90-97 Accord 5-lug Conversion
Accord five-lug conversions are not for everyone. For most people, they are a waste of money, a pointless bastardization of a perfectly good car. For die-hard CB/CD chassis Accord enthusiasts however, a 5-lug conversion offers such perks as a wider choice of wheels, bigger brakes, easier maintenance (no more hub-over-rotor), and the all-important cool factor.
First off, I didn't discover how to do this conversion. Five-lugged CB/CD chassis Accords have been around for a few years now. However, I do hope to shed some light on some of the details that I couldn't find any info on, especially the ones that pertain to wagon models.
The front part of this conversion is cake. The easiest thing to do is to find a complete set of '95-'98 Honda Odyssey/Isuzu Oasis knuckles and bolt them onto your Accord. Make sure to grab them with the calipers and rotors attached.
If you have a wagon model, you can re-use your old calipers (they are the same). Just make sure to use the caliper bracket from the Odyssey (they are different).
Done!
The rear gets a little trickier. Because of the fact that many Accord models use different rear suspension/brake setups, there is no one way to convert '90-'97 Accords to 5-lug. The only thing universal to the conversion is that you always use '97-'01 Prelude rear wheel hubs.
If you have a coupe/sedan with rear drum brakes (and wish to keep the drums), simply bolt on '97-'01 Prelude wheel hubs and '97-'01 CR-V rear drums. The shoes and everything else brake-related will still be Accord parts. This will get you 5-lug in the rear without having to convert to rear disc brakes.
On a coupe/sedan with rear discs (OEM or converted), you will need '97-'01 Prelude wheel hubs and '98-'02 Accord/'97-'01 Integra Type R rear brake rotors. The rest of the brake system will be stock Accord parts (calipers and pads).
Here is where it gets a little complicated. If you need to get parts to convert the rear to discs, stick to parts from the same generation (especially the knuckles). For example, a 1990 Accord will need to use parts from a '90-'93 Accord (CB chassis). A 1996 Accord would need to use parts from a '94-'97 Accord (CD chassis). Later '94-'97 models can also use parts from '97-'99 Acura CL coupes. The only exception to this rule applies to owners of wagon models (see wagon section below).
The following is a list of parts needed to convert to disc brakes:
*Avoid rear knuckles from wagon models, since the spindle is too thick to accommodate Prelude 5-lug hubs.
This is the reason you should stick to the same generation when shopping for rear knuckles:
Since the spindles are thicker on wagon models, they won't accept the necessary Prelude rear wheel hubs. For this reason, you will need to substitute coupe/sedan-style rear knuckles.
As shown in the picture above, all '91-'97 wagon rear knuckles are dimensionally similar to those on '94-'97 coupes/sedans (and '97-'99 CL); stick to parts from '94-'97 Accords (or Acura CL) when buying for a wagon.
Make sure to torque the rear wheel hubs to 134ft/lbs. This is factory spec and is vital to prolonging bearing life.
A quick note about the wheel hub nuts. With the new Prelude hubs, the stock Accord hub nuts do not thread all the way, and have a couple unused threads sticking out. This is normal for the conversion. I highly recommend applying red Loctite to the threads to keep the nut from working loose. I also ground the unused threads off the nut, but this is strictly optional. I've also heard of certain Mazda Protege models using a rear spindle nut that is thinner and does not require any mods.
Plan on getting an alignment once you're done, you'll need it!
All done:
