I have a 96 accord EX with 185K miles. I will be replacing a failed upper control arm bushing on the passenger side and a driver's side axle with a bad boot. I will also be rebuilding calipers and replacing brakes.

My question is... as long as I will be tearing apart some of the suspension, does it make sense to replace any or all of the bushings. This is no show car and I don't drive it hard, so I don't really have a complaint with any issues, but I was considering this might be a good opportunity to tighten things up a bit.

Is there a way to tell if a bushing is any good?

Are most aftermarket bushings ok? I fear replacing 15 yr old bushings with new ones that might wear faster.

Are there any parts that are a no brainer for replacement.

I bought a pair of lower ball joints and will be replacing those if there is any sign of play or issues with the rubber boot.

Thanks for your help and for sharing your opinons and experience.

 

Replace any bushings if there's any looseness, or the rubber is crumbling apart.

Aftermarket bushings are usually harder & stiffer for performance. If you do that, you gotta do them all. Otherwise replace any bad ones with stock.

Check the rubber boots for all the other balljoints. Any that are torn can be replaced without replacing the actual balljoint. Of course, if it's been torn open for awhile & dirt got in there, then the balljoint itself is probably on its way to destruction.

 

Thanks Jim. Sounds like good advice. I will only look to replace the ones that have issues.

 

I have not done it yet but I will soon. It needs to be done and I have two cores to return. If u are looking for info on a similar problem, the upper control arm is easy and the axle looks more complicated. There was a good axle replacement video on youtube from/ eric the car guy

 

I found that my sway bar links were pretty badly worn. I attempted to replace them with parts from honda. When I took the links apart, i found a lot of corrosion on several steel sleeves that I hadn't purchased. I wound up returning the honda bushings and going with a napa link. I got their standard quality link and it appears to be OK. They had a harder bushing for a buck or two more, but were out of stock. I also replaced the larger bushings on the sway bar, but the originals seemed like they were in decent shape.

The only other part of the suspension that looked a little beat up were the rubber bushings that were on the tie rod ends where they meet the knuckle. The boots were worn, but I left them as is.

 

Beware those rubber boots (tierods & balljoints). If they crack open, the grease dries out & the joint can get loose or worse, come apart. The rubber boot can be replaced to prevent the whole joint from going bad.