Hello EvoM, I own a 03 evo and Im looking to stiffen up the suspension by putting in some bushings. i Have coilovers (8/9) and rear sway bar.
This is a street driven car that will see some road course days.

I understand that there are tons of bushings that could be replaced. But if i were to get started, which bushings would you recommend me to replace first?

Any comments/ suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you!

 

Each bushing you replace adds just a little more noise inside the car, my car with everything changed is quite loud inside from road noise.

First bushing all evo's need done is the trailing link bushing. After that maybe the front lower control arm inner bushing. Beyond that I would suggest stock is good enough for a daily driver or street car. For just a toy that spends most its time on track then there is lots more you can do.

 

Start with the rear trailing arm bushing like Dallas said. I'd also consider the rear bumpsteer correction kit, it helps keep the rear planted under heavy braking. Also take a look at your swaybar bushings. From there on out it's really a matter of how much and how seriously you plan on tracking the car.

l8r)

 

thanks a lot for your input guys.
very helpful.
Road noise doesnt concern me. and no its not a full on race car so i dont need to go crazy on the bushings.

I now have a suspension to do list in order.

1. trailing link bushing
2. front lower control arm inner bushing
3. bumpsteer correction kit
4. sway bar bushings.

now with sway bar bushings, i have AP Adjustable rear endlinks. are you talking about a bushing that end link mounts to on the suspension?

 

If you're running the AP endlinks in the rear, then no need to worry about that end of the car. Check the bushings on your front endlinks, though. Mine were shot at ~40K miles. I ended up replacing them with Whiteline endlinks.

l8r)

 

i probably need to check my fronts then. i have 100k on the chassis.
is the front endlinks as hard as it is to do front sway bar?

 

No, endlinks are cake. Easy DIY.

l8r)

 

with oem rear bar and oem endlinks, any benefit to upgrading the oem sway bar bushings? I know perrin use to offer the stout mounts but iirc they are discontinued. WORKS offers a poly rear sway bar bushing so wondering if that is worth it?

 

For you guys that did the trailing arm bushings, do the poly ones need to be pressed in or are they a 2 piece similar to the rear diff side support ones?

 

I dont remember which way my trailing link bushing were but its really easy to just get a long threaded rod, a stack of fender washers, and a nut on each end. Use generous amount of the poly lube and squeeze it all together. Ive done dozens of bushing this way, and when you get good at removing the bushings its about a 10-15m tact time for each joint.

 

The Whiteline ones I got are not 2-piece.

 

Thanks for replies.

why would you guys say the trailing arm bushing is a better first upgrade vs the bump steer bushings?

 

They will both decrease toe change.

The bumpsteer one will decrease toe change as your suspension moves up and down, especially when the car is lowered.

The trailing arm bushings will decrease toe change especially under acceleration/deceleration.

Do both while you are under there. I went spherical (Robispec) for the trailing arm and Whiteline for the bumpsteer bushing.

 

Good info in this thread

 

So I just ended up ordering both bump steer bushings and trailing arm bushings. I used a 3/4" ball joint separator ( not a pickle fork) from HF, worked great. Just make sure to put some anti seize on the threads and the tip of the tool. A little tip, I used a short open ended lugnut 14x1.5, which I threaded on just a couple turns, for the tool to press on so it wouldn't press against the tip of the ball joint itself. This wont run the chance of ruining the threads, and also wont chance to ruin the oem nut, unless your replacing that as well. Also make sure the opposite end is still bolted on, just loosened up so it can move freely. It was late, and I was tired and did my first one with the other side of the arm completely unbolted, when the ball jont separator freed it, it suddenly popped off and luckily nothing got damaged,.