baca00ex

Recently installed the following but having a major steering issue:

Skunk2 Front Camber Kit
Skunk2 Rear Camber Kit
Skunk2 Pro S Full Coilovers
Skunk2 Rear Lower Control Arms
NRG Type 6 Steering Wheel
NRG Steering Wheel Hub Adapter
NRG Steering Wheel Hub Spacer

When driving my steering wheel is way off center, tires were centered when I switched it out with the stock steering while. Also when making a turn it feels like the whole suspension on the front end is shifting causing the entire car to pull to the opposite direction.

I have adjusted and tightened the rear cambers and all the bolts, I however did not do anything with the front cambers. Could it just be that my alignment is way off now? (Getting the car aligned later today). Applied these parts over the weekend and took it for a test drive when I noticed the problem. Also sounds like alot of creaking and knocking sounds coming from the front end when making turns or just turning the steering wheel in general. I haven't bought the Skunk2 Rear Lower Tie Bar that is coming up soon, will I need to do anything with the alignment after installing it? Also soon to be purchasing the Skunk2 Strut Tower Bar for rear/front, will anything need to be done with it as well?

The only thing I can think of is the front cambers may be loose causing the tires to shift and lean different directions when I turn, first thing in the morning I'll be removing the tires and checking to make sure they are tightened. Maybe an issue with the ball joints, rub marks or sway linkage? Or could the distance on the steering linkage have changed causing the hubs to shift when I turn?

87 SiviK Si

Get an alignment ASAP. ANY time you mess with the suspension you should get an alignment.

baca00ex

Yea, I'll be taking it to get it aligned first thing in the morning. Going to pull the tires off first and check out the front cambers to make sure they are tightened down fully before driving it anywhere. Last thing I want to do is mess up everything I just installed, sucks that the closest place to get it aligned is around 5-7miles away. Going to take the least amount of turning route to get there and probably won't travel over 40mph lol.

baca00ex

Sure enough, the slides on the camber arms were loose. I always triple check my bolts, however that could have been one huge mistake on my part. Took it to get aligned today, 4 hours later and they are still adjusting it. Will be ready for pick up tomorrow morning.

98civdx

Thats a long time for an alignment. My last alingment took 1.5-2 hours. Only becuase the rear toe arm bolts didnt want to let go.


What the heck are they doing??

baca00ex

I originally had a 95 civic that was totalled out in 00 about a week before my graduation, we bought a 00 civic and my brother has been driving it for the last 8 years. I bought it off him for next to nothing as a project car, apparently all he did was slap some cheap Maxspeed coilover sleeves on it. It's been like that since like nov 00, so yea I recently went back and I'm completely redoing everything. He never put cambers on it and just drove it like that.


Body and interior are pretty much in perfect condition and engine bay was well maintained but the suspension is shot. All the shocks were completely blown and it's been eating tires @ around 7k miles they are done. So once I get the suspension fixed up, going to start working on the interior as far as rewiring everything for a better audio system. I'm still debating on what to do with the engine.. it's a lower end D16Y8, however has been well maintained around 170k miles atm. Debating on swapping or just straight tuning it with bolt power (rather swap).

xlilriceboix

..what kind of shop take 4 hr to do alignment? lol well gl w ur steering problem.

98civdx

ah, all night. He said he wont be able to get untill tomorow.
Sounds realy weird. I have never heard of an alignment taking so long.
And my buddy works at firestone.

cadwiese

thats not right, my boy got an alinement in like an hour or so

baca00ex

yea, I dunno... dropped the car off around 1:45ish and called back at 4:30 said they were still adjusting it, having a problem with everything lining up. (shop closed @ 5) told me to give them a call in the morning to come pick it up. Seemed like they were having an issue with the cambers and how much it was lowered. Told them not to mess with any of my spring settings or ride height.

Going to have to make sure all my shiny new parts are still on the car when I go to pick it up lol (small town, only 1 place that can do alignments) wasn't about to drive it 1 1/2 hours to houston unaligned, didn't want to risk messing anything up.

Quick question though, I have a Skunk2 Rear Lower Tie Bar on order being shipped and Skunk2 Strut Tower Bars (rear/front). Am I going to have to take it back to get it re-aligned again after installing these parts? I doubt for the tower bars since it's a quick unbolt/rebolt without moving anything but not sure about with the tie bar. Any input ?

blown_ss

how low are you? why did you feel the need to get camber kits? another thing camber kits are known to have crapy bolts that will come loose all the time, most people replace them with better parts to make sure it doesnt happen.

baca00ex

So that adjustments can be made to the camber, tired of my tires wearing out @ 7k miles. I didn't buy some crappy ebay camber kits like most people would have, hopefully the ones I have are a little bit better quality than that.

0speedoptions.ca

By unbolting the rear lower control arm bolts, it WILL mess with it a little, but it shouldnt be enough to change your alignment too drastically. you will be fine without an alignment after the installation of the tiebar and strut tower brace.

tlarimer

iTrader: (3)

Tires wearing out every 7K is not camber, but an alignment issue.

https://honda-tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes-54/no-you-do-not-need-camber-kits-2614449/

Read this thread and it explains it better than I ever could.

blown_ss

thats what i was getting to. most people buy camber kits for the wrong reason. having bad camber doesnt make your tires wear faster it just makes them wear uneven. toe and caster is where its at. with that being said you could have saved like 400 and not got those camber kits. all you needed to do was lower the car and then get an alignment. i hope it all works out for you though.

blown_ss

i wasnt saying that you bought crap. i know that you got skunk2 and they are known to not have very good adjustment bolts. the bolts just dont stay tight and then you have the same problem that you had or even worse that bolts come all the way out, then the real damage starts. another thing with after market camber kits, the ball joint is not as good as stock and some have been known to pop out which would cause a lot of damage.

baca00ex

We haven't been able to get anyone to align the car, since lowering it without the cambers. When brother was in cali tried in seaside, monterey, san diego and then we tried a few different places in texas (dallas, austin, houston.. san antonio) when he got out of the service. Seems like noone wanted to align the car for us, since it was lowered and didn't have cambers.

Well shoot lol, I was just going by what other people have told us over the last ~9 years or so. Yea would have been really nice to save the 400ish bucks I spent on the cambers lol. Could have put that towards a throttle body/intake manifold instead =P

Oh well, it's already been installed and adjusted.. I'll just have to get under there every coupe of weeks and make sure they are still tight. I don't do all that much crazy aggressive driving and turning so, shouldn't be too much of an issue. Hell.. might just slap some of the reversable thread lock compound on it, just to help slow the rate at which they might loosen.

baca00ex

What I've been doing in the past with my tires is after about 3000 miles, I pull them off and have them flipped on the rims. So it doesn't completely kill the thread on one side of the tire. It has helped... just annoying

baca00ex

If I start experiencing too much of an issue, I'll just replace the front kits with my OEM ones. Replace the ball joints (which are worn/cracked) and go get it aligned with adjusting the toe only as suggested from the linked post. Only wish I would have read that post about a week ago lol.

I do plan on putting 17in rims on it eventually, what would be a good size tire to go with? I'll give it a month or two and see how it is performing before I make the decision on taking them off or not. Might be able to ebay them for half of what I paid.. or craigslist... who knows lol

tlarimer

iTrader: (3)

OEM ball joints are not replaceable. If they are worn out, just pick some up from another EG, they are pretty inexpensive for good used ones.

I think 205/40 17 is the right size for an EG, don't quote me on it, I would never go larger than 15", but that's just me.

baca00ex

With the 17s do you think it would be a smart idea to keep the cambers? or maybe i'll just have to try it and see lol