99 Accord Front-End

Can anyone give me some idea of what kind of regular maintenance
they've had to perform on their front end. I ask as I've replaced
several parts on my front-end due to a side collision and I'm now faced
with re-replacing some of the same parts. The repair shop says this is
normal wear and tear yet I've only put on 40,000 km since the accident,
2 and 1/2 years ago.

 

I don't know about the '99 Accord specifically, but Hondas usually need
little maintenance on the front end. Occasionally, there are bushings that
need to be replaced but for the most part, the only maintenance is checking
for worn parts such as ball joints, tierod ends, wheel bearings, etc. Which
parts were replaced after the collision and which supposedly need
re-replacing now?

Eric

 

Ball Joints, stabilizer links, Knuckle and now the tierods are loose

 

Your post seems a bit unclear. You seem to be saying that after the
accident you had the ball joints, stabilizer links, and steering knuckle
replaced. You also seem to be saying that you now need new tierods. If
this is correct, then your prior post is in error as these parts are
completely different entities. Under normal circumstances, I believe that
tierods should last longer than 6 years. I think that I still have my
original tierods on my '88 Civic after 238,000 miles. I suspect that the
tierods may have been damaged in your accident but that the damage was very
slight at the time and was not readily noticeable. Over time the wear
stemming from the initial damage has now gotten to a point that's
detectable.

Eric

 

Original?

If so, they're worn, buddy. For 100% sure.

One day one of them will let go on you and it won't be funny. Or cheap.

 

That's unlikely, I check my front end for freeplay at every oil change.

Eric

 

If balljoints and tie rods are maintained properly, IE not allowed to go dry
with grease, they should last pretty much forever. However, hondas don't
have grease nipples to allow for proper lubrication of these parts. You
could just poke a hole in the boot and fill er up, but I don't recommend that.
If you separate the balljoint, you can use that same needle to go between the
BJ stud and the boot and fill it up that way. Tie rods would be the same
idea.

My 98 Civic with 229000kms has had the following done to the front end:

Upper passenger ball joint - used a napa part to replace just the ball joint,
instead of having to replace the entire control arm. Saved about $150
canadian, but some people didn't like the idea. Its been about 60000kms, so
far so good, and the alignment is perfect.

Lower Drivers side ball joint - This one was weird. I was trying to separate
the balljoint. The cotter pin was rusted really bad, so I decided to try and
loose the ball joint nut without removing the cotter pin. Well, I ended up
snapping the stud on the ball joint. Pretty damn frustrating.

Passenger side outer tie rod end- the easiest repair I've ever done, took
about 10 minutes. Just have to be careful to mark the threads on the tie rod
to make sure alignment will be the same when the new one goes on.

t

 

Freeplay does not necessarily show up with the balljoints installed. Mine
seemed fine until they were removed from the car. That's when the play
became apparent.

 

I thought we were talking about tierods not tierod ends. Tierods have a
ball & socket joint right next to the steering rack. Freeplay can usually
be felt by grabbing both sides of the tire at the 3 o'clock position and
rocking it back and forth. Of course, this doesn't isolate any detected
freeplay to the tierod. One usually needs to get under the car and feel the
joint move while an assistant rocks the tire.

On another note, freeplay in tierod ends and ball joints can usually be
detected by either squeezing the joint with a large pair of Channel Locks or
by prying the joint apart. It all depends on how the joint is loaded when
the car is jacked up.

Eric

 

Oops! Blame poor speed-reading no my part. You're right.

Exactly. And getting the loading right can be tricky.