how it goes if you get it all done in the near future. I will also let you know as I think it is one of my very near future buys/upgrades to my car.

 

[downest]

There will be a write up. I'm not really looking forward to it though, bushings are a dirty, pain in the ass job that I don't enjoy at all.

 

[dohcya]

indeed; i am not looking forward to it myself. the benefits are soooo tempting and i can't wait to pair up the good bushings with my current suspension set up. i really haven't gotten a complete feel of how smooth the crx should feel yet.

 

[downest]

What's your suspension setup?

 

[dohcya]

its not the greatest but i havent sacrificed drivability and have gained lots of performance. i have the tokico illumina's. they are the 5 way adjustable damping struts. i used the tokico springs that were build/researced/engineered for the crx; got everything from the company for a good price. the ride quality is sooooo good even on the hardest setting. for tires/wheels im running 15" konig heliums(10.8lbs each) with falken ziex 512 (195/50/r15). REALLY light wheel/tire setup! i love it everything with the exception of the blown blushings! ugh..... im getting there though!

 

[downest]

I also have the 5ways, set to 3 front and 5 rear. The springs you have are stock rate, but lowering. I installed those with my friend on his Mazda. Still, it's pretty amazing what a difference the shocks make, even with stock springs. I'm running Ground Controls (Eibach) with my Tokicos, on 14" HX wheels with 195/60-14 Falken Azenis. It's kind of harsh, but a lot of that is the crappy roads around here. On the highway, it's smooth, and even on smooth pavement it's not bad. The bushings don't chatter until I'm pretty hard into a corner, more than I could have gone with the stock suspension and all seasons for sure. I don't mind the vibration, but I'm worried about it unseating the car mid-corner.

 

[dohcya]

Ahhhh sweet! Did you go with the pro setup or the sportlines? My buddy wants to take that same route that you have taken with the illuminas and the eibachs. I forget which spring lowers more but he wants the lower spring. I used to have the hx wheels on my crx before i bought my konigs. I love both wheel setups. They both are real light.

 

[downest]

I don't know which, GCs come with a standard rate and also the customs. I didn't know that when I ordered them, so I have the standard ones. I believe they are 350/250 or something like that. I switched the front and rear springs, they are the same size (8") with different rates. The idea is to lessen understeer, and it seems to work pretty well. Lifting off the throttle mid corner makes the car swing around where I want it. At first I was wishing I had ordered the customs, which I think are 350/450, but since I live in Troy, I think the ones I have are good for now. I may end up upgrading once I get used to the ride as it is. I don't know if the customs are a different size or not.