how the heck do you get out rear suspension??? - Honda Prelude Forum

h22a193 · 07-17-2003, 05:29 AM

Exactly the question, I took out the bolt on the bottom of the shock, and the 2 at the top of the shock, in the trunk, and It will not come out? Help HELP, fast...

munscher · 07-17-2003, 07:46 AM

It took me a solid 5 or 10 minutes to get the rear suspension out of the car as well. Let's see if i can remember.

-undo the upper ball joint and push the upper control arm to the top of the wheel well.
-push down on the hub far enough to swing the bottom of the shock assembly just to the right of the LCA (kinda tight in there i know)
-now drop the shock assembly down a little bit and tilt the top towards the rear of the vehicle, right beside the muffler.
-pull shock assembly out from the rear, between the edge of the wheel well and the muffler.

That's how i got it out.

DOHCVTEC190 · 07-17-2003, 08:28 AM

Oh man, I remember changed my springs about a month ago and I forgot how to get the shock assembly back IN. This was the second time I did suspension work, but I guess I just forgot. But yeah, do what he said. You'll have to drop the shock some and it'll go into a kind of "hole", then you pull the bottom of the shock out towards the rear.

munscher · 07-17-2003, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DOHCVTEC190
Oh man, I remember changed my springs about a month ago and I forgot how to get the shock assembly back IN. This was the second time I did suspension work, but I guess I just forgot. But yeah, do what he said. You'll have to drop the shock some and it'll go into a kind of "hole", then you pull the bottom of the shock out towards the rear.

Drop it into the hole and pull the TOP out first towards the rear

DOHCVTEC190 · 07-17-2003, 09:13 AM

You sure? I thought I pulled the bottom out first and manuevered it between the brake lines. But, it's been a while so you're probably right.

prelude styl · 07-17-2003, 09:27 AM

I never undid anything but the shock assembly. I've done it a good 20+ times.. you don't need to unde anything but the brake lines, and the shock assembly. Then it's just a matter of maeuvering, and having someone stand on the hub to get it low enough to get the shock over. Oh, and it goes out top first. You put the bottom end inwards in a 'hole' as said, after moving it over and past the brake line, then you pull it out.

quickprelude · 07-17-2003, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by prelude styl
I never undid anything but the shock assembly. I've done it a good 20+ times.. you don't need to unde anything but the brake lines, and the shock assembly. Then it's just a matter of maeuvering, and having someone stand on the hub to get it low enough to get the shock over. Oh, and it goes out top first. You put the bottom end inwards in a 'hole' as said, after moving it over and past the brake line, then you pull it out.

thats the way i always do it too

munscher · 07-17-2003, 10:30 AM

i never undid any brake lines in the back at all... i disconnected the ball joint because it gave me a lot more room and b/c the helms says so...

who am i to question helms?

h22a193 · 07-17-2003, 11:09 AM

oK WELL i JUST GOT DONE, I dident dissconnect any ball joints or anyting, this does not have to be done, I simply pushed really hard down on the brake, and pushed the shouck off, then you have to sit there and figure out how you get the whole thing out. Its tricky but Im done now, and its well worth the time. I love them, But then on the test drive I hit a MASSIVE pot holl, and now the car pulls to the right a little? can I still take it in for an alignment? How much would that cost? Slips should be in tommaro!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yohan420 · 07-17-2003, 02:49 PM

I'm going to do this this weekend, I have KYB agx and H&R sports in my basement ready to go ....

can you do a semi-detailed write-up? I'll add onto this as well and take some pics if the digicam is around... another faq for us 4g's

brendon2k · 07-17-2003, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by yohan420
I'm going to do this this weekend, I have KYB agx and H&R sports in my basement ready to go ....

can you do a semi-detailed write-up? I'll add onto this as well and take some pics if the digicam is around... another faq for us 4g's

on taking out the rear shock/spring? prelude styl gave about as in depth as you need. its not really hard at all. you unhook it then look at it a second and see how you can get it out. i am pretty sure the bottom of the shock goes toward the rear of the car. you push it down then tip everything sideways and you can pull it out. you might have to as prelude styl said have someone push down on the hub to make a little more room.

yohan420 · 07-17-2003, 04:19 PM

the service manual and ntpog is saying to get a pittman arm puller .. i've got 130k on the car so i can't imagine things will detach easy. is this necessary? (removing ball joint) or do i just undo the bolts on the lower & in the trunk and angle it out .... dont have to remove brake lines or the joints .. ?

if so fawkin awesome! .. whats the ETA on this mod per tire?

scratch when i said semi detail .. write me a novel if need be

SlowSi · 07-17-2003, 07:57 PM

Slip as in your alignment specs? If so, I wanna see!

prelude styl · 07-17-2003, 08:11 PM

For the rear suspension:
1- Jack up the rear end of the car
2- Take off the tire
3- Undo the 17mm bolt/nut holding the lower fork onto the lower control arm
4- Detach the brake line from the spindle/lower control arm (should be 2 10mm bolts on the lower arm, and 1 12mm bolt on the spindle).
5- Undo the 2 nuts in the trunk holding the strut mount(take one off, and only loosen the other so that when you push down on the hub to get the fork over the control arm, the shock assembly doesn't drop down.
6- Have someone put weight on the hub while you pull the shock assembly toward the back of the car, clear of the lower control arm.
7- Undo the other upper nut holding the strut mount.
8- Get the fork over the undone brake line so that both the brake line and the lower control arm are on the same side of the shock assembly.
9- Push the bottom end of the shock assembly inwards till it drops down and you have enough space to just pull the whole assembly out of the car.
10- Pull the shock assembly out from the car.

This is off the top of my head, but should be correct.

DOHCVTEC190 · 07-17-2003, 09:44 PM

The hardest thing is manuevering the shock out and back in for the rear. I don't think I had any trouble with the front. Also, another tip I might add is when you're reassembling everything with your new things. Loosely screw in the strut/spring mount to the car...then put the spring and shock in and put bolts in. Then get a second jack and raise the spindle so you can tighten everything up. I don't know. This seemed to be the easy way for me. My dad suggested it because I had the shock assembly all put back together and ready to go in and the strut mount bolts didn't like up when I tried to put the shock in the fork. Maybe it'll help?