My Accord 2.4 Type-S failed its equivalent of the MOT due to a broken ARB droplink. Researching the web including TA and other links convinced me that this would be a pretty straight-forward job, and to be honest it was.
DISCLAIMER: Undertake this at your own risk. I will not be responsible for any injury or damage you do to yourself of your car
So to begin, gather all the components you need. Specifically, I order two replacement droplinks for my Accord tourer AND replacement nuts. An initial inspection of the droplinks suggested that the nuts were well rusted and I'd more than likely damage them - they are not huge money. Furthermore the top nuts are actually lock-nuts and Honda recommended that these are replaced when the stabilizer is done. So, here is what I ordered from Honda:
51320-SED-013 - LINK COMP., R. FR. STABILIZER x 1
51321-SED-013 - LINK COMP., L. FR. STABILIZER x 1
90002-S10-000 - NUT, FLANGE, 10MM x 2
90212-SA5-003 - NUT, SELF-LOCK, 10MM x 2
Point of note: The links are colour coded from Honda to indicate which side to mount the links on. If the stabilizer has a RED paint mark, it's for the LEFT side of the car (i.e. for UK&I cars the passenger) and if it has BLUE mark, is for the RIGHT (i.e. for UK&I cars the drivers side)
Once the parts were obtained, I gathered the following tools:
In the picture there is:
Hacksaw
14mm Spanner
Vise-Grip
Torque Wrench
Lock Nut Removal
PB Blaster (anti-seize spray)
and the new Components
Missing from the picture is the 4mm Allen Key I used to help lock in the new Stabilizers.
Ok, so you are ready to begin.
1. Jack the front of the car up and put it on Jack Stands. Now safety first make sure the car is stable and if in doubt DO NOT attempt to removal wheels, etc. Get the car stable. You are too important to be crushed by a falling car.
2. With the car up remove both wheels. It is important to have both wheels off the ground so that the ARB is not twisted when mounting the new droplinks (it also makes life easier)
3. Now that the wheels are off locate your first ARB droplink. For me one was broken so I was going to start there:
4. My suspension system componentss are pretty rusty, so to make things easier, I sprayed the nuts of the ARB droplink with some PB Blaster (great stuff) and let it do its magic
5. As the ARB droplinks was already broken, I pushed the old link up and removed the rubber and plastic cover to reveal the balljoint of the droplink. When I had the plastic and rubber off (with a cutting knife), I then cleaned the balljoint with a cloth. The joint can be see as follows:
If your droplinks are not completely broken, see later on how to break them!
6. With the PB Blaster having completed it's magic, adjust your Vise-Grip so that it grabs the ball side of the components tightly. Additionally attach the 14mm spanner to the other side and start undoing the components. Some people here recommending a Dremmel tool to remove this, however I didn't have access to one. Anyhow, keep working the system to free the nut and bolt connections:
Eventually they will come apart, it took me about 3-4 minutes to complete the single bolt and nut.
DISCLAIMER: Undertake this at your own risk. I will not be responsible for any injury or damage you do to yourself of your car
So to begin, gather all the components you need. Specifically, I order two replacement droplinks for my Accord tourer AND replacement nuts. An initial inspection of the droplinks suggested that the nuts were well rusted and I'd more than likely damage them - they are not huge money. Furthermore the top nuts are actually lock-nuts and Honda recommended that these are replaced when the stabilizer is done. So, here is what I ordered from Honda:
51320-SED-013 - LINK COMP., R. FR. STABILIZER x 1
51321-SED-013 - LINK COMP., L. FR. STABILIZER x 1
90002-S10-000 - NUT, FLANGE, 10MM x 2
90212-SA5-003 - NUT, SELF-LOCK, 10MM x 2
Point of note: The links are colour coded from Honda to indicate which side to mount the links on. If the stabilizer has a RED paint mark, it's for the LEFT side of the car (i.e. for UK&I cars the passenger) and if it has BLUE mark, is for the RIGHT (i.e. for UK&I cars the drivers side)
Once the parts were obtained, I gathered the following tools:
In the picture there is:
Hacksaw
14mm Spanner
Vise-Grip
Torque Wrench
Lock Nut Removal
PB Blaster (anti-seize spray)
and the new Components
Missing from the picture is the 4mm Allen Key I used to help lock in the new Stabilizers.
Ok, so you are ready to begin.
1. Jack the front of the car up and put it on Jack Stands. Now safety first make sure the car is stable and if in doubt DO NOT attempt to removal wheels, etc. Get the car stable. You are too important to be crushed by a falling car.
2. With the car up remove both wheels. It is important to have both wheels off the ground so that the ARB is not twisted when mounting the new droplinks (it also makes life easier)
3. Now that the wheels are off locate your first ARB droplink. For me one was broken so I was going to start there:
4. My suspension system componentss are pretty rusty, so to make things easier, I sprayed the nuts of the ARB droplink with some PB Blaster (great stuff) and let it do its magic
5. As the ARB droplinks was already broken, I pushed the old link up and removed the rubber and plastic cover to reveal the balljoint of the droplink. When I had the plastic and rubber off (with a cutting knife), I then cleaned the balljoint with a cloth. The joint can be see as follows:
If your droplinks are not completely broken, see later on how to break them!
6. With the PB Blaster having completed it's magic, adjust your Vise-Grip so that it grabs the ball side of the components tightly. Additionally attach the 14mm spanner to the other side and start undoing the components. Some people here recommending a Dremmel tool to remove this, however I didn't have access to one. Anyhow, keep working the system to free the nut and bolt connections:
Eventually they will come apart, it took me about 3-4 minutes to complete the single bolt and nut.