ml3456

Had my done under just before warranty expired. Mechanic said that Acura had a special tool to change these that made it easy.

Majofo

I'm guessing a specialized spacer to press out the bushing.

fireman252525

This thread has gone dead??? WTF?? anyone still looking into this?? I need feedback as I have gotten no where with the dealer??

mc_holla

+2

Could any of you that have corrected any of theses issues (vibrations or the instabilty caused by car tracking road impefections) please provide your inputs. I have a 04 w/ close to 120K that at times feels like is a hazard to drive and am lookin for some guidance on where to start.

Mc

Schu

the bushing needs to be clocked correctly in addition to being installed in the Z axis correctly. is the bushing available as a separate item from parts?

dr-who

After over a year after my initial post with about 62k on the clock, my bushings are finally taken cared for by Acura. The final result was replacement of the bushings for $100 including an alignment for both our 2004 TLs.

My props to Roman at Santa Monica Acura. SM Acura is one of the best service dept for Acuras. their service is friendly and they seem to get better support from Acura. They are also offering $20 oil changes with car washes. Had my TL tranny flushed as well there..

Cush Acura and Cathy the service manager in San Diego blows. Not only did they claim the bushings cant be changed their "goodwill" price was $300 for the pair of arms replaced. useless, simply useless.. I have never spent a single cent with them since. I tihnk I have more equipment in my Garage than Cush. Seriously.. a service dept without a bushing press??? come on...

ml3456

Just the bushings were replaced in my existing lower arms under warranty. They are available separately, and check to see if the left and right are different.

ML

gotkilled

iTrader: (1)

i finished changing out my brake pads today and saw that both the driver and passenger side compliance bushing are torn.

i'm not really feeling any ill side effects like handling etc as you guys have mentioned. guess i'll take it to acura to check it out before my extended warranty expires.

are there any other ill effects aside from handling?

gotkilled

iTrader: (1)

I just took my vehicle into the dealership because my bushings are torn. I am under warranty and they said they cannot repair my bushings because my car is lowered. What's my play? I lowered my car about a month or so ago.

DMZ

When I discovered the driver's side bushing torn at only 11,000 miles, the dealer replaced both control arms because they said it's easier than popping out and installing new bushings in them and by the time you were done trying to just replace the bushings, the labor time would be much more than simply changing out the whole lower control arm itself.
.
.

dr-who

If they have the right press fittings it only takes about an extra 15 to 20 min of labor. I'm finding out not all acura dealers have the right press.

New arms retail are about $150 each. Bushings are $20.

Orientation of bushings are important too.

--Kwun

gotkilled

iTrader: (1)

was anyone able to get this repaired under warranty despite having a lowered ride on aftermarket suspension? i don't reallyhave any issues with handling except for a slight minor shimmy when i made a fast turn such as onto an onramp at high speed. at regular speeds, there is no shimmy in the steering.

dr-who

You can argue that the damage cannot be caused by one month of lowering the car if the bushings are in bad shape.

If they don't want to hear it. I would put your stock suspension back in and get it fixed since its still under warranty. Then you can do whatever you want after that.

mc_holla

For those of you that have changed out your bushings/arms, what differences have you noticed? Trying to determine how high up my list I should put this fix.

Thanks

Tripnbeats

mc put it high up on ur list..... u can see if its broken simply by looking and seeing the tear.....the way u recognize the parts are truly broken is by driving on ahighway and lets say ur going into a turn and u wanna change lanes in the turn and the car shimmys as your changing lanes (more so than what its supposed to) it feels as if the frame of the car is shifting away and the car starts to wobble,
in the manual it states that u should drop the car on the ground after installing the control arm with the bushing bolt loose. Once its on the ground tighten it to spec, it sucks to tighten it like that but the theory behind it is that the car naturally sits the way it sits in a certain position and if the bushings tightened in the air it has more stress than was intended because it wasnt in its natural position that honda intended it to be in the air.
I started noticing these cars after getting some kinda work done to the suspension... the bushing tears. i think its because the bushing isnt tightened on the ground. my friends type s......never had suspension work done and hes had the car for 2 years i did the tranny flush the other day and did an overall visual inspection.....and the bushings are perfect..... i think that right from the factory the workers could be slacking as well......lol at this point who knows.

seoulja

guys.. please keep in mind.. the 04 and up TL's were completley designed in USA. they just used japan parts... i work on cars all the time..and alot of Gm's parts such as interior cloth and other stuff is the same material. as for the bushing..its AGE + (OR) wear and tear.. REPLACE THE BUSHINGS ONLY.... dont believe the bullshit about the arm... i personally replaced these bushings ALL THE TIME! also keep in mind that your control arm Moves,vibrates ALL THE TIME..from the minute u get in the car,driving, and when u get out...the bushings WILL WEAR.. think about how many times your control arm moves while u drive.. DUH!

mc_holla

That makes sense. Many of the parts on our cars were designed to wear out in an attempt to keep other, more expensive parts from wearing out. With that being said, I still think they specific bushings may be the casualty of a design flaw.

Trip,
What did you end up doing? Did you use the bushings that you designed or did you just go with the OEM ones? I'm thinking about just buying the bushings and finding a local ATL dealer to put them in for me. I know that I may not achieve the "new car feeling" but at this point any improvement would be welcomed.

Thanks

npduncan73

Just read this thread and sure enough my 04' with 57k has the same cracking in the bushings.. I guess it would explain some of the handling issues i have been experiencing. I would have expected these kind of things to happen to my Audi with it's extremely poor design, but not my TL...I smell a recall!!!

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

What is the demand for pre-filled or re-engineered bushings? A Fastline Performance part possibility?

Slpr04UA6

It sounds like a good possibility! Looks like I should check these bushings out on my '04, before I lower it. Is there anyone that has had them replaced that is lowered and has had the reoccurence of the same issue?

Fresh23

iTrader: (2)

From an 11 page thread, people unsure and dealer run arounds, its possible.

MrHeeltoe

iTrader: (1)

Lowering does not make this issue better or worse. Well, theoretically it might be better because of the shorter stroke in the suspension.

RJNN TL

Yep. Got an 05 AT TL. And you guessed it. Ripped. Small tears. EXACTLY as the picture shows. This is complete bullshit. Acura better do something about this! :/

Tripnbeats

I filled my bushings with poly and they stilll seem good....but im gonna fill some new ones with 3m window weld that i bought yesterday and give that a shot

Meek32v6

iTrader: (7)

Interested. My 40 minute drive to work can be scary at times - actually just annoying. I use to enjoy it but the car just feels real sloppy now.

mc_holla

Interested also. What other than these bushing could be causing this? My commute is also scary at times.

mc_holla

Also, who here has actually had just their bushings pressed out and replaced? How much would you save doing that over replacing arms?

Tripnbeats

i had mine replaced by the dealer before I did my poly ones... then i pressed my poly ones in..... last week i took the poly ones out which are still in good condition and while the car was at the dealer getting a major overhaul.....i had them press the ones i made with window weld on the car.... not a huge difference in control the only thing is.....bumps are so much more rigid and hard hitting like if i go over a speed bump you feel it more.....but cornering with the car now and having the type s rack n pump and all new PS lines in, feels amazing

Tripnbeats

and i dont mean speed racer cornering....i mean like 30mph and taking a turn on a street or something it just feels great.... im gonna take it on a run one of these days and see how it feels at higher speeds but im not looking for tickets lol so that'll be later on in the summer

ord0nez

For those of you that have replaced your lower control arms, where did you purchase them from? Is OEM the only option or does anyone make aftermarket. The lowest quote I got was $211 each for acura control arms...should I just go with those? Thanks

TRIOD3SIGNS

Mine went in this morning for the bushing issue, I included a 13 page printout of this thread.... I'll keep ya guys updated. Its good news to see that corporate is keeping good to most of these issues.

gotkilled

iTrader: (1)

Any aftermarket bushings available for the control arm? Is it possible to just use window weld and just repair it myself by squeezing some of the compound onto the bushing?

TRIOD3SIGNS

NO go for mine yet, it got denied by the ACURA rep that happened to be in the Dealership at the time. hmmmmmm?

Service Manager says hes going to submit to ACURA again.

daoism76

iTrader: (1)

when i got my oil change today at honda dealership they told me the driver and passenger lower control arm bushings are cracked. mine is 06 tl with 93k miles on it. i plan to keep it til about 150k or 2-3 years. do i need to get it fixed soon? what happens if i don't? thanks in advance

Danronian

iTrader: (1)

From reading this thread it seems the crack can develop as quickly as at 20k miles. Unless there is a small amount of rubber left "uncracked" I think it will be fine from what people are saying. Mine as about 90k miles and they are about 1/3 cracked. If they get more than half cracked, I'll think about replacing.

OCTLS

08 TL-S w/ 40K miles and my front lower control arm bushing also have the small tears at the same location as shown in your photos. These bushings should have a design life of 200K miles and not 50K miles or less.

I hate cars

Mine were cracked by 20,000 miles. The driver's side tore so I replaced that one. I'm in a lawsuit with the bodyshop right now and Acura found my front toe out by nearly 5 degrees due to a torn passenger side bushing. So yes, they can make a huge difference in how the car handles.

Tripnbeats, did you make your own poly bushing or can we buy those somewhere. I'm in the market for one right now.

saetneta

Well, I think I have a record... got a quote from our local dealer in 2 ways...

First - I supply the removed control arms and the bushings: $480 to press in the bushings. I confirmed that this is just to press in the bushings... guy said that his foreman confirmed that this is just to press them in.

Second - They do all the work with new bushings: $1,077

Amazing.

Oh yeah, the guy said he's been with acura for 12 years and has never heard of this.

Waveform

I recently had my lower control arms replaced under warranty.

Well, almost under warranty.

I brought my '06 TL w/29,000 miles to the dealer for my final warranty service to have the sticky side mirrors, a loose drivers seat and the cracked control arm bushings (all known problems) repaired. I was put in a loaner and the next day was informed that my warranty had expired two days before I brought it in for service. The service writer explained that the warranty begins at the signing of the contract when the new car is ordered, not when delivery is made and it's driven off the lot.

I had a dissapointing discussion with the service writer where he refused to service any of my repairs under warranty. So I scheduled a meeting with the service manager for the next day who listened to my story and looked up my customer history. My history showed that I had purchased the TL form his dealership and that I had all my services done in his shop (oil changes, inspections, recalls and other warranty work). Based on that history he kept the car, put me in a loaner and said that he would see what he could do.

Two days later I picked up my TL with new control arms and new mirror actuators, but the seat repair was denied as it was deemed to be "within the normal specs of the TL".

I was also told that this was my "ONE TIME only customer goodwill" repair and that Acura and the dealership had fulfilled all obligations to me their customer.

I guess two out of three ain't bad and the seat is the easiest and least expensive repair to do yourself, but I still wonder about the one time thing. Is that true? Does Acura do you that way as a matter of policy?

01tl4tl please reply if you're out there...

I hate cars

Anyone know if the TL-S uses a stiffer compliance bushing like it does for the tophats?