So I'm having trouble finding straight forward answers to simple questions. (Suspension) 2001 Accord Ex 4cyc 2.3L
1. Are rear upper control arms side specific?
2. Are front lower ball joints side specific?
3. In a nut shell what parts in general aren't side specific on both front & rear portions of the suspension as a whole?
example- Struts (whole assembly) is there a rear left & rear right or is rear strut just a strut and sides don't matter?

Side note in case anyone is wondering yes I'm having to replace my entire suspension soup to nuts over 260k miles on all original parts. It's my daily driver I have to long distance travel for work and would rather just redo the whole thing for peace of mind. Not to mention the car feels like an accident waiting to happen every thing is fried &
Shot to, He.dbl.. hockey sticks.
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You did not specify what car this is, so I'll cover all 90 thru 02 Accords (97-99 Acura CL has almost identical suspension as 94-97. 01-03 CL is like 98-02 Accord). Side-specific parts: 90-97: Upper and lower control arms, and each rear lower lateral arm is different. Front shocks. Upper-to-lower shock (or strut) mount clocking is mirrored for each side. 98-02: Front upper and lower control arms. Some rear control arms (very complicated to explain, see a Honda dealer parts site or a good aftermarket parts site. The drawings or pictures will show what each looks like). Honda did use specific front springs on some cars due to (slight) weight differences on each side, so I wouldn't mix them up if you re-use factory springs. All aftermarket spring replacements are not specific to a side, so it doesn't seem too critical. Non-side specific: 90-97: Rear shocks. Most springs, but see my statement above. 98-02: All shocks (struts). Some rear control arms. I haven't noticed any side-specific springs. Suspension parts between the 90-97 and 98-02 are NOT interchangeable. I own 2 96 wagons and converted one to 98-02 front knuckles for the over-hub rotors, and rear discs.The 2nd will be done shortly. I also own a 01 CL-S which essentially has a 98-02 Accord suspension. I've replaced/refurbished/upgraded one wagon suspension/brake system completely, and refurbished the other completely using AGXs and "lowered" factory springs (that I'm not going to talk about!). I've replaced many ball joints, control arms and control arm bushings. Unfortunately, Honda OEM parts ARE the best. Some aftermarket (greaseable) ball joints work well, though. Stick with the big brands. Anything else with rubber in it, I recommend OEM parts, if available. You can usually tell if a part on the car is factory because they mark most with paint stripes during assembly, if rust hasn't obscured or removed them. Most Acura CL parts are interchangeable with their Honda counterparts as noted previously, except earlier front upper upper control arm ball joints. Acura's bushing and shock calibrations are different, also. 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder cars differ in front lower control arms and some springs. Rear hubs can be different (if junkyard shopping). Replacing bushings and ball joints in control arms.knuckles requires a press to do properly...don't skimp. Lastly, 90-97 front rotors are a real pain. Find the procedure and get some big wrenches and a lot of penetrating spray. Front ball joints on all these cars require a C-clamp press and a specific cut-out (accessory) cup. Also, add grease to any aftermarket ball joint, they don't put enough in. Pull the boot if there's no grease fitting. Finally: Good luck! All mechanical tasks are not that difficult with proper tools and time. Use a torque wrench, get a factory manual, practice some patience and you'll be fine!

 

If it helps, the other things when buying this many items is to see if whomever you like sells it in a kit form. I'm working on our 99 Accord, and replacing the front suspension plus new shocks and springs all around. For the shocks, KYB has a KYB-Strut plus kit with all 4 in there, so I wouldn't have to worry of ordering the wrong part. For the front suspension, I went with a kit from RockAuto (they had a few) which gave me all the front suspension pieces. In my case, I don't have a press, so I simply got new arms with the bushings already installed in the kit. It has all the sides labeled so I don't mix them up if I pay attention.

When you are done, that car is going to feel amazing. I redid our 99 Civic last year with the same and it went from rattles and sloppy steering to feeling like I am riding on rails (figuratively, it's still just a stock suspension, not a race car or lowered or anything like that) compared to before. I had at least one person think I bought a "new" car because it felt so different to ride it. You really made that suspension last at 260k!

 

Thank you for responses & pointing out I forgot to mention the car it's self yr/make/model. (Appreciate it) & yes it still handles pretty good for 260K lol I didn't really notice much till I saw rubber pieces on the ground after parking a few times that's when I realized how bad it actually was.

 

So what year car is it?

 

2001 Accord Ex 4cyc 2.3 L.. I revised the post to include that info. Love this car totally worth the rebuild imo.

 

I have a 2013 accord lx and my husband has removed the front suspension so replacement parts can be installed. We have a Haynes manual and all the correct replacement parts BUT we are unable to get most of it to go back together. PLEASE HELP! This is our only vehicle and need it back ASAP. Is there any certain order we should install the new parts to make this easier?

 

1) Your post is called "thread hijacking", which is kinda uncool.
2) You posted within the wrong sub-forum. Post here instead.