Ok. I have been looking for a solution to this for a while (a solution other than paying OPM $165 for some modded mugen bushings) and now I think one has been found. See, this guy named Wes Vann (his site is here) started e-mailing me regarding some mugen bushings he had bought. He said that he took them to his local honda dealer and they whipped out a fresh set of OEM civic TA bushings for $37 each. He e-mailed me to correct what I had written on my site, which said youd have to buy the whole damn arm or some mugen bushings. Well, to my knowledge (and most everyone elses, including all the honda dealerships in my area) I was right. But it turns out honda issued a service bulletin (#00-006 dated Dec 11, 2001) regarding these little fuckers on 88-00 civics. It gives a part number for real OEM TA bushings and the instructions to install it (they even have driver tools to press it in and out!!).
So the part numbers are:
52385-SR3-000 for both sides
07965-6920201 for the “hub driver”
07GAF-SE00401 for the “hub base”
“so how the hell does this help me?” you ask. Well it seems that the OD on these babies is the exact same as the ID on the outer rings on your stock DA bushings. Yeah, you can press the EF ones in the hole you make by burning out the old bushings. Cool, eh? Wes already did it. I am going to do it too, but I may weld the DA ring into the TA before i go about pressing these in.
"At the dealer, with both Mugen and original Honda in hand, you can’t tell the difference!!! I didn’t want to totally remove the Honda one from the bag for fear of losing track of which was mine. "
then he said:
"After writing to you, I called King Motorsport (the only US importer of Mugen parts) and Optimum Performance Machines, Inc. (whom I bought them from, they get them from King). I was told that the Mugen bushings have about 120% stiffer rubber. They are cast from the same molds as the Honda ones. Neither of the company representatives knew that Honda now sells the bushings (without having to buy the whole trailing arm) and (obviously), neither has had one in each hand at the same time to compare them.
There is no way that the Mugen ones are more than twice as stiff as the ones that I looked at the Honda dealer! "
So maybe they are using the stiffer bushings from mugen. Who knows.
You should have posted the question. I could have answered you sooner. Yes, that bulletin is correct, and I have sold a lot of them. My cost is $35 each out the door
oh and about your difference question, the Mugen ones are quite stiffer. I spoke with someone who is using them, and he said it was worth the money.
good info ben. I’d heard people say you could buy the bushings separate, and I believe I even saw a scan of the bulletin w/ the instructions. Although what people say online is not always the truth, so I never put to much credit towards it.
Thats nice if people can spend $70 instead of the $115 from King and still have to deal with getting DC trailing arms, or paying $165 at OPM.
Since I got the Mugen’s already… I sure hope they’re stiffer
well vern, where were you on the long ass TA bushing thread. Do you guys ever replace the bushings for free?? It says this on the bulletin:
“Any repair performed after warranty expiration may be eligible for goodwill consideration by the District Service Manager or your Zone Office. You must request consideration, and get a decision, before starting work.”
or do all of them say that?
Did the guy have the new honda bushings (the ones with the part # above) then switch to the mugen bushings? Or did he go from old stockies to the mugen bushings?
Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that you can press the EF bushings into the DA arms by using the DA outer as a sleeve type thing. So screw an extra $50 for OPM’s modified EF bushings.
Originally posted by Ben Ogle
[B]well vern, where were you on the long ass TA bushing thread. Do you guys ever replace the bushings for free?? It says this on the bulletin:
“Any repair performed after warranty expiration may be eligible for goodwill consideration by the District Service Manager or your Zone Office. You must request consideration, and get a decision, before starting work.”
or do all of them say that?
Did the guy have the new honda bushings (the ones with the part # above) then switch to the mugen bushings? Or did he go from old stockies to the mugen bushings?
Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that you can press the EF bushings into the DA arms by using the DA outer as a sleeve type thing. So screw an extra $50 for OPM’s modified EF bushings.
Ben [/B]
I dont even remember a TA thread. I may have posted in it even though I dont remember. He went from new stock, to new mugen.
Originally posted by 92GS-R I dont even remember a TA thread. I may have posted in it even though I dont remember. He went from new stock, to new mugen.
vern, i linked to the thread in my previous post to this thread…lots of good TA bushing info.
I don’t know if this has been discussed or not in the 100 or so posts discussing trailing arm bushings. But has anyone considered making a mold of an ES bushing and using it to poor their own bushings and experiment with different mixes to get different stiffness bushings?
wow. A lot of feed back already. Remember guys, I didnt think this one up. That was mr wes vann. All i’m doing is passing along the good news.
Dave, wouldnt that be more work than its worth? I mean ~$75 isnt that much money but making a mold, getting rubber, heating it up, and doing all the other crap just seems like it would be. Plus youd have to make/get outer sleeves to pour the rubber into. Ewwww…I mean Im a DIYer but damn.
Originally posted by Haberdasher
[B]I don’t know if this has been discussed or not in the 100 or so posts discussing trailing arm bushings. But has anyone considered making a mold of an ES bushing and using it to poor their own bushings and experiment with different mixes to get different stiffness bushings?
Just thought I’d throw that out there. [/B]
Using urethane like the place racing motor mounts… Yummy
Ben and the rest,
Mugen bushings do seem like a stock bushing, but they aren’t. They go through a process that the japanese call “impregnation” and from what I can tell them fill the rubber formula with a metallic and then suck any of the air out of the mold. I’ve seen pictures of the process, its no wonder they cost so much. If you have the funds and can afford the Mugens, go with them.
J.
once again great post ben, thanks for the info
Do you guys ever replace the bushings for free?? It says this on the bulletin:
