neoteny

So I took my '04 V6 MT6 to a shop for wheel alignment (it pulled slightly to the left) -- and they did set the front wheels.

As it turns out, the rear wheels have a large negative camber (they are more in on the top and more out on the bottom). The technician told me that I need a set of aftermarket adjustable rear upper control arms (?) because the factory ones aren't adjustable.

The owner of the shop called some parts people and finally quoted me CAD 285 _per arm_. I said I'm going to look around. And good thing I did because it seems that on eBay, a whole camber set (front & back) cost some USD 240. And rear camber sets go for like USD 70.

Am I a target of a huge ripoff, or am I looking at the wrong things on eBay? What exactly do I need so the camber of my rear wheels can be adjusted?

Please help!

Jlmejia316

Keep in mind that the shop you went to has to make a profit on the parts they sell you. They may also only go with one vendor that they rely on for a good warranty in case the part fails. Your best bet is to obtain your own parts and have the shop install them before performing another alignment. Or install them yourself and take it in for another alignment.

neoteny

That's the plan. Now could someone please tell me exactly what part(s) do I have to obtain?

neoteny

I've found the following rear camber adjustment kits:

$190 per piece (two are needed) (supposedly free shipping):

04 2004 Honda Accord Alignment Camber Kit - Suspension - Eibach Springs, Front, Rear - PartsGeek

$60 per pair ($36.30 shipping):

New Pair Left Right ¦ Rear Camber Kit 2 00 4 00 ¦ Free Shipping | eBay

How is it possible that the 1st part would cost some 4 times more (shipping included) than the 2nd part? Would the 2nd part do the job? What is going on?

BLKFLSH

You said rear, right? So you need the rear upper control arms. Why would you put front camber kits on the rear?
The question I have is, why wouldn't a stock upper control arm work? Why is the camber so far off? Is something bent, or seriously worn out, besides the upper arms?

neoteny

Neither of the linked kits are for the front: I don't understand where you got the idea that I'm trying to put a front camber kit on the rear.

On Hondas, the rear wheels' camber isn't adjustable; an aftermarket part has to be put in in order to gain adjustment capability.

This car has 196K km on it; I've just picked it up a week ago. I don't know its history apart from that it was used pretty heavily -- and seemingly there was no maintenance done on it in the last while. I just have to get fixed the rear wheels' camber because it eats up the inner edge of the tires: there's no point in putting on a new set of tires (which it needs) without fixing this issue.

MSchu

you can also use shims can you not?

neoteny

I don't know. Today I took the car to another mechanic (to get other things fixed) and I asked them to take a look at the camber problem and see if they can come up with a cheaper solution than the one offered (2 x CAD 285 parts + CAD 160 labor). I'll see.

BLKFLSH

OK, I get it now, but the first link did show front camber kits. I imagine the price difference has something to do with brand, quality, or just plain high prices. I have no idea if the price difference is worth it, or not. It just seems to me, that if the upper control arms are the only problem, why wouldn't a new OEM control arm fix it?

neoteny

You're right: the 1st two kits on the page are for the front. The last one is for the rear.

The mechanic did give me a song-&-dance about how this car was lowered in the past and they did that by changing only the springs and that did the camber in.

Anyhow, I've ordered the ones from the second link; the real cheap ones. Installing them will cost more (CAD 160) than their total cost. I sincerely hope that they'll work.

neoteny

So they arrived and today I got them installed + shop did a wheel alignment again (for 40% of the full price). It looks like they're working; shop was able to set the rear camber (it's even visible on the angle of the rear wheels) and the pull to the left is gone. I saved around CAD 500 by ordering them online (even with shipping and currency conversion) as opposed to let the shop get the parts.

Now I can blow more money on getting a set of decent tires.