sockr1

iTrader: (5)

so i had to get my axles replaced last week (see raxles review thread here: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-t...raxles-954307/), so i decided if i'm having a shop do the axles, i might as well take this leap of faith and get them to do these bearings as well. i've always been back and forth on the compliance bushing replacments because my car is my daily driver and my wife already complains that my car is too harsh already.

i researched a lot and reached out to a few members to see their final take on the spherical bearings (thank you to those guys), and overall the positive outweighed the bad so i decided to go for it. i went for the 2 piece PCI set (vendors now offer the 2 piece set instead of the 4 piece set because it's cheaper and most people didn't install the other 2 bearings anyway) and gave them to the shop to install at the same time as my axles.



Signs for replacement:

- loose feeling in the front (instability, minimal responsiveness)

- visibly see the bushings torn or falling apart (turn wheel and look under car at LCA)



Install:

- can be done by a DIY person (here's a home made tool to press out the OEM bushing: https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-p.../#post14334091)

- i had a shop install them because they were already doing my axles for very cheap ($130). they also charged me $130 for the bearing install but i think they undercharged me for the axles and made up some of it on the bearings install haha. either way, i was fine with $260 to install the axles and the bearings.

Note: the shop called me just prior to pressing in the PCI bearings, they were like "are you suuure you want to do this" (relating to noise and harshness). i was like let's do it haha



Benefits:

- should never have to replace these again (if you have to replace the internal bearning it's very simple to do, snap ring, and is a pretty cheap part), some people replace compliance bushings every 60k miles!

- front of the car feels super tight and responsive...i love it!

- the car feels very stable

- no noise so far



Marketed Benefits (vendor ads):

- Reduced torque steer

- Better power delivery to the ground

- Improved high-speed stability

- Durability

- Reduce wheel hop



Downsides:

- higher cost...it's about $200 for these bearings while OEM is about $60 total i think

- you definitely feel some jolts on potholes and large road imperfections

- when you hit a road imperfection your car tends to quickly bump left or right rather than "absorbing" the impact like a rubber bushing would (if that makes sense)



Conclusion:

i compare this to the feeling i had when i put on the progress rear sway bar...the car feels like it's on rails in the front!! i absolutely love them and wouldn't hesitate to buy them again. at higher speeds, turning is effortless and responsive and there's no give (in a good way).

if i were to get into this car without knowing it had the bearings, i wouldn't immediately say "oh this is harsh, it must have metal spherical bearings." and that's a good thing. yes it can be "jolting" at times but overall it's a great upgrade and something that i am happy i went with. i would say 85% of the time it feels no more harsh than the oem bushings

a combination of new axles (raxles) and these PCI compliance bearings makes this car feel completely new in the front...butter smooth!



Recommendation:

i wish these had a dust boot!!! i live in san diego so i'm not exposed to harsh winters or super dusty conditions, but i could see where this could be a concern in other environments. however, i've not heard anything bad regarding this concern.



Pictures:

current bushing after getting pushed out. you can see that my bushing was still good after 113k miles. my local acura shop told me this is one of the biggest shop up-sells...basically these bushings are still good if they aren't torn through but lots of shops push for replacement too early (just a heads up).







PCI compliance bearings





bearings installed

thoiboi

ugh damnit.. I told myself I was going to ask for a test ride so I can feel them in person... Although my bearings LOOK good, i definitely get that loose steering feeling so me thinks mine need the replacement as well..

maybe next time..

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

you keep finding reasons to visit haha, just go for it! But for real any time you're passing through just let me know and you can see how they are

thoiboi

You may have a secret admirer

EvilVirus

iTrader: (8)

You pulled the trigger congrats. Now I understand what he meant about regreasing them and taking them apart.



I agree I wish they came with a dust boot. Maybe fabricating one if they ever need to be regrease.

t-rd

I have doubts in these mainly because I live in the snow belt and the winter salt will totally destroy these, unless someone can prove they'll be ok in years otherwise.

6spd-GERCO

Nice review sockr1!

I have been sitting on mine for a few years, I was going to install them but when i moved to the Detroit Metro area from Wisconsin and experienced how crummy the roads are here my bearings stayed in the box. A dust boot would be nice but if you covered it will grease regularly it might help it survive in the rust belt.

I know Euro-Spec-TSX installed these on his TSX along with the rear spherical, he liked them but it had a little to much road feel for his tastes, the steer wheel feedback was to much.

nfnsquared

MacKenzie001 had them on for 2 winters (Nova Scotia) before he sold his TL and they were fine:

https://acurazine.com/forums/third-g.../#post15205484

Boosejars

iTrader: (1)

thanks for the review bro! I have been looking into these for the past year - i think i'm finally going to jump on them this year. Thanks to the Car Part Stimulus package (Tax Refund) nice write up on the bearings.

03max6spd

Now are these good for a daily NYC driver? bumps and imperfections in these roads are a norm here unfortunately

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

thanks guys! i felt this product needed a proper review haha.
after a week of having them, i absolutely love them!! the steering and responsiveness feels amazing and my entire front end just feels super tight and "alive."

i have seen the streets in ny and i don't know if i would go this route with the condition of those roads. if there are lots of potholes and huge cracks you will feel that and it will be jolting. but they do feel amazing when driving

03max6spd

Yeah its extremely rare to have smooth roads here, so i guess ill pass on this mod.

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

just wanted to give a one month update: i love these things more and more. the front end still feels amazingly tight and the one thing that changed the most is now i hardly notice the "harshness" of the bearings.

before i would notice about 15% of the time and now that i've gotten used to them, i'd say i notice the harshness about 5% of the time. to me they are definitely worth it and i'm very happy that i took the leap of faith!

Yvuru

thank you for the review

03max6spd

Too bad new york roads wouldnt allow me to run these, far too many imperfections, cracks, dips and bumps on my daily commute to work to wanna run these =/

And im almost sure my compliance bushings needs changing too =(

JBP

I was pleasantly surprised when I had my bearings installed - not nearly as harsh as I expected.

03max6spd

Im in NYC, and even on drop springs the ride is harsh as hell =/

nfnsquared

You fu#!ers! You're going to force me to spend ~$200 dollars !!

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

^^ hehe. Do it!

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

lol my neighbor was like "Hey, I have a bearing press machine, if you ever need to use one"

too bad my front end is in pretty good shape... lol
adding to the mod list along with the Raxles and XLR8 clutch!

thoiboi

A couple curbs can fix that up real good.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

that's probably why my front end is great! insurance replaced ALL oem parts. I even ended up with an extra brand new control arm somehow.....it was left inside my car and I found it wrapped in Honda plastic

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

sockr1, did you buy these from Heeltoe? If so you might be eligible for a rebate!


This is really an over-stated concern. Heeltoe (who some may recall actually had these produced with PCI in the first place) has sold hundreds of these guys and never had a complaint that seemed related to the elements ruining the bearing.

On the contrary, the other smaller bushing which is not included in this kit any more DID have a seal and actually helped cause numerous failures. Read more on that here: Fastline Compliance Bushing Update: New 2-piece kit supersedes 4-piece kit

DMZ

We live in an area of the country that's more like driving on the moon !!
.
.

EvilVirus

iTrader: (8)

I guess I just got incomplete one Its been fine now since it was re-grease.

nfnsquared

Installing mine tomorrow...

The instructions mention that the housing is tapered, but I measured both ends with a micrometer and they are both 74mm. So, not sure what they are talking about.....

nfnsquared

Well, it finally happened to me after 13.5 years. My front driver's side fork bolt is frozen. Hoping Deep Creep will penetrate enough to get it out.We'll see....

nfnsquared

^^^^ Well, had to button everything back up so I could drive the car yesterday. Started all over again today, this time I hit the bolt head with my electric impact while banging on the other end (with nut protecting the threads) and it came loose!!!

But.... then I managed to strip out the hex/allen portion of the sway bar end link. So now I'm going to have to cut it off and order replacements. $%@&!@!!. Oh well, after 13.5 years, they are probably overdue for replacement. So, it'll be at least another day before I get the PCI bushings in...

nfnsquared

Well, add me to the list of members who've said, "Why did I wait so long to do this?"

Love these bushings!! As far as harshness is concerned, I'm not sure I can even tell a difference. (I have the ASPEC suspension). Only put about 20 miles on them so far at speeds up to 60mph. I'll get some highway miles in this weekend.

If you were on the fence, DO IT!!

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

awesome, glad you like them! they really do improve the feel big time and don't really add that much harshness. more people need to jump on this!

nfnsquared

Put about 150 highway miles on them yesterday at speeds of 75-80 mph. I love the improved steering response and "tightness" !! I also went for a ride down a dirt road with significant washboarding. Previously, my front end would seem to "hop" around when hitting the washboard, but that is all gone now. I still can't detect any increase "harshness" in the ride from these bushings, even on the dirt road. Again, I'm kicking myself for not doing this sooner. Thanks to sockr1 for bringing this idea to the forefront

A couple of notes:

As I said before, the "manual" (a piece of paper) says the ends of the bushings are tapered, but I could find no taper using a micrometer. So, it makes no difference which end goes in first. I just pressed mine in with the logos up.

I read in another PCI bushing thread that they should be pressed in with the logo up and to the front of the car, but that makes no sense because unlike the OEM bushings, the hole is centered. The only thing regarding orientation that you might want to consider is access to the snap ring ends.

The "manual" also says to use loctite, but the SM doesn't call for it and I've never used it before and didn't this time.

Loosely tighten the control arm bolts and then jack up the LCA to put weight on the wheel before tightening the bolts to spec. The LCA should look like this (parallel with the floor) if you have jacked it correctly before tightening:

dpenhead

I discovered 'PCI Spherical Bearings' on this forum about 4 years ago and we have driven it with these in ever since. I made the bushing press out kit that I believe is earlier on this thread that uses two giant sockets, a bunch of washers, and a long bolt/nut. That thing works pretty durn good! The problem was getting them back in because the old lower control arm hole was a little 'egg-shaped'. I got one in after screaming at it for a few hours and bleeding a bit, but had to have the second one pressed in for $20 and 5 minutes of my time at a garage. After getting them in, all of the other slight issues then appeared in the car's front-end alignment that needed to be addressed. I ended up replacing both front struts, both tie-rod ends, and the upper A-frame because one side was slightly out of whack and I wanted both of them to match. After that, the car handles like no other car I have ever driven in. Beautiful drive on asphalt, but a little rigid on bad concrete interstates... Some days when driving this car it will give you goosebumps and make your eyes moist It's really that kind of a drive after changing out the compliance bushings with the spherical bearings and resolving any other front end issues. It's WELL worth dropping $300+ on them for a permanent solution to the front end issues. The car goes right where we steer it now, and there is NO squishiness to the front end when we hit the brakes in a turn...at any speed. It's perfect, other than the feel of the ride on some interstate concrete roads, and the fact that you have got to have the alignment of the car correct after this. If there is too much castor or camber off from other worn out parts you will feel it, so go ahead and fix those things. This upgrade does not have any 'slop' to let you get away with driving a worn out front end like a wallowed-out rubber bushing does, so plan to fix your car correctly if you do this. Having said all of that, this upgrade is a no-brainer. It's not even a debate... I am a satisfied customer with plenty of personal experience with these bearings now, and since no one has control over my opinion I can say whatever I want about them. How is that for a recommendation?

03max6spd

You mentioned rigid on bad concrete roads, safe to assume these would be bad for new york roads? lol

treal512

Well shit, there goes my money

wilspainar

Is there a significant reduction in wheel hop?

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

^if you're wheel hopping, you're not driving correctly! lol

74f100

I need to rebuild the front suspension on the TL I got for my wife. Being that we're both on the "older" side of life, do you think these effect the ride quality much? She's been used to the ride of her 03 accord, and the TL already feels more "sport" than "luxury" to us. When I did the accord, I just went with all original type bushings. But with the TL, I'm under no time crunch to get the car done. She still has the accord to drive while I get the TL ready.

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

other than going over rail road tracks, there is almost no degradation to the ride quality. if i were to just have bought this car from someone, i would not have suspected they would have the spherical bearings. they are unnoticeable ride quality wise for about 95% of the time. i am 110% happy that i went this route!

PS i'll be updating my pics soon (stupid photobucket blocked them all...)

74f100

Thanks for the info!!!! I've just never liked the look of the originals (not cosmetic, just flimsy looking).

Once we take our grandkids home, I'll start ordering parts for the front suspension. These look much easier to press in also. I also said a few colorful words when I installed the compliance bushings in the accord. Thankfully, I was in the garage alone....

nfnsquared

I'm riding on the Aspec suspension and 18" wheels and I can't tell a difference....