Albuquerquefx

Parts you will need:
Front knuckles + hubs from a 4cyl 2003 - 2004 Tiburon (must be a 4 cylinder!)
Rear knuckles + hubs from any 2003 - 2008 Tiburon
Front brake calipers from any 2003 - 2008 Tiburon
Entire rear subframe assembly from any 2003 - 2008 Tiburon, or any 2002 - 2008 Elantra
All bolts from the subframe assembly, including the four that bolt it to the chassis, and the long bolts that connect it to the rear knuckles
New (or freshly turned) brake rotors from any 2003 - 2008 Tiburon.
New brake pads suitable for any 2003 - 2008 Tiburon
Four wheels in a 5 x 114.3mm (5 x 4.5") pattern
New cotter pins for front axles and tie-rod ends

Potentially necessary parts depending on your luck:
New lower ball joints and boots
New tie-rod end boots

Tools you will need:
Air compressor with impact wrench and cutoff wheel
A wire welder
A ~28mm (can't remember?) impact socket for knocking loose the huge nuts on the front axles
Breaker bars of various sizes
1/2" and 3/8" drive sockets to about 19mm
Brake caliper compressor thingy
Big effing hammer
Balljoint fork
Pliers for pulling the cotter pins
Lots of PB Blaster
At least two jack stands + a hydraulic rolling floor jack
Cutting torch or a high-speed, high-quality dremmel with at least two carbide metal cutting bits
Brake bleed kit, and new brake fluid

Time needed:
Depending on your luck, you could do all of this in a very busy long weekend. It took me three weekends.

Alchohol you will need:
I'd suggest a whole case of your favorite brew -or-
I went through about a half-liter of Woodford Reserve and about six cans of ginger ale wink1.gif


Start by knocking loose all the wheel lugs while the car is fully on the ground. Don't back them all the way off of course, just get them loose. Next, jack up the car a good 9 inches off the ground; it would be perfect if you had four jackstands. If you only have two jackstands, then just do the front first, and then the back last. If you don't have jackstands, go buy some and quit being a cheapass. This isn't safe without them, and they're not expensive. Go borrow some if nothing else.

For the front knuckles, I have no pictures, as I did this work almost a year ago... Sorry 02.gif

After the car is in the air, pull all the wheels off and get them ready to sell them on Craigslist. Disconnect the brake lines from all four corners (you can leave them connected to the car), and then disconnect the rear parking brake cables. Since there are various kinds of braking systems offered on the Tib, remove all the calipers you can, and remove all the rotors you can. For those with captive rotors on the front and/or drum brakes on the back, well, just leave 'em there and they will come off with the knuckles.

Right, so now you'll need the air compressor, impact wrench, and the big-azz socket for knocking loose the front axle nuts. Pull the center cotter pin, and knock that big nut off. Next, remove the cotter pin from the tie-rod end bolt, and remove that bolt. Now you can wiggle the knuckle around and get the balljoint nut off. Pull the ball joint retainer clip out of the A-arm, and now you can use the balljoint fork and your big-ass hammer to knock loose the knuckle from the balljoint stud. Once it's knocked loose, you can remove the two bolts that connect knuckle to the strut, and monkey it around and off the axles.

Installation of the new 2003-2004 Tiburon front knuckles, rotors, and calipers is the exact reverse of the removal process. This is by far the easy part, it should take you maybe a few hours at most (unless you're horribly unlucky with the ball joints.) Make sure to get all the bolts torqued down correctly; HMA Webtech can help you with the exact torque specs.

Right, so let's get to the rear. I love you guys a LOT, so I went so far as to take most of it back apart for pictures. smile.gif

Here is the donor rear subframe assembly that came from a 2002 Elantra:


Please note: you will need the four bolts that held this subframe to the donor car, and the two really huge long bolts that hold the rear knuckles to the locator arms.


Here's a gratuitous shot of the "new" rear hubs with the new rotors, and the stock RD1 rear calipers (which are 100% compatible and OK to keep)


Ok, so back to the rear knuckles. I had all four discs (non-ABS), so I was able to pull off the calipers and stock rotors; I also removed the dust shield so you can get a better idea of what it looks like stripped down:


For those of you who had rear drums, it's ok. Just leave the drums be, as your rear subframe will still have the same arms. Pull all the bolts out that hold the two locator arms (side-to-side) and the trailing arm (front-to-back) to the knuckle. You can leave the trailing arm attached to the car if you like. Once all the arms are disconnected, remove the two bolts that hold the knuckle to the strut, and then remove that bad bastard! Here's a pic:


Here's the rear subframe completely removed, notice that one knuckle and trailing arm is still attached. That one was pretty much stuck, so I used another trailing arm from the junk yard to replace it.


So, here's the difficult part about this whole ordeal. The "new" subframe crossmember is about 1.5" longer than the "old" one, and it's also slightly wider. The bolt holes are similarly gapped; the "new" subframe holes are about 3/4" further apart length-wise, and about 1/4" of an inch further apart width-wise. I'm giving you these measurements from rote memory; they may not be exact. You need them to be exact.

Measure the "old" hole pattern, and then use a grease pencil to mark where the holes need to be on the new crossmember. You will end up elongating the "new" holes by approximately 3/8" of an inch inward at a certain angle. To cut the metal, if you've got the skills and the equipment, you can just torch them out. If you're not that good or don't have the tools, a dremmel with a carbide bit (and some cutting oil) can be used. Wear goggles, measure twice and cut once. If you get in a hurry and jack up the holes, your crossmember might fit, but it likely won't be aligned correctly. That means your wheels will track wrong, and you'll never get it right no matter how much alignment work you have done. Don't get in a hurry; do it right the first time.

Ok, so after the holes are properly cut, throw the new subframe on the hydraulic jack, and jack it into place.


You will need the "new" subframe bolts, as they are quite different (shorter, more thread) than the "old" ones. Once it's solidly in there, you can re-hang the new knuckles in the reverse order of how you removed the old ones. Notice that the "new" knuckles use one really long bolt for the locator arms versus two individual bolts. Here's generally what it looks like hanging:


Ok, so now you throw on the new rotors, the new pads, the calipers, re-attach the brake lines, bleed it all out, and throw on your chosen new wheels smile.gif Here's the general result:



One final note: the "new" crossmember doesn't have the exhaust hanger on it like the "old" one. If you don't weld on a new one, your exhaust will likely just lay over the crossmember, which will result in banging, vibration, and other annoyance. Cut off the old hanger and use any old welding equipment you have to weld it to the new one. Done.

UrS0NvS

fing02.gif added to the DIY approved list, thank you Red!

FlyRyde

IMO, single most important DIY this site will ever have. This outdoes the Auto to Manual Tranny swap anyday, as the potential created is basically endless with this, versus spending tons of hours and dollars just to be "stock" but with a stick. Good effin job Red. RD Hardcore guys rejoice, hello sicky wheels!!!

Albuquerquefx

If the mods could insert a few extra lines for me:

Additional Parts Needed:
Camber adjustment kit for the rear (I used the Eibach 2.5* bolts)

Additional Installation Instructions:
When hanging the new rear knuckles, replace the upper strut bolt with your new camber adjustment bolt. The "new" crossmember's extra width will push your rear wheels outward slightly. The good news about this is you no longer need spacers on the rear smile.gif The bad news is, your camber will be slightly whacked (not terrible, but if you're already lowered, you WILL start eating tires.) You'll need the camber adjustment bolts to get this resolved.

Albuquerquefx

One more addendum - you will need camber adjustment bolts for the front as well. I didn't notice it until I got the new springs and struts installed, but the strut mounting point in the GK front knuckles is at a different 'angle' than the stock setup. The result is a visible amount of positive camber, which means the tops of the tires actually stick out farther than the bottom (exactly the opposite of what you'd normally expect)

The standard lobed camber bolts (such as the Eibach camber kit) will fix it without issue and without much cost.