So I have a 90 crx with a b16 swap and dc headers. The car is extremely low and the header even lower. So one night I was driving on some road I didn't know and I hit this huge pot hole. So now I have a DC header dented to hell. I bought a stock one for 20 bucks for now. I tryed to un bolt the DC and its too big to just come out. I've heard when you pull the lower support bar it will bend your tortion bars so I didn't do that. But now I really dont know what to do. Should I A:pull the support bar and brace it or something. B: cut the DC in half. C:take it to a mechanic and let him figure it out.

 

remove the radius rods from the front crossmemeber, remove four more bolts and remove the crossmember. header will come out now.

 

What are the Radious Rods?

 

the radius rods are the rods that connect the front lcas to the xmember.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I Like Hondas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What are the Radious Rods?</TD></TR></TABLE>



#5 in the pic, however I got the header out just by taking the cross member off and having the car on jack stands.

 

Ya I was thinking that I could just unbolt it. but then this guy was telling me how 90% of the time the torsion bar gets bent then you have to fix that etc...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I Like Hondas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ya I was thinking that I could just unbolt it. but then this guy was telling me how 90% of the time the torsion bar gets bent then you have to fix that etc...</TD></TR></TABLE>


Nah man thats BS I have done it this way plenty of times nothing is going to bend as long as your not jumping on the thing... And if your that worried get a 17 ratchet wrench and take off the arms too

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by I Like Hondas &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ya I was thinking that I could just unbolt it. but then this guy was telling me how 90% of the time the torsion bar gets bent then you have to fix that etc...</TD></TR></TABLE> Pssh, if that was true the standard up and down motion of the suspension would bend them.

 

Ok well in that case I'm just gonna do this myself. I was getting all worried and crap thinking I was gonna have to take it to a mechanic or like skill saw the damn header off. So, THANK YOU!

 

If you have a 4-1, then yeah, you gotta do this.

If you have a 4-2-1, just unbolt the two halves.

 

Ya, it's a four one. But it definitely sounds like taking the cross member off is the correct way to do it then.

 

Dont be surprised if you throw off ur allignment after everything is bolted back up (crossmember removal)... and if it is so!...dont go to sears for the allignment job they suck choad when it comes to lowered vehicles!
pEaCe.

 

Umm nothing really has to do with the alignment when you take off the cross member...

 

radius rods are not torsion bars
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by wikipedia &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end terminates in a lever, mounted perpendicular to the bar, that is attached to the axle of the suspension arm or wishbone. Vertical motion of the wheel causes the bar to rotate along its axis and is resisted by the bar's torsion resistance. The effective spring rate of the bar is determined by its length, diameter, and material.</TD></TR></TABLE>
the radius rod is mainly there to keep the front lower control arm from jittering back and forth under braking/turning/etc


...iguess

gl, yeah mooseknuckle headers never last on a ef

 

whoever told you that the radius rod bend when removing theh crossmember is full of stuff i just did this to my EF thursday morning to remove my 4-1 DC header due to smog purpouses and i have never seen them bend in all the EF's i have worked on so remove the 4 17mm bolts from the crossmember and 2 17mm also from the radius rods and just slide the crossmember out nothing is gonna happen. good luck doggie

 

Alright thanks. The only thing I wonder now is, how crappy were the cars he worked on or how crappy of a mechanic for 90% to break?

 

sometimes to get those 17mm bolts off the radius rod i have had to remove the entire strut as well to get an impact on them...

they are a ******* **** to get out if they havent been taken out in the past few years.

also putting them back in watch out u dont cross thread them. u might even wanna run a tap through em to clean all the **** out.

good luck!

 

Alright cool, thanks for the advice.

 

i had to replace my OE crossmember w/ an aftermarket in order to install the 4-1 and it threw off the allignment...it drove just fine before the install and now i have a pull to the left going down the road!

good luck andrew!

 

Thanks for all the input. My garage is such a mess right now I can't find any sockets. But once I get my tools together I'm gonna start on it. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by shortSHIFT &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i had to replace my OE crossmember w/ an aftermarket in order to install the 4-1 and it threw off the allignment...it drove just fine before the install and now i have a pull to the left going down the road!

good luck andrew!</TD></TR></TABLE>
u replaced a big piece of the suspension/carriage/underbelly

it isn't going to be "exactly" the same

 

have u tried to angle the header out? thats what i did with my stock one cus the bolts on the 2 piece were rusted through n i didnt really feel like taking off the crossmember......with a little bit of effort i angled it out through the bottom of the car..

 

Oh I tried. It won't even move half an inch.

 

get a 17mm socket and losen the four bolts on the bottom of the crossmember halfway. then take off the radius arm bolts that are on the crossmember as well as the bushings . then once those are off go ahead and take off the four bolt all the way and the crossmember should drop down giving plenty of room to remove/install the headers.

 

Update* Everything is off, need to buy two bolts then put it back on. Thanks for all your help!