203_EM2

ok so heres the deal i have a 02 civic coupe on NEX i piece coilovers. ok so when I reverse some noise comes from the suspension area and my wheels tuck in and they look like this \ / with bottom in and top out. car jerks like somebody pushed it side to side but when i go forward the wheels go back to normal and car drives fine no noises no jerking nothing..... so my question is does anybody know any reason why my car would do this? any suggestions would be very helpful i wanted to ask before i took it to a shop and paid 90$/hr just so they could tell me whats wrong..... thanks in advance

203_EM2

anybody? bump

viet_sensationz

i belive ur ball joints are gone to much play in them

johnlear

The noise is most likely coming from worn ball joints as already suggested, but it might be bushes or bushes and ball joints (?). This is probably affecting your toe setting, probably quite severely judging from your descriprion of the car gaining positive camber when you reverse it.

This would be caused by the wheels being toed-out, so when you drive in reverse the wheels are effectively 'toed-in', if you follow my meaning. The toe-out causes the wheels to point toward a common point some distance behind the car, so when you drive in reverse the wheels try to converge, and as they do they impart a lateral 'inward' force into the suspension, and the car rises on the suspension and gains positive camber.

I'd bet that when you drive forward that the opposite affect occurs, i.e. the toed-out wheels try to diverge, imparting a lateral outward force into the suspension that 'pulls' the chassis down, and the wheels gain negatve camber.

I once owned a little 'one-off' sports car (like a Lotus Super 7), and had to get it inspected at the local registration inspection station, which included driving it over a pit. This pit had a raised lip at it's entrance that was the height of the legal ride height, if your car couldn't clear this then no registration. My car wasn't going to clear at the front of the chassis, so I added about 10mm of toe-in that caused the car to rise as it was driven forward, and just made the cut! Reversing wasn't an issue because to drive out the car was driven forwrd off the pit (lucky, or it would have got stuck going backwards!).

CRX Lee

So long as your bushings and ball joints are in good shape, front toe was also what I thought of.

203_EM2

alright because i havnt gotten an alignment since my drop.... and i also think my toe is off bc my steering wheel has to always be a lil cut in order to stay straight. so you think and alignment will fix this problem? well at least eliminate that option?

CRX Lee

if you haev just lowered the car without an alignment, it will have toe out going forward so it will be toe in going backward. Just have the alignment tech check the condition of your balljoints and bushings like they always should do prior to the alignment.

203_EM2

alright thanks im gonna try and get an alignment asap money just a little tight right now appreciate all the help guys

johnlear

A 'proper' alignment with worn ball joints and / or bushes is a waste of time and money. If you can't afford new parts at this time (assuming you do need them) then you could do a rough alignment at home that will have just as good a chance of improving matters (somewhat) as a 'proper' alignment (this would only be the case because of worn parts, meaning a proper alignment cannot be accurate due to uncontrolled movement).

Drive the car forward onto a flattish surface, and place the steering wheel at the straight ahead position. Now getting down on your hands and knees and looking from the front of the car to the rear at the side of the wheels, eyeball the sidewalls of the front tyre in relation to the rear wheel sidewall, do this on both sides of the car.

Imagine the line that would be formed if you had a long straight edge placed against the front tyre's sidewall at hub height (against the forward part of the sidewall and the rearward part), pointing at the rear wheel, this is what you are looking at. This 'line' should point directly at the outermost part of the rear wheel's sidewall on both sides of the car.

If it points toward some part of the rear wheel's tread (on both sides) then you have toe-out in the front end, if it points to the outside of the rear wheel's sidewall then you have front toe-in. Adjust the tie rod lengths until the 'lines' point directly at the sides of the rear sidewalls. You will now be at least closer to zero toe than you were before, but it's not an accurate algnment by any means.

203_EM2

how do i adjust the tie rod lengths? and noise got worse and car moves very harsh in reverse should i just take it to a shop and have them look at it