1996 Civic hatchback, rear disc brake installation.Overview The stock Civic hatch has drum brakes on the rear of the car. A common upgrade is to swap out those drums for a set of disc brakes. There are a few different sets of disc brakes that can be used, most commonly are those out of a '99-'00 Civic SI or any of the Integra models with disc brakes from '94-'01. For my swap I used a set of disc brakes out of an Integra, complete with the e-brake cables and rear trailing arms. Tools/Parts required Jack & jackstands 17mm, 14mm, 12mm sockets and/or wrenches 10mm wrench Small phillips screwdriver Trailing arm and brake assembly New rear brake lines (optional) Step 1: The first step involves getting to our e-brake cable and loosening it up. So, first off we will assume you have already removed 1 of the front seats, or both if needed. Use your phillips screwdriver to get the console off, it is fairly simple. Next, take your 12mm wrench and loosen the e-brake cables. You will also want to remove the retaining bracket that holds the cables in place, this is a 12mm as well and you can use a socket here.    Step 2: Now we head to the back of the car to start removing the trailing arms. Get your 14mm socket and remove the lower shock bolt as well as the 14mm bolt that connects the trailing arm to the lower control arm. Now go to the top of the trailing arm and remove the 14mm bolt that connects the trailing arm to the upper control arm:         Step 3: Step 3 involves removing all the brackets that are holding your e-brake cable in place under the car body. There are a couple tricky bolts in here, but basically use your 12mm socket and wrench, and if you have one, a u-joint and socket extensions. Start from the trailing arm and work your way to where the e-brake cables go into the car. You may also need to remove the 10mm bolt that holds the exhaust heat shield on. Once you get all the brackets off, gently yank on the cable to pull it out of the car.    Step 4: Ok, at this point we have one trailing arm out, time to replace it with our new disc brake fitted trailing arm. Grab your new arm and lift it in to place under the car. You will need something, or someone, to support the arm while you put in the first couple bolts. Replace the bolts in the following order to ease the installation: 17mm main joint bolts (torque to 47lbf-ft), front toe arm 14mm bolt (47lbf-ft, and don't forget to put it back in the right spot!), trailing arm to lower control arm 14mm bolt (40lbf-ft), upper control arm 14mm bolt (40lbf-ft), lower shock 14mm bolt (40lbf-ft). Once you have everything bolted up, be sure to hook your brake lines back up. In my case I picked up some SS lines and replaced them since the stock ones were cut that came on my disc brake trailing arms.    Step 5: Almost done, all we need to do now is hookup and set the e-brake cable, and bleed the brake lines (although we will not cover the bleeding of the lines). Re-route your e-brake cable just as the old one was, you may need to get creative since some e-brake cables may be shorter then your original ones. Once you get the cables up into the cabin of the car it's as simple as hooking them back up, and tensioning them appropriately so that the e-brake engages when you pull the lever. It will take some trial and error to get it set right but it is not that difficult.    Finishing up: Well, there you have it. A cheap and easy upgrade to your basic drum brakes. With only a little bit of wrenching experience required, this modification can be done by just about anyone. Don't forget to test your new brakes and if you are not confident with your brake bleeding skills be sure to have a reputable shop do it right for you! |