I needed to have the rotors turned on my recent purchase - a 96 Accord. So I read the shop manual and pulled the knuckles off the front end. Needless to say, there's a lot of wear and tear on the bushings & balljoints so I am hoping to replace all of the worn stuff.

I guess what I am wondering is what route have others gone with replacement parts? For instance, there's massive price differences in Moog's parts vs. The O'Rielly house brand Master Pro, sometimes almost 3 times as much.

I am also looking at the complete bushing replacement kit such as the one from energy susp. I know those are poly bushings and the ride quality might suffer a bit but it seems like a good "complete" solution.

What a job this one has turned out to be.. Separating those *!?$& hubs and discs is a nightmare PITA... I am sure the genius Honda engineers had their reasons why but it sure is a hassle.

I also want to put new shocks in since they are pooched. Any thoughts there are appreciated too.

BTW I have access to a press and balljoint press kit too, so some of the obstacles are not going to pose a dead end.

One last question I had too was that I thought the hub just comes out of the knuckle without pressing though? The Honda manual doesn't seem to indicate this is a particularly tricky process after removing the 4 bolts it says to simply "remove the knuckle from the hub". Neither of mine just come apart like this at first glance. I don't want to start pounding on the bearing to get it apart!

Any advice is appreciated!

 

technically the bearing is not pressed into the knuckle, but its had X number of years so it may as be welded. Look at ericthecarguy video on youtube for replacing the wheel bearings. Basically put four bolts (new) in the bearing and keep hitting each one with a hammer and eventually the rust weld will break. I actually just replaced a wheel bearing last weekend on a 96 accord it took about 20 minutes of gentle persuasive hammering to break the bearing loose from the knuckle. I also used a trailer hitch ball to put in the bearing and hit that to help loosen it. It took several hours to get the bearing off the hub though I had to grind thru both races with a grinding wheel and split the race with a chisel. Not sure if a press actually would have helped out in this case.

 

search for ericthecarguy captive rotors for an excellent video on how to replace the rotors on your accord.

 

Thanks for the tip fellas! That vid. is just what the doctor ordered. The tip with using the 4 bolts and the air hammer looks perfect. I will pick up some bolts tomorrow at the hardware store and I should be set. I bought the replacement bearings tonight, so at least I've got them to hold as a reference for what the heck I am dealing with. I'd say the shop manual even from Honda is quite lacking in description of how to deal with this situation.

But does anybody have any suggestions for the chassis service parts? I went to O'Reilly tonight but the guy there tried to steer me away from the cheap brand they advertise. Do you all use MOOG parts? Any links for good prices?

 

You may want to check out the honda bushings prices and other suspension items just to compare. There are online sites like hondapartsnow.com or majestic honda. The retail price is about what you would pay at the dealership. The discount price doesn't include shipping.

As for the hub, you may want to consider doing the hub over the rotor conversion. There is a writeup in the DIY section about that. It makes changing the rotor much easier in the future.