so i was putting my summer tires on, and i noticed a load of grease on the inside of my front passenger wheel. Yep you guessed it, ripped CV Boot. So i checked out the rest of the car... drivers side CV boot has a crack in it also. Also, need to replace front rotors and brakes.

Whats your take on first line vs. 2nd line parts? I'm planning to pick up the parts in the next day or two from AutoSpot or Partsource in mississauga. If you've got any advice that'd help me, i'd like to hear what you have to say. Also if you know where i can get a good price on parts that'd help too

Hoping to do it all this friday, going to be a fun/stressfull experience, i'm pretty novice when it comes to working on the car.

I've seen the how to article on team-integra... looks straight forward. Is it really that simple?

Thanks!

 

parsource drive shafts are rebuilds but have a lifetime warranty on them. i have them and they work fine for me. as for brakes, might as well get the KVR pad/rotor package that -------- has on sale.

 

never cheap out on your breaks cause you will only replace them too quickly, your car is lowered so go with the good cv shaft or the cheap boots on the less expensive ones will tear really quick, pri put the $ into them and it will come back in return

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I totally agree with investing in good parts, i heard some horror stories from friends i.e. warped rotors, premature wear on pads, etc...

CV Shafts all seem to be around the same price ($92 to $109 or $150 from Honda for aftermarket parts), so i guess they'll all be similar quality, the shops dont carry a 1st line & 2nd line.

-------- has a good deal $175 for the rotors + pads, which beats my current pricing of: Rotors - $50ish and Pads $50ish total $200.

Anyone have any experience with the KVR set -------- is selling? Will pad wear be similar to a normal rotor and pads?

 

I'm running the KVR CFs on both of my cars and I have no complaints. They have a lot of good initial bite that's easy to modulate when needed. Even on my track car, they still have that initial bite with very little to no fade after each run.

The only difference is that I'm using blank rotors, so I cannot comment on the KVRs. And I won't comment on slotted/cross drilled rotors because people know my opinion. You can believe what you want.

Eric is a good guy - he got me the pads within 2 days. Will definitly call him first if I ever need anything else. Remember - support those who support you.

 

as for the CV shafts, you can cheap out and get the split boot, cut off your old one, and put on the split boot which you don't have to pull the axle for. the split boot is easier to install, however will last half as long (if that) as a regular boot. i changed one side axle both boots (outer one was ripped and the inner one looked old so i replaced both) with OE honda boots and the other side i just bought a whole new axle shaft from napa. the complete rebuilt axle came with new boots and a lifetime warrantie which came in handy when i broke a balljoint and the axle got messed up. i took it back and got another brand new one for free. the comple axle came up to $89.00 whereas the 2 honda boots came up to about the same price. the napa one is perfectly fine so far.

 

Using crappy tire axels for both sides. They're holding up fine.

Crappy tire premium rotors again, are holding up fine.

PBR Metal Master brake pads, work great.

 

pulling out the drive shafts and replacing the CV boots is not a job for a novice...especially when most of the time stuff is seized and without the proper tools you probably wont be able to complete the job correctly and you might get stuck without a drivable car.

i would grab 2 re-built axles from who ever is cheaper. yes they are all re-build but they are all OEM Honda axles that are rebuild with new boots and fresh grease inside so you good to go.

and KVR brakes are good. i used to run them and i found them to last a very long time and they don't produce allot of brake dust compared to my current axis ultimate pads.

 

Thanks for the help...

I finished working on the car this weekend, took longer than expected, but got the job done at home so i'm pretty stoked.

Tips for people who are doing this for the first time...

1. Use the Helms guide, page 595-608 for CV Shafts
2. Use an air compressor to take the axle shaft bolt off, i almost broke my breaker bar and back trying to get that nut off...
3. Borrow the Alltrade Power Tools Kit 3 from partsource or CT - it'll help get the ball joint out
4. Jack the car high enough to work under it, the axle shafts don't slide off as easy as they say
5. If you're a novice when it comes to maintenance (other than easy things like sparkplugs or oil changes), make sure you have a friend who's done this before available. I had a really good friend show me the ropes, i'd still be at it if it wasnt for him
6. Use the right tool for the right job, don't go making the problem worse...haha

Here's a few pics, i installed new drive shafts on both sides, replaced the rotors and pads with the --------s current promotion.

(And yes they're cross drilled rotors, i've read the threads on it, i picked them up cuz i wanted to, partly looks, partly lack of knowledge on what to buy... haha feel like i have to justify myself after reading the current thread in the premier section)

Anyways, hope to see you guys at a lot of meets this summer

Stay classy!

 

Way to go Pri! I remember when Trenell had to do all of this stuff and trust me it wasn't an easy task especially if the car wasn't jacked high enough!

 

thats great work Pri

 

good job!

 

Good work

feels nice doing it yourself eh? Just saved yourself $100-140 in labour.

 

good job man! the more you work on your car the more coin you'll have in your pocket to do other mods! also as you work on your car yourself more often, you'll find tricks you can do that make the job go alot easier.

when doing a job like yours, i found out the following tricks. when taking off the axle nut, spray it down with WD-40. now before you loosen the lug nuts, crack the axle nut with the breaker bar. if you take off the lugs before, then the axle nut doesn't want to budge. ask ENGSR. lol.

also, when removing the front lower controll arm from the ball joint, stick a jack under the lca and jack the whole thing up, compressing the spring and shock etc. then take a big wrench, like a 24mm and stick the handle inbetween the top of the LCA, and under the knuckle. lower the jack a bit and the knuckle will squeeze the wrench inbetween the lca and the knuckle. lower and take the jack off, and if the ball joint doesn't pop off, then give it a good kick downward and it comes right apart. i actually have a vid of it, i'll post it as soon as i figure out how to post a vid.

 

Thanks guys.... besides the much need coin saved in labour, its an awesome feeling getting a stubborn nut off....

i was 95% done the job and switching the last rotor and the friggin philips screws in the rotor got rounded off... ended up getting it off, but man was it frustrating. I just wanted to go for a nice drive after, but had to break in the brakes/rotors.

Fuzzy, will try your technique next time i need to get the ball joint out...