drumminforev

I know I need a camber kit for the front. My car also pulls to the left, i'm assuming its because i have more toe out on the left side. I also need rear trailing arm bushings and my left inner tire rod has some play, the right one has a little less play.

Do i need a rear camber kit. Do I need anything else specific. Would a +/- 2 degree camber kit suit me enough, or do I need more, possibly due to further furture wear?

What is a good price on kits, and is there any brand I should stay away from and why. I will be installing the kits myself.

Oh yea, and I already know, my tires are wearing like hell. Thats why im getting this kit. Blew a tire today. Big o tires charged be $100 for nankin 205 40 17 tire. Sucks.

I appreciate help.

Front left
Camber -1.8
Caster -0.1
Toe -0.80

Front right
Camber -1.4
Caster -1.2
Toe -0.60

Rear left
Camber -1.8
Toe +0.14

Rear right
Camber -0.5
Toe -0.38

Wharbone

The toe will kill your tires much faster than camber. I've known people running a lot of negative camber with 0 toe and their tire's didn't wear out unusually fast. Toe is most likely causing your pulling to the left problem.

I'm running the Omni front kit. Really easy to adjust. I would reccomend it.

For the back, just do the washer trick.

drumminforev

Also, why do i see some kits that are supposedly front camber kits but there is no A arm, its just a small little piece that is extendable. How is that a camber kit and will it work for me

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drumminforev &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Do i need a rear camber kit. Do I need anything else specific. </TD></TR></TABLE>

No, but your toe is horrible and needs to be adjusted. You'll probably still get wear with that toe, even with a camber kit.

drumminforev

I know. I am getting an alignment right after I install this kit. Why does toe get so bad. Why did whoever owned this car before me be stupid and buy new tires every 2 months.

Wharbone

I would stick to the control arm style camber kit. It is much easier to adjust. The others will work and are less expensive, but harder to adjust.

AutoXer

Whenever you change the ride height, toe changes. Its due to the fact that toe is set with the threaded tie rod in front and a compensator arm on the rear.

When the ride height changes, these either push the front egde of the tire outwards or pull it inwards ( /--\ when you look down from the top). This is what causes bad tire wear, as you're tires are constantly scrubbing the road surface instead of rolling along it.

Camber only makes the tires more sensitive to the toe setting. The more camber you have, the more important it becomes to get your toe set as close to 0 as possible. If you're getting an alignment, you won't need a camber kit.

schardbody

im with autoxer 100%, im an alignment technician and i say as long as your front doesnt get to 2° negative camber dont worry about it. keep the tires rotated, and it will be good. i would however washer trick the left rear and set the toe all the way around. if either of your tie rods has ANY play at all they have to be replaced, just a little play will cause the toe to change dramatically while driving and an alignment wont do any good. as for your pull, nothing indicates a pull except maybe the RR toe, but i doubt it, i would swap the front tires side to side and see how it is afterwards. just my $.04

drumminforev

Whats weird is that when i got an alignenent check 2 weeks ago my camber was totally diff

OLD check
front left
-1.5 camber
-0.72 toe

front right
-1.9 camber
-0.66 toe

rear left
-1.3 camber
-0.05 toe

rear right
-2.6 camber
-0.35 toe

TODAY CHECK
Front left
Camber -1.8
Caster -0.1
Toe -0.80

Front right
Camber -1.4
Caster -1.2
Toe -0.60

Rear left
Camber -1.8
Toe +0.14

Rear right
Camber -0.5
Toe -0.38

Why would it change so dramatically. Does that mean i should get a camber kit? or something esle is wrong.

Fuster_Cluck

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drumminforev &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

</TD></TR></TABLE>

My brother has this style camber kit on his accord. Don't know if they are similar or will have similar results, but they are $hit!

Get the complete control arm

Do the washer trick for the rear, have the toe adjusted and rotate the tires every 3-5k

drumminforev

Why are they ****. I have looked up the installation and they look like they will work perfectly fine. How could they not.

drumminforev

bump

Anchor bolt vs ball joint vs entire control arm with ball joint.

dc2-slow

everytime u adjust ur camber do u have to have an alignment?

schardbody

yes, adjusting camber changes the toe.

-Gary-

I've heard that it's good to have your car aligned with you in it, is this true. (I weigh 245 lbs)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by schardbody &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im with autoxer 100%, im an alignment technician and i say as long as your front doesnt get to 2° negative camber dont worry about it. keep the tires rotated, and it will be good. i would however washer trick the left rear and set the toe all the way around. if either of your tie rods has ANY play at all they have to be replaced, just a little play will cause the toe to change dramatically while driving and an alignment wont do any good. as for your pull, nothing indicates a pull except maybe the RR toe, but i doubt it, i would swap the front tires side to side and see how it is afterwards. just my $.04</TD></TR></TABLE>

JdmLub

not trying to thread jack, very good info been put out on the thread.... but i just want to know what "washer trick" is so i can understand this thread better thanks


Im really not trying to thread jack

Fuster_Cluck

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by drumminforev &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Why are they ****. I have looked up the installation and they look like they will work perfectly fine. How could they not.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I know they squeek which can be heard inside the cabin. I'm not sure of any other problems. I know he said they were crap on his accord and he's going to switch them out.

Stitch01

I read somewhere up there that if your getting an alignment you don't need a camber kit.


I work at a automotive center and I'm ASE cert. Trust me when I say this, if you lower your ride, or alter the height in anyway, you'll more than likely need a camber kit.

This one will sound rediculous. Even some cars that have never had their suspension altered requier camber kits. Camber kits can also mean the shims and or washers, or degree setters (for trucks and bigger vehicles).

So again, anytime when you lower your car, it is best to have a camber kit, both front and back....I suggest you get the the ones with the A-Arm, maybe like a new skunk 2....the pro series that just came out. Depending on your budget, you can either buy an adjustable camber kit for the rear, or just use washers. When you go to the alignment place, they would adjust it for you. Most places don't like to work on lowered cars. But talk it out with the tech....


The new skunk 2 pro series Camber kit it way easier to adjust, and most techs, once you tell them it won't be a pain in the ***, will most likely do it.

It's better to spend the money on the RIGHT camber kit than to buy new tires every few months, or better yet, have an accident. That's my two cents.

Buy the right stuff the first time, that way you won't spend double or triple the money the second time. Good luck.

NRZero

Good Info. Not meaning to hijack this thread but I also have a question. I've had a problem with my alignment recently, and so I had it corrected. Problem is it still pulls to the left even after I the alignment. Do I need a camber kit to fix this?

lonefuzzy79

I would be moderatly alarmed about my alignment going way out without changing anything. Here are some things to think about:

1. If you take your suspension apart, you need to be aligned.

2. If your car has been in a colision you may never be able to get it properly aligned if the chassis or suspension components are bent or tweaked. If you are constantly going out of alignment you may have worn or bent parts, check these and repair/replace your suspension components. Installing an energy suspension bushing kit and new tie-rods would help with this if you have worn busings as well.

3. You want some camber, the camber shown by the inital poster is not bad, but it makes me think that you need to get all four corners sitting at the same height, since camber is a function of ride height, different ride heights will mean you have more or less camber at different corners, getting sleeved coilovers will help fix that, after these are installed you have to get an alignment.

4. Related to the above. Camber is a function of height, haveing around 1.5 deg is good for handling and won't kill your tires, if you need camber adjustment for more camber get a kit, if not, leave it.

These are my thoughts. To the poster who asked about adjusting ride height and alignment while in the car this is called corner-weighting the car. Basically you need scales and adjustable coilovers so that with you in the car, all four corners, or each end is sitting at the same height with eqaul weight distribution. Some race shops can do it if they have scales.

AutoXer

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Stitch01 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I work at a automotive center and I'm ASE cert. Trust me when I say this, if you lower your ride, or alter the height in anyway, you'll more than likely need a camber kit. </TD></TR></TABLE>

That's just not true. I'm an auto engineer, so I know all about ASE, and they always teach that camber causes wear. But like I've posted many times, I have done enough experimenting with my alignment to know for a fact that it's just not the case.





Modified by AutoXer at 1:28 PM 3/31/2006

schardbody

once again autoxer is correct. i am also ASE certified and infact have enough experience w/ my own car as well as customers to know that camber isnt the LEADING cause of tire wear. most think so because camber is usually affecting the toe, once the toe straight the camber up to a point wont affect tire wear noticably. and that is TO a point. most of the EG's i have aligned and owned sit near -1.0° front camber, this is stock, once lowered 2" usually only change to about 1.5° negative, which isnt bad at all. point being, negative camber isnt the LEADING factor in tire wear or a pull. camber plays the biggest part in handling, not much else.

SovXietday

I've found that bad camber generally creates uneven wear, NOT more wear. Probably a source for a lot of the misconception. Like stated, over and over, the bad toe on that car is you're leading problem for bad tire wear. Get that fixed first and foremost, and then see if you can tidy up the camber a little bit using the washer trick on the back and possibly a good camber kit (if you have the money) on the front.

AutoXer

Okay, just to clarify...

Toe is the cause of wear. Period. Toe causes wear.

The more camber you have, the more sensitive your tires will be to toe settings.

Camber does not cause wear; but the more camber you have, the closer you have to get your toe set to 0.

schardbody

umm, kind of, toe and camber will cause wear, negative camber simply puts more of the weight on the inner shoulder of the tire, wearing it more than the rest of the tire, but not more than say a perfectly aligned car, it just seems that way cuz its wearing it more than the rest of the tire, if you follow me.