Well, with 217k on the SE-i, and probably 75k on the Bilsteins, I've lately been hearing some noises in the rear when I hit a sharp bump. Also, squeaking in the front when I turn the wheel. Time for some fresh parts. I already have a camber adjustment kit and some bushings (rear swing arm and rear shock lower) ready to go in, so I decided to get all new bushings, save the front sway bar and radius arm bushings, and the rear upper arm stuff, which is virtually new. It took me two hours of plowing through Majestic's pages to order, ultimately, 22 lines of parts (57 total pieces). Along the way, I called Bilstein to see if the shock mounting bushings were different than Honda's (they aren't, but I also was told that the Bilstein "lifetime" warranty doesn't apply if they've been revalved, even by them (bummer)).
I told my mechanic to reserve me a couple of days of his time, cause the whole front and rear suspension is going to have to be torn apart. Apparently, the big bushings in the front of the rear trailing arms aren't too easy to get out, and the rear shock lower bushing has to be pressed into the knuckle.
The only thing I skipped over was the steering tie rod ends. Do they wear appreciably? I have no leaks there, so for now decided to leave the steering alone.
I'm pumped to have everything be new-tight. Cost of all those little bushings, plus upper and lower front arms/ball joints: $852.00. Better than the $1,200 my local dealer would have charged.
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