Sust Man

I read a post while I was searching for ball joint and axle DIY's that had an acura diagram of the suspension on one side, and the guy said something about making sure to tighten a bushing bolt or something with the weight of the car on it because thats how it comes from factory? Sound familiar? I can't find it again.

Also, I removed the knuckle from my tie rod (doing lower ball joints), but grease came out of it while doing so. Do I have to replace the tie rod now, or can I regrease it?

fsttyms1

Not sure what your talking about but. Nothing needs the weight of the car to tighten, but the only thing i like to have weight on when bolting up is the swaybar

Yes you can just add grease to the ball joint. Make sure you didnt tear the rubber boot though.

Sust Man

Thanks. Found it btw:

When you reinstall the #12/13 damper fork, it is EXTREMELY imporant not to tighten & torque the #25 nut until AFTER the everything is finished and the car is back on the ground. If you don't tighten this nut at "ride-height", you will be TWISTING the bushing way out of spec and will lead to premature failure.

All suspension bolts that go through the center of a rubber bushing must be tightened and torqued at ride height. This is how the car is assembled from factory and must be done every time the suspension is worked on.

pic: http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...s=&view=normal

fsttyms1

#25 shouldnt be touched at all when doing axle or ball joint work. That is the radius rod by the way

Sust Man

Oops. I linked the wrong pic. The pic I have (copied and pasted from another post) has #25 nut being the one that attaches to the bolt thru the bottom of the damper fork (going thru the lower control arm bushing).

So I noticed that most of my suspension bolts are slightly rusted and hard to remove. Helms says to use motor oil between the axle nut and mating surface when you re-tighten it. Should I use this in other areas too, such as around the mating surface of the new ball joints? I still use anti-seize on the bolt threads.

fsttyms1

Just use a jack to lift the lower arm into position then tighten the bolt. MAKE sure the tab on the back of the shock fits into the notch in the fork though. If it doesnt one of those rubber grip wrench straps or a pipe wrench (being careful with the later) can turn it so that it drops into place

Sust Man

Thanks for the tip. I just finished replacing the upper and lower balljoint, and the lower control arm bushing with the help of these forums. Im pretty mechanical, but I had never done any suspension work besides sways. Car rides great now!