new_climber

I took my 93 EX to get aligned today. The guy said the Driver side front Caster is at minus (-)2.01deg. He told me to fix this I need to take it to a body shop and get them to straighten the frame.

I just bought the car and it does have a reconstructed title...meaning it was in an accident but I have no idea on details of what happen. What I do know is that I am running the inside of the front driver side tire out very quickly. This is why I was getting it aligned.

Everything else on the alignment was pretty close or at least able to be adjusted.

Is what I was told the correct way of getting this fixed??? Is that the only way to fix this so my tire is not getting wore down?? Can I do anything myself to fix it??? I was thinking if there is a way to adjust the toe to compensate at all??

I am not sure how much it will cost but would rather not sink a bunch of money at a body shop if I don't have to…

thumper64

Caster is how the steering knuckle is rotated forward or back. Like if you were looking at the car from the side and there knuckle were a hand on a clock, you'd want it more like at 12 o'clock. Rotated towards 11 or 1 would mean it's off.

*I'm not sure what the caster is supposed to be. I know it's supposed to be vertical, but not sure on the exact measure.

If the car was in a serious accident, you'd probably want to get it straightened.

civic_r87111

What u was told is the actual correct way to fix it, cause a straight unibody is safer but u could possibly correct it with a tracktion bar kit also. I would take it to the frame shop myself but i'm picky like that. Toe, camber, and caster are all independant issues and u can't over adjust one to make up for the other. Last time I had a unibody straightened it cost about $300 but it probably went up since then. Oh and a reconstructed title means it was totalled and rebuilt where i'm from.

new_climber

Thanks

Civicr87….Yes, I know reconstructed titles do mean the car was totaled, but sometime it is easier for the insurance company to total the car and pay out then to fixed and pay that way. So, if the damage was more then the car was worth, they just total it..not to say it is not fixable…Either way, I have the car now...

I understand the best way to get the caster fixed is to take it to a body shop...but with this said, my biggest problem is I am wearing my tires down very fast. Will the caster being out cause this? After I posted I got to reading my alignment report and the first the toe didn't seem very far out at -0.43 left side and -0.24 on the right side. It says the spec should be -0.04..at first I thought that was close...but after looking at it, that is way out.

Would getting them to fix the toe stop my tire from wearing out??? Also is -2.01deg for the caster out very much???

civic_r87111

Yes, toe being off will kill a tire crazy fast but I'm not 100% sure what the caster should b as spec. It depends on if the tie rod is adjusted to the max or not if they can correct the toe without having the unibody straightened.