This has been covered for pressed in trailing arm bushings, but not for E.S. bushings. This job is fairly easy, it will take you about 3-4 hours max. Here’s the list of tools you will need to get the job done
safety glasses
shop gloves
2 standard screwdrivers
2 crescent wrenches
1 blunt ended plier
12mm open/closed or ratchet wrench
14mm open/closed or ratchet wrench
14mm socket
19mm socket
1 propane bottle torch
2 jackstands
1 floor jack
Oh yeah before I forget…Bushings. I’ve heard many stories with the Energy Suspension (ES) bushings that they pop out. I have installed these on my older 91 Civic sedan and am yet to experience, they’ve been on their for at least 5 years now. Another thing I’d recommend you do before the installation is to install a Zerk fitting. However, E.S. sells the black bushings which are embedded with a lubricating material.
Lets begin. You’ll need the following items to start the installation of your project. ES says to get 3 ½” washers from your favorite hardware store…I went to Home Depot, Loewe’s and ACE hardware, could not find that size. So I improvised, don’t ask how I came up with this idea but it worked very well. Go to the electrical aisle and pick out 4, 3 ½” round electrical housing plates, it will have a partially punched center. While at Ace I picked up 5” X5/8ths” bolt and nut, along with 2 fender washers as they are called for extra support. Using these will make the installation easier after you remove the older bushings. Please note that you can use any lubricant available, I just used the provided tubes of what appears to be petrol. jelly. Also 2 open ended adjustable crescent wrenches and 2 std. “-“ screwdrivers.
Now at this point your ready to get the car in the air.
Be sure to use wheel chocks so the car doesn’t move accidentally causing you bodily harm or even death.
I placed 2 jack stands under neath the sub assy. and kept the floor jack on the car for extra support.
The best way to perform the replacement is to remove the complete Trailing Arm itself. Before you do this. Remove the Brake assembly by simply unbolting it from the T.A. and also remove the E-Brake.
To remove the e-brake you will need to remove the U shaped clip that is just held in place by a bracket and the cable itself. Just slide it of with a pair pliers. Finally remove the small pin and wire lock. pull the cable off completely from the Trailing Arm and also remove 2 bolts 1 that is on the arm itself and 1 that is on the car body.
NOTE: Make a mental note of how the Rear Trailing Arm bushing is mounted. the Pin that held in place inside the bushing has unequal arm lengths. The longer portion should be on the inside of the body and the shorter on the outside or closest to you.
Now using the image below, remove only the bolts that are colored in GREEN. They are the Upper Arm bolt, Lower Arm Bolt, the 2 RTA Bushing Bolts, and the 1 at the end of the Trailing Arm, a total of 5. The Circled bolt colored in BLUE is the compensator arm adjusting bolt. This bolt doesn’t need to be removed or loosened. If you do remove it, dire consequences will take place and your job is screwed. JUST DON’T DO IT.
REMOVE THE BOLTS IN THIS PATTERN AND REVERSE THE PATTERN WHEN YOU PUT THE TRAILING ARM BACK ON.
- Lower Arm Bolt, remove from the SubFrame. Just loosen the bolt that is holding the lower arm in place. Size 14mm.
- Rear Trailing Arm Bushing Bolts. Size 19mm
- Compensator Bolt (remember only to remove the bolt that is directly on the Trailing Arm itself). Size 12mm
- Finally the Upper Arm Bolt. Size 14mm.
Now that you have the entire Trailing Arm removed. Let the fun begin. Take your propane torch and light it up…the old bushing that is. This will take about 30-40 min to completely remove all of the rubber from the bushing cylinder. Be sure to also remove all of the rubber from the steel pin, this will be reused. The 2 curved metal pieces can be tossed.
Unfortunately I didn’t take any pics of the actual insertion of the bushings themselves.
Once you’ve smoothed out all of the rubber from the pin and bushing cylinder you’ll end up with a smooth as a babies butt surface. So now let’s get those bushings on. OK so now you’ll need to grab the bolt, nut and all the tools as I indicated on the first pic. To load the bushing you’ll need to prep the RTA first with ES lube, use the whole tube. Next place the bushing on the outside of the RTA (rotor side), place 2 of the “aftermarket” washers on top then the fender washer and finally the screw. Slide the other 4 items from the bottom and start cranking until you see the bushing begin to slide itself in. It will go in at an angle. Now slow down the cranking once you get about ¾ of it into the cylinder. Here’s the critical part and I’ll explain more on this on the next photo. Pretend you are installing a tire onto your bicycle rim; only things are opposite each other. The rim is the bushing and tire is the Cylinder. Take the 2 screwdrivers and with the flat-side place them in between the cylinder and bushing, space them equally apart. Next flip the screwdrivers up at the same time, also while hold the bushing (otherwise get a friend to help) you’ll notice that the remainder of the bushing will begin to tuck into the cylinder. Once you get everything in simply apply some pressure with your hand on top of the bushing, remove the screw drivers and it should slide all the way through the other end.
Here’s an idea of you you will set up the install. Since I already have my RTA installed you will have to imagine that the long screw and its 3 base washers on one side of the RTA while the Bushing is resting on top of the other side, along with its three washers in place and the nut.
This is how it looks once its installed.
Now that you have the bushings installed put everything back together.
This is how it should look once installed back on the car.
