Long time no post on here....

I have a fun go-cart, a 96 CX hatch that someone put the coil-over struts on (I guess not the true coil-over type). The front UCA had an adjustable position for the ball joint, and the rear arm is an adjustable camber thing.

In the last years I've had a couple of wheel bearings go out, and recently a lower ball joint snapped at the grocery store. My friend who is a mechanic said the stiff springs might be harder on the bearings. What do you think? The ride is stiff but has good handling.

After the ball joint broke, I had it towed and I replaced the passenger side ball joint and mangled CV axle (Duralast Gold bought locally). I realized that I had been neglecting the old jalopy, so now I have a project!

I recently changed out the front UCA assemblies, but these are just Moog with no adjustment on the upper ball joint. I'm not sure if the adjustable ball joint is necessary for the setup, or just for major camber tweaking.

The brakes seemed to be wearing unevenly, so I ordered Raybestos reman coated calipers, and Raybestos E3 rotors and pads. I also ordered a right wheel bearing (SKF), splash guard (was all chewed up), and some Mevotech TTX ball joints. I decided to get most of what I could from Rockauto.

Now I need to decide if I'm going to swap out and de-pimp the go-cart and put stock type struts back on. I'm definitely going to pick up some stock rims from the junkyard so I don't have to deal with these expensive low-profile 15's anymore. I'm not sure if I can even run the smaller wheel with the coil-overs. The things are probably worn out anyway, and I'm not sure how good they are or how long they last. I don't have the wrench to loosen the rings to make them bouncier, but I could go that route I guess.

So, to keep or remove the struts? Do I really need the rear control arm camber adjust, or is it just for style?

Here are some photos of the other day when I replaced the UCAs, and also a pic of the broken lower ball joint!


snap!

old left UCA, bad ball joint

old right UCA, bad ball joint and bushings

before removal, you can see the coilovers

The castle nuts fly off when you hit them with the impact on a swivel adapter, but be amazed as the socket goes flying with it when it comes off!

Oh yeah, and I need to change the front lower motor mount also....

 

Also, I think this Canadian made CX would have come with 13 inch rims, right? The Honda online parts lookup seems to have a wheel hub listed as a 13 inch hub. So, for the Japan version, the hub/spline is different, and is that why at Autozone, the CV axle had two choices, either U.S. or Japan? If I put the stock struts back on, then for stock, do I need 13 inch wheels, or can I use 14 inch wheels? My guess is the CV joint is engineered differently for the different diameters. Right?

 

knuckles repaired. New splash guard also

These pliers help a lot

This is how I removed the ball joints.

Install with adapters.

Done, and new wheel bearing.


I used the Harbor Freight bearing press kit and impact to remove partly, then hammer tp finish. Press in using thr kit and hand tools. Takes forever