I installed Energy Suspension front lower control arm bushings (LCA) in my Protege today. After 240K miles, the stock bushings were worn enough that I was getting noticeable deflection of the front suspension under braking. The car also had a rather vague and loose feel and would occasionally pull to one side during aggressive straight-line braking. This isn’t fun out on the track. I bought them from Suspension.com. The Energy Suspension bushings aren’t the stiffest or the nicest available, but they are cheap: 25 bucks for the full set.

The stock bushings are rubber. The front ones consist of two layers of rubber with a metal cylinder sandwiched between and then another metal sleeve in the center. The rear LCA bushings are a rather poor design from a performance standpoint. Instead of being cylindrical they are oblong, leaving a gap between the bushing and the outer sleeve. Therefore, even when brand new, the bushings can move and twist quite a bit. The new bushings from Energy Suspension leave no such gap.

The work was fairly easy, even on my old Protege. What follows isn’t a complete walkthrough, just a few tips for replacing the bushings.

Once you have the LCA off and you’ve taken the rear LCA bushing/bracket off the LCA, rest the bushing/bracket on top of a vise or a few blocks. Then, use a socket and a hammer to blast the old bushing out. Since these bushings aren’t complete cylinders, they pop out fairly easily with a few whacks.

Before you install the new bushing, take a grinder and smooth out the inside of the bracket. Mine had quite a bit of debris and other nasty stuff in there.

I used a vise to install the bushing. Hammer the inner sleeve out of the bushing, then use a vise press the polyurethane piece into the bracket. If you leave the inner sleeve in, the bushing likes to bind and mushroom instead of sliding in smoothly, it seems. With it out, the polyurethane will go in easily. Next, hammer or press the inner sleeve in with the vise. That’s all there is to the rear LCA bushing.

The front LCA bushing is a bit more troublesome and some violence is necessary. I tried to hammer and then press the original bushings out, but they resisted. So I broke out the MAPP torch. Rest the LCA on a cinder block or something that isn’t flammable, then ignite the rubber with the torch. Apply the flame for a few minutes and try not to inhale too much rubber smoke (use a mask if you are smart or a wuss). The inner sleeve will come out fairly quickly (use pliers to pull it out), but the sandwich tube I mentioned in the beginning will stay in there. Apply heat for another minute or so.

Remove the heat, put the LCA in a vise, and get a hammer and a 15/16 socket. Place the socket on the remaining rubber, then swing hard. It’ll take a few good whacks to dislodge the bushing remnants if they’re old like mine were. Don’t worry if the remnants don’t pop out right away. Apply more heat if necessary and hammer again. Once it comes out, take a die grinder to the outer shell before you press the new bushing in.

Once I had all the new bushings in and was reinstalling the control arms, I ran into the only problem of the day: The rear mounting points for the control arm didn’t want to line up. I think the sleeves for the new bushings are just a bit too long, and I considered grinding them down to make fitment better. But, in the end, it was such a small misalignment that I decided to just pry the control arms into place.

I got the 3 bolts for the rear of the arm started, making sure that the tab on the bracket was in the slot on the subframe. Then I hammered the front of the arm into its cup on the subframe. The hammering was fairly light and resulted in a tight and secure fitment. After that it was a simply a matter of reinstalling all of the LCA hardware.

The difference in steering feel as well as overall response was significant and immediate. This is a great and easy modification for anyone who would like a more responsive Protege. Suspension.com offers bushing kits for many cars. Check their website to see if yours is listed.