Thanks for the intro Darryl. I think only 1-2 people know me on Shift, I just mainly lurk around and look at the parts bin. Anyway, I’m Archie’s younger brother, Mike.
My recently acquired Integra was in dire need of a drop and I decided to replace the RTA bushings as well, since those crap out a lot on older Hondas/Acuras. Although we have tools at home, our garage is cramped and we can’t use any air tools (apartment).
I’ve tackled changing the suspension on a Civic before, with many fond memories of how much a pain in the ass it is to remove the rear lower control arms and drop the struts.
Knowing I would be probably way over my head, I consulted Archie and he told me about ASS and how they took care of him recently. Gave them a call the next day, and set an appointment for the following week.
In my down time, I gathered up the OEM bolts, bushings, washers, etc that I thought might sieze up and snap as well as 2 new RTA bushings.
So Thursday finally rolls around, I wake up early and throw everything into the Integra. Get on N87 and forgot that there is usually rush hour traffic which delayed me about 30 minutes. Got to ASS at 8:30am and talked to Matt at the counter and signed my wavier in case I do something stupid. A few minutes later, I meet Darryl and then also met Harold. They take my car into the garage and start to get it onto the lift as I’m taking out my coilovers, LCAs, bolts, etc. Car is in the air in less than 30 seconds, and we are taking off the wheels.
Darryl and Hap tackled the front suspension first, removing the struts with the forks attached and handing them to me to keep. After 10 minutes the fronts were pretty much bare, and they started on the rear which was where we were all most concerned about. We took a very quick breakfast break, where I ate a sausage mcmuffin courtesy of Darryl.
Here’s a shot of the stock rear suspension. Anyone who has owned a Honda and changed the suspension knows how one stripped bolt can totally slow down the swap.
Well much to my amazement and prayers, Darryl worked his magic and was able to get all 6 bolts off the lower control arm without even breaking a sweat.
Once those were out, the hardest part of the job was removing the entire trailing arms and pressing out the RTA bushings and replacing them.
Here is where the plot thickens as Darryl mentioned earlier. We were in a rush and forgot which way to press the RTA bushings in, so we took a educated guess and f*d up.
Once we put them on the right way, things sped up again and we were back on track. Trailing arms were reassembled and wheels were put back on the car.
While that was being done, I borrowed some tools and replaced the shifter bushings as well as the shifter with a different one. They also let me pop out a faulty o2 sensor that I had trouble taking out while laying down under the car at home.
Car looks a lot better now, I might just lower the fronts a tad bit more once they settle. Shifter feels great as well.
Here are some before and after pics.
Previous owner never did any maintenance.
Pricing was very reasonable for the amount of work and attention to detail (trailing arm bushing? Whoops). Thanks a lot Darryl and Hap. Was a very pleasant experience to meet you both. Will probably come by to get the car aligned once my bank account stops fluctuating. :’(
