axle R&R on '86 Honda Accord

(M.A. Stewart) wrote in

No, I don't have them any more. I took some pics, kept them around for a
few week, then tossed them during a fit of housekeeping zeal.

I guess I could just buy a new one ($15 or so), and try cutting that up.
$15 would be an acceptable price to avoid nightmares later on. In fact, I'm
going to do just that.

 

(M.A. Stewart) wrote in

It makes sense now.

I didn't know the inner joint would not fit through the damper fork. Never
replaced driveshafts before. Never had to.

Unfortunately not the Beach Boys kind.

1) The steering wheel waggles slowly 1/4 to 1/2 inch on hard acceleration
as very low speeds.
2) During *acceleration* at highway speeds, the steering wheel vibrates at
almost all speeds, but then stops once you are coasting or decelerating,
which I understand is a classic inner CV joint symptom.

More:
1) Tires are old and worn. When you run your hand over the tread, three
seem to be worn reasonably evenly, with little feathering apparent. One has
excesssive outer rib wear, seemingly due to excessive toe that existed on
the rear before I replaced the bushings and had the car realigned.
2) There is one bent wheel that has been that way for 13 years. It
contributes to the 60-70mph vibration at highway speeds when that wheel is
on the front. I have a spare wheel and will replace bent one in the spring.
3) Front bushings are very worn and saggy. Perhaps they are allowing
excessive suspension movement?

Mechanic insists my inner CV joints are fine, that the problem is most
likely the tires.

Inner and outer CV joint boots have never split. I've always had the outer
boots replaced at the first sign of cracking.

How can I test the inner CV joints on-the-car (without a hoist) myself?

 

(M.A. Stewart) wrote in

A challenge of course, but so is using Windows without a mouse. Sure, it
*can* be done, but why would you want to? There's a reason technology
marches forward and mice and air wrenches get invented.

I actually tried renting an electric impact gun, but I waited too long and
all were rented out for the weekend, so I was limited to Teggerdraulics.

By the time I had the rear suspension apart, I was more than happy to have
the machine shop knock the old bushings out and replace with new. I did
replace the stabilizer bar and link bushings myself with the help of a vise
and silicone grease.

Keep in mind this car is my daily driver. I HAD to have the job finished by
Monday AM, so I could not take a few days to experiment.

I pulled it apart Friday afternoon and evening, brought the parts to the
machine shop Saturday AM, and picked them up again Saturday afternoon. I
finished the job Sunday.
Most of Saturday that weekend I was visiting my mother in the hospital,
where she'd just had a hip-joint replacement, so I didn't have as much time
as I ordinarily would.

 

Plus I presume the extension of the car body's life justifies the cost.
(About what do you pay each year for this treatment?)

One of the things that I think will be limiting on my car is the
undercarriage rusting out so badly that I can't jack the sides up but
instead can only do the ends.

Well, I'm only an amateur. All of the regulars here have more experience
than I. You got much farther than I did on the first part of your Integra's
suspension job (of course!).

 

Your assuming that the brinelling was my fault. It was not. It was the fault
the ENGINEERS who desgined the transmission! Plus it must have been a bad day
in Yokahoma when the transmission was built because the guy who put it
together forgot to tighten the reverse gear nut. Fortunately, he did stake
the nut.

 

Rust in Winnipeg? That is nothing compared to the rust in Montreal! 87 `ludes
Dude, use Fred Flintstone brakes in Montreal today!

 

M.A. Stewart wrote:

you don't "design" brinelling. it's not a factory assembly error. it's
the result of excess force at some subsequent time. period. and
"loose" is a feature of bearing wear, not factory. all this points in
the same direction...

 

I don't know what the best hacksaw blades in the world are. I have a
Sandvik blade that surprisingly cuts fast and smooth. The teeth are very
sharp, and stayed sharp for a long time.

 

Inner and outer joints on a 3Gee won't fit. As for you car I don't know. Maybe
ask people around your location who have R&Red shafts on your model of car.

By feel maybe, comparing to a new Honda shaft?

 

I had to that on my Accord... four-foot cheater and I had to stand on
it, and bounce a bit to crack the nut.

I'll go along with that... I found the bolt was so solidly 'welded' into
the rubber bushing that I could crank it almost a complete turn without
it coming loose, the bushing just stretching with it. It did eventually
come loose, with a lot of alternating twisting and hammering on the end
of the bolt.

 

$110Cdn (about $90 US) per application. The car's had it done every single
year since new. I've started doing it in the spring as well, so twice per
year. Also I do regular touchups with a spray-can in especially vulnerable
areas.

I figured if I didn't do it, the car would fall apart and I'd need to spend
$2,000 at a bodyshop anyway...

I've got no rust anywhere. Jack points are like new. Part of that is
diligence by me apart from the rustproofing.

Just a month ago I got rid of some surface rust that was starting in the
rear wheel wells at the bottom right where they meet the rocker panels and
form the wheel well lips. It ground off back to bare steel easily. I
applied zinc primer and paint, using a heat gun for ten minutes to cure the
paint quickly. After that some rubber-based undercoat covered up the paint
as protection from stone chips.

What I thought of later today was not to buy a bushing to dissect, but
instead to call a machine shop supply place on Monday.

The metal used for the sleeves can't be much harder than hard stainless
steel, or much harder than a metric 10.9 bolt. You'd think a machine shop
supply place would know how to cut through hard stuff without power tools.

Stay tuned...

Yeah. He says it takes hours and hours, I wouldn't want to pay for all that
labor, and he wouldn't want to tie up his shop for that.

 

(M.A. Stewart) wrote in

I'm calling a machine shop supply place tomorrow.

Thanks for you help.

 

(M.A. Stewart) wrote in

Well, yeah. But what specifically are you feeling for?

Do you need to have the suspension in a certain attitude in odrder to feel
it? Is ANY play not acceptable?

 

OK - I get it now. What you're saying is that the special tool grips the top
of the stalk, BELOW the start of the actual ball joint. That is, there must
be some kind of a 'lip' there, directly part of the stalk, that the tool
seats its upper arm under - right? I didn't know that. The tricky way pulls
up on the part the ball joint sits in, from the 'top' so-to-speak, thus
stressing the joint. So I see the point about stressing the 'wrong' parts,
but still, many people have done it this way and I've seen NO reports of
damage to ball joints. Not one. If someone did damage the ball joint doing
it that way, they'd post immediately to the forum yelling at the top of
their lungs DON'T DO IT!

So it may be a safe procedure, even given the fact that stress is put on the
ball joint itself. But I have noted the great concern you have about me
doing something I may later regret, Bill, so I promise I will look and see
if our one rental place has one of these special tools for a reasonable
rental fee, and if it does, I'll use the tool. If not, I'll try the 'trick,'
but being as careful as I can.

True, true.

The tool you're referencing has the same exact design as the tool I
referenced after I did my post-failure posting (http://tinyurl.com/9gfaf),
but the tool I found sells for $19 - yours sells for $53.49
(http://tinyurl.com/7lfac). Is the one I found maybe junk? - it looks less
sturdy than the one you reference.

Never heard of an 'emergency room deductible'! But right, right, right - I
CAN'T afford the car, or the insurance, or the licence, or the tires, etc.
Really can't. Until I get some more income coming in. Hard to get more
income coming in without wheels! It's a cosmic law that when financial
difficulties arise, car problems that have been 'lying in wait' will spring
forth...

 

The other day I found a car just like this on the California Highway.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/misc/lowerballjoint/

 

Quoting from someone, "... I still dont understand why people remove the
ball joints when installing axles..."

This method does not even require separating the tie rod ball joint. A
cost effective (trick) method. Here's a simple but not detailed input by
ferio 95.

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=887859&page=2#12775434

http://tinyurl.com/8z9r3 same link

 

sure, you can do it like that too. but it's even more heavy garbage you
have to work around. besides, popping the joint allows you to manually
inspect and make sure it's ok. one consequence of it /not/ being ok has
been posted by burt!

 

The cheap one looks okay. The big difference I see is that the expensive one
has two pivot points so it can handle both large and small ball joints. For
Hondas I think the $19 one will do it.

Mike (who has the expensive one!)