sway bar bushing question

**Mantis88LX** · 09-14-2002, 01:16 PM

ok im upgrading my lx with lxi front and rear sway bars, can i get energy suspention bushings for it? if so what is the benifit from them?

thanx

**Site** · 09-14-2002, 06:30 PM

No one makes aftermarket sway bar bushing for our cars. There was talk a while back about someone seeking a group buy to generate some interest from the manufacturers, but nothing has come of it yet. I looked for the same thing about 6 weeks ago because I upgraded my LX with LXi bars - I had to use new bushings from Honda.

If you happen to find someone who will do it, make sure you post it on the board!

**Jims 86LXI HB** · 09-14-2002, 07:22 PM

Well I do want to address the "what will they do for me" part of that question. The benefit of urathane sway bar bushings is that unlike stock bushings they do not compress much. So when you flick the steering wheel the urathane bushing transfer's the energy to the bar almost instantly (instead of waiting for the soft rubber to compress, then transfer it's energy). So the car's reflex's are better and it feels more tossible. They DO NOT make the sway bar act like it's a bigger one. The first thing I'd do to test them is to find a couple of "S" curve's. You should notice a pretty good difference in how the car feels through those.

**stgardner** · 09-17-2002, 06:05 PM

I replaced the front stabilizer busihings on my '88 LXi with Energy Suspension bushings. They have a universal kit that includes the bracket. Check out part number ENS-9-5126 at Summit Racing or on the Energy Suspension web site. You will need to put a letter at the end of the part number, I think it was R for red and B for black. You probably can get bushings for the LX and even DX front stabilizers, too. You'll just need to measure the bar diameter and pick out the correct kit.

**Jims 86LXI HB** · 09-17-2002, 07:20 PM

Cool! :super:

**Site** · 09-19-2002, 05:19 AM

That is SO sweet! I just ordered the kit. Anyone know what the specs are for the rear stock sway bar so we can see if they can match it up, too? I'll make the call if someone can give me the specs. Oh, and about the letter at the end, "G" is black, "R" is red, "B" is blue and "Y" is yellow. SummitRacing.com has black and red in stock now!

**Jims 86LXI HB** · 09-19-2002, 09:06 AM

Originally posted by Site
That is SO sweet! I just ordered the kit. Anyone know what the specs are for the rear stock sway bar so we can see if they can match it up, too? I'll make the call if someone can give me the specs. Oh, and about the letter at the end, "G" is black, "R" is red, "B" is blue and "Y" is yellow. SummitRacing.com has black and red in stock now!

Ok if you got a rear sway bar off a 86-87 LXI it will be 12mm.
If you got a rear sway bar off a 88-89 LXI it will be 13mm

front 86-87 LXI bars are 20.5mm
front 88-89 LXI bars are 22.5mm

One of the members measured his 87 LX front bar and said it's 20.5mm (or 13/16"). What I don't know is if the LX/DX front bars went up in size when the LXI cars front bars went up in size for 88-89.

**Site** · 09-19-2002, 12:09 PM

I bought an 89 LXi swaybar set from OldSchoolSwap for my 88 LX. The 89 LXi sway bar is bigger than my 88 LX stock swaybar.

I'm gonna measure the end pieces tonight and get the universal item #s from energysuspension.com and see if summitracing.com sells them. They list how to measure so you can find the right universal sets.

**shepherd79** · 09-19-2002, 12:47 PM

before i putted LXi say bars on my LX i went to my buddy, who works at autozone, and he had all kinds of suspension technics bushings on the back. so i dig it up some kind, it looked close enough to me. i started to install it, and ran into a problem, the bushing itself was fine but the braket was too big so i had to grind them a little.
but at that time i didn't know they were making universal kit.
i may have to try it for the back now.

**anchovies** · 09-19-2002, 01:51 PM

98105R for the end links
Ha...urethane bushings for stabilizer bar solved.

**CARBurn** · 09-21-2002, 03:03 PM

I had problems getting the rear sway bushings in polyurethane from Energy Suspension, waited over a month for them but I went instead with the stock rubber ones from the Honda dealer.

I was able to use Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings made for a 5th Gen Accord(94-97), fits just fine. Just the two outer bushings, not the mounting bushings, though.

**rbeaud** · 09-24-2002, 09:48 AM

Originally posted by shepherd79
before i putted LXi say bars on my LX i went to my buddy, who works at autozone, and he had all kinds of suspension technics bushings on the back. so i dig it up some kind, it looked close enough to me. i started to install it, and ran into a problem, the bushing itself was fine but the braket was too big so i had to grind them a little.
but at that time i didn't know they were making universal kit.
i may have to try it for the back now.

Could you explain a little more what you ground to make it all fit? I'll be doing the LXi upgrade soon and would like to use poly for the front sway bar. A p/n wouldn't hurt either...

Cheers,

Roland

**87pimpsterdocious** · 09-25-2002, 02:43 PM

so are the suspension techniques bushings that come with the sway bars as good? If not would it be ok to use the energy suspension 3/4" (for rear) and 1" (for front) to fit the 5/8" (rear) and 15/16" (front) bars?

**Jims 86LXI HB** · 09-25-2002, 06:13 PM

Originally posted by 87pimpsterdocious
so are the suspension techniques bushings that come with the sway bars as good? If not would it be ok to use the energy suspension 3/4 (for rear) and 15/16 (for front) to fit the 5/8 (rear) and 15/16 (front) bars?

I helped my brother install his S/T bars on his civic and I can tell you I wouldn't spend a dime to replace them, their nice.

**87pimpsterdocious** · 09-26-2002, 01:14 AM

coolio, but if i do eventually have to replace them, would the sized i said above be ok or too loose? Would I be better off replacing them with S/T bushings? Thanks jim.

p.s. i just looked on summit again and energy suspension has the GREASABLE bushings in 5/8" and 15/16"! Would that be just as good?

***carotman*** · 10-03-2002, 07:56 AM

The 4th gen civic bushings will fit on our sway bar.... and there are eurethane kits for it.

**rbeaud** · 10-03-2002, 10:12 AM

If you look at Energy Suspension's web site, they have dimensions for the bushings. I've measured my bushing and retainer with dial calipers and the non-greasable set are the closest match (p/n 9.5126 - same as civics). The dimension that throws it off is the inner through hole radius distance- 2 9/16 (our bushings are 2 5/16). You may be able to slot the through hole on the greasable style to allow the bolt to match the the threaded hole- but that could be an expensive experiment. I've measured up the endlinks per their diagram and will ask if ES has a set that matches the LXi set up.

It's hard to believe that Honda has reivented the wheel so many times. It would seem to me that some parts must carry over from different generations of Accords or even later generation Civics benefitting from older Accords. Since most of my elastomers are shot, I'll probably try to measure them and see if ES has parts that are close. I might be willing to do a little machining to make them fit.

And if anyone has p/n's for poly bushings of any type that fit 3rd gen Accords it would be nice to have them.

Cheers,

Roland

**Site** · 10-03-2002, 12:54 PM

Originally posted by rbeaud
If you look at Energy Suspension's web site, they have dimensions for the bushings. I've measured my bushing and retainer with dial calipers and the non-greasable set are the closest match (p/n 9.5126 - same as civics). The dimension that throws it off is the inner through hole radius distance- 2 9/16 (our bushings are 2 5/16). You may be able to slot the through hole on the greasable style to allow the bolt to match the the threaded hole- but that could be an expensive experiment.

I just got this kit (9.5126) and the hole distance you spoke of DOES screw it up. The bushing fits fine, but the bracket doesn't fit. Because it has the long hole slots (making it universal) it is too long on either side to fit well. There is a lip on the part of the car that it bolts to that keeps it from being flush.

I agree - if anyone has eurethane bushings that work, PLEASE post the part #s.

***carotman*** · 10-03-2002, 02:56 PM

aww that sux!

Anyone interested in having a group buy for a complete Eurethane bushing set?(that will not work anyway)

**CARBurn** · 10-03-2002, 06:52 PM

Energy Suspension Polyurethane Bushings
16.8105G-Endlink front

9.5126G -mount bushings

As I said before, the front endlinks are from 94-97 Accords but the endlinks WILL fit.

**rbeaud** · 10-04-2002, 09:23 AM

Thanks for the endlink p/n's Carburn. Anyone got prices on this stuff?

Here's a project for someone (that I will be undertaking later this fall/winter)- make your own bushings.

Check out this link:

http://www.teamdfl.com/bmw/e28/bmw_main.htm

McMaster-Carr's price is $23.95 for 1 lb of the 80 durometer. If you feel racy (and want really stiff bushings) go for the 94 durometer. This stuff should work well for things like the torque rod bushings (about $40 from Majestic- pays for itself in one job!) and the rear sway bar end links (runs about $6/side). I may even see about pouring the lower control arm bushings. NAPA provides the inner bushing dimensions:

http://www.napaonline.com/cgi-bin/nc...grpid=24313140

I wonder if Energy Suspension's 1/2" bar bushing will fit the Accord bracket? If not, I may pour that one as well.

Give me a few months and I'll let you know how it turns out.

Cheers,

Roland