Your Honda Prelude hugs the road, which makes for great performance and mileage, but it also means you feel every bump in the road. Replace your struts after 60,000 miles under normal driving conditions to keep the ride as smooth and comfortable as possible.
Lift the front end of the Prelude with a floor jack, and support it by the frame with jack stands. Use a tire iron to loosen and remove the nuts holding on the front wheels. Set the wheels aside.
Locate the struts. They're the assemblies with the coiled springs around them and with hardware on either end. Find the brake hose running from the wheel hub, and remove the bolts holding the bracket with the hose onto the strut.
Remove the bolts securing the bottom of the damper fork to the back of the wheel hub, and the bolt securing the damper fork to the bottom of the strut or damper. Pull off the damper fork.
Pop the hood, and locate the top of the struts from the engine compartment. Remove the upper mounting nuts under the hood, and lower the strut from the car. Repeat Steps 2 through 4 on the other side of the Prelude.
Position the new struts in the suspension system, and secure the upper part to the frame with the mounting nuts. Fit the bottom of the strut into the damper fork in the groove, and hand tighten the damper pinch bolt at that connection. Hand tighten the fork bolt in the same position from which you removed it behind the wheel hub. Repeat on the other side of the Prelude.
Mount the front wheels, and lower the front end of the Prelude. Once all four of the wheels are on the ground, set the dial on your torque wrench to 47 ft-lb and tighten the fork bolt at the bottom of the fork until you feel the wrench slip. Torque the pinch bolt to 32 ft-lb and the upper mounting nuts to 28 ft-lb. Repeat the torques on the other side of the car, and have a professional align the front end.
Raise the rear end of the Prelude and remove the wheels. Pop the trunk and remove the side trim over the wheel wells to access the top of the struts.
Use a ratchet to pull out the top two mounting nuts. Under the Prelude, pull out the ball joint cover right behind the wheel hub and remove the upper nut from the ball joint and the cotter pin. It's really the only other thing connecting it to the knuckle, which moves the axle at the wheel hub. Use a ball joint separator to pull the ball joint away.
Remove the lower mounting bolt from the bottom of the strut, and pull the suspension from the Prelude. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 on the other side of the car.
Position the new strut in the suspension and insert the lower mounting bolt, but don't tighten it yet. Insert the upper strut mounting nuts through the hole in the trunk, and torque them to 28 ft-lb. Connect the upper arm and the knuckle at the ball joint, and torque the upper ball joint nut to 29 ft-lb. Clip on the ball joint cover. Repeat on the other side of the Prelude.
Support the axle on a jack stand until the full weight of the car is on the struts. Torque the lower mounting bolt to 47 ft-lb, and mount the rear wheels. Lower the car, and have the rear end aligned by a professional.
