esahic

My 08 civic started pulling really hard to the right. This started happening after I did some work on the passenger front wheel and forgot to fully tighten the lug nuts when I set it down. I reversed and heard a small pop, then realized my mistake and tightened the lug nuts! I KNOW IT WAS STUPID!

I took my car to get an alignment and after they set my alignment and all, they told me my driver side camber bolt needs to be replaced with a aftermarket extended bolt to be able to correct the camber and fix the alignment.

So my question is can I just buy the bolts and do the camber myself?

How do I adjust the camber to fix the alignment?

Will I have to pay to get another alignment after I do all this?

DaveSi677

You can change the camber bolt yourself but you won't be able to correctly set your camber without the use of proper alignment equipment.

Your only option really is to change it yourself and go get it aligned again!

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Not tightening lug nuts and going 2 feet won't affect your alignment.

What work did you do? Why on Earth do you have camber bolts? Its never a good idea to use camber (crash) bolts unless you're trying to ghetto fix something.

vladd

x2 on everything. Back in the day I forgot to tighten the lugnuts on my Integra before hitting the freeway, finally pulled over when I started hearing strange sounds (I thought it was the axles at first). Tightened up the wheels, and all was well. Moral of the story is that slightly loose lugnuts don't cause alignment problems.

Edit: Camber bolts are OK to use in the front, just not as a band-aid for another problem.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

When are camber bolts not used as a bandaid, though? Why else would you need them on a 7th-9th gen? Plus...they'll slip. They always slip.

esahic

Well I took the car to get an alignment and they said the only way to get it properly aligned again is by getting extended camber bolts.

97emsedan

It sounds like you bent something. Extended bolts would bring the system close to the original specs, but there might e damage that would require new parts in the actual hard suspension pieces.

You might want to have a good hard look at the hub and knucle on the corner you left loose.

vladd

When the front camber is within spec to begin with and you want to increase it for performance reasons.

DaveSi677

you need camber bolts to increase negative camber for performance reasons if let's say you are tracking the car.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Ever seen a set of crash bolts NOT slip at the track? You'd want top hats for track use. I guess if you're using crash bolts as a way to stay within a class, they work. But...again, that's last resort stuff that you fully know will definitely slip.

Idk...I can't see a situation at all where one would want camber bolts.

mrclean55

I got 2006 Honda civic ex and rear tires are worn bald on inside and had alignment shop tell me left camber is -1.5 and right is -4.6 So I went to Honda dealer and told them and they will replace both new rear upper control arms with "c" stamped on them.The car has 80k so not eligible for warranty.Does anyone think that new Honda control arm will fix this or do I need the adjustable control arm to make up such a large negative camber?

TunerN00b

Wait. I thought that when they were adjusted to produce maximum negative camber they were already at the point they would slip to...

vladd

I've never been at an actual track (I'll go one of these years). Have you had them slip, or is it one of those things that people just talk about? Do they also have issues with slipping on regular driving or is it track only?

-4.6 degrees is some serious camber. Is the suspension damaged in any way?

mrclean55

Thank you for replying Vladd.Any help is always welcome.
I took it to another alignment shop and they got -2.6 and they asked me if the vehicle was ever wrecked because left side is -1.5 but I don't think it was wrecked.My mom bought it with 70 k and it looked in good condition but alignment guy said someone could have hit pothole and caused problem.I'm getting the specialty product adj.upper control arm and see if I can get it back to -1.5 and get new Michelin rear tires and hope that works.

vladd

With that kind of camber, it's possible the car had an incident in its past. If the suspension had no damage, camber would be in spec with the C arms.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

They may or may not slip on the street. My friend's 1G dsm crash bolts slipped almost on a weekly basis.

There are crash bolts with small eccentrics on them. Those are less prone to slip. My 06 had them on there when I bought it from a friend. I think he got conned into buying them. As soon as I got the car, I threw them in the trash. The alignment was fine when I had it checked after.

I don't buy them because they slip for almost everyone else. So...I don't have personal experience. I don't have personal experience with great white sharks either. But I know that they can bite your leg off.

DaveSi677

I track my car regularly and I haven't had any issues with slipping. I get my alignment check frequently to make minor changes depending on the track I'm going to but it's pretty much always around the same settings.

Although it could be the case that people have seen some slipping but I haven't...

vladd

But they rarely do.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

Because the chances for contact are fairly low. You'd stick your head in one's mouth out in open water then?

vladd

So you're saying the chances of the camber bolts slipping is low?