I told a friend of mine I'd look at replacing the driver's side axle on her 87 Civic Si.

I've never done an axle replacement, though I'm fairly handy with the tools. What are the steps to changing the axle? Any caveats I should know about? (IE: I've read the axle nut needs to be chaned... etc)

Also, what are some good replacement brands for axles?

Thanks a bunch!

 

Best advice to you is buy a manual either Chilton's or Haynes.

 

Honda is selling reman axles for a lot of their cars... they're very affordable and made with OEM parts. Not sure they have them for that old of a Civic, though.

 

here you go: make sure when you install the new one that you get the inner CV joint all the way into the differential until the clip snaps into place to hold the axle in

 

jlicrx: You rock. That's all the info I needed!

I lied, wasn't all the info I needed. What's the ball joint removal tool?

 

a special tool to separate the ball joint from the knuckle - i never use one - follow steps #1 thru #4 - when you get to step #5, do not place jack under control arm yet - remove cotter pin from ball joint stud - loosen ball joint nut several turns but do not completely remove the nut - take a heavy (4-5lbs) hammer and hit the side of the knuckle where the ball joint stud goes thru (not the ball joint itself) with several hard raps - hit green area in attached picture (picture isn't exactly what yours looks like) - the ball joint stud will pop loose - place jack under the control arm and jack up enough to remove pressure from the nut - remove the ball joint nut - slowly lower jack - the torsion bar will push the control arm down and you can swing the knuckle/hub assembly out of the way

 

That tool is a MUST HAVE IMHO. I bought mine from Honda in 1987 and haven't destroyed a ball joint or dust boot since. If I recall, it's made by Mac tools, but I don't see it in Mac's 2006 catalog. You could probably order it from your local dealer. It's pricey (about $100 when I got mine), but invaluable for those really stubborned joints!

Spray that joint with Liquid Wrence, 1-2 turns on the tool with a 19mm and a good whack with a BFH and the joint comes right apart.

P.S. - Do NOT use a pickle fork to separate the joint... you're pretty much guaranteed to either squeeze all the grease out of the joint or, worse yet, tear the rubber boot.

Good luck !

 

An online '87 Civic/CRX factory service manual is availible at http://redpepperracing.com/technical/main.php