What's going on Third Genners
In the interest of being thorough, I am posting up the procedure for replacing the steering knuckle on a '91 Prelude. You must perform this procedure if you wish to replace the lower ball joints on your third gen 'Lude
1) Disconnect the negative battery cable. I'm a bit anal so this is merely a standard safety precaution that I always elect to abide by. If you want to live dangerously then by all means circumvent this step
2) Pry the spindle nut stake away from the spindle and loosen the nut.
3) Raise and safely support the vehicle.
4) Remove the wheel and the spindle nut.
5) Remove the caliper mounting bolts and the caliper. Support the caliper out of the way with a length of wire. Do not let the caliper hang from the brake hose.
6) Remove the 6mm brake disc retaining screws. Screw two 8 x 1.25 x 12mm bolts into the disc to push it away from the hub.
Turn each bolt 2 turns at a time to prevent cocking the brake disc.
7) On Preludes with anti-lock brakes, remove the bolts securing the wheel sensor and position it aside.
8) Remove the cotter pin from the tie rod castle nut, then remove the nut.
9) Separate the tie rod ball joint using a ball joint remover, then lift the tie rod out of the knuckle.
10) Remove the cotter pin and remove the lower arm ball joint nut and bolt.
11) Separate the lower arm from the knuckle.
12) Remove the two bolts securing the upper ball joint shield.
13) Pry off the cotter pin and remove the upper ball joint nut.
14) Separate the upper ball joint and knuckle.
15) Remove the knuckle and hub by sliding them off the halfshaft.
-Installation-
1) Install the knuckle/hub assembly on the vehicle. Thread a new nut onto the spindle until it is just snug.
2) Tighten the upper ball joint nut and tie rod end nut to 32 ft. lbs. (44 Nm).
3) Install new cotter pins. Tighten the lower ball joint nut to 40 ft. lbs. (55 Nm) and install a new cotter pin.
4) Install the wheel speed sensor (if equipped). Tighten the bolts to 16 ft. lbs. (22 Nm).
5) Install the brake disc and caliper.
6) Install the wheel.
7) With all vehicle resting on the ground, tighten the spindle nut to 180 ft. lbs. (250 Nm).
8) Properly enable the SRS system, if equipped, and connect the negative battery cable.
*diagram courtesy of hondapartsnow.com; all rights reserved
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