Hey guys,

'90 Crx VT

Well my inner/outer tie rods and upper control arms came in.

I installed the inner/outer for the right (passenger) side, and outer for the left (driver). Also upper controls for both sides.

I checked the parts as I pulled them off against what I had ordered, and they looked exactly the same (length, bends etc..), after I finished installing them, I drove the car down to the alignment shop and had them take a look at it to finalize the alignment. Well, after I returned they told me that I was out of adjustment room, and that they couldnt properly align it. They said they didnt know what was wrong, and said maybe it was a steering issue.

Here's the deal, I can tell visually that the alignment is still off. I can feel it when i drive, and now the car seems to sit higher in the front, doesnt have the same aggressive stance, and feels almost like I have power steering by how easy it is to turn the wheel. I push into turns now, and it oddly feels as if the front end isnt settled if that makes sense.

Now, if I slam on the brakes and turn sharply, the car handles like a dream, like its supposed to... But when I go to gas it, she noses up and I lose that control feeling, and she gets all jittery.

Do the ball joints need to break in? I know I replaced a lot, but I figured the car would settle down within a few minutes after taking it off the jackstands. Using a finger test, the passenger side fender well is slightly higher than the driver side, so its not dropped the same anymore, like the pass. side needs to be lowered more if that makes sense (obviously I cant do this, and all the springs are the same height.)

Ok, thats it. If you need more clarification to my rambling just ask. Im at work now, so I cant go check anything.

 

In case I wasnt clear about what my question was....


What, if anything, did I do wrong? Or do I need to wait for the ball joints to settle in?

 

Bump for info

 

No replies?

This has got to be a H-T first

 

Oh man, ive never seen a topic stump anyone...


Well,im just gonna tear it all down again I guess, and see whats up...

No more ideas from anyone?

 

Ball joint are ready to go as soon as they are installed, it sounds like you have another problem going on. It's probably the toe that is out of whack, that's what makes the car feel so twitchy. Toe out will make the car handle weird. Did you use OEM parts? Are you positive you didn't put the parts on the wrong side? Are the part numbers the same for both sides? If not there is probably a difference and they are side- specific. As far as the ride height goes, every Civic I've seen is with stock springs is lower on the driver side, the only way to fix it is to get coilovers. I think you are on the right track by going back through everything you replaced to see if you can find the problem. Good luck, keep us updated!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by STS_Underdog &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ball joint are ready to go as soon as they are installed, it sounds like you have another problem going on. It's probably the toe that is out of whack, that's what makes the car feel so twitchy. Toe out will make the car handle weird. Did you use OEM parts? Are you positive you didn't put the parts on the wrong side? Are the part numbers the same for both sides? If not there is probably a difference and they are side- specific. As far as the ride height goes, every Civic I've seen is with stock springs is lower on the driver side, the only way to fix it is to get coilovers. I think you are on the right track by going back through everything you replaced to see if you can find the problem. Good luck, keep us updated!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Non-oem parts

I also posted this in the suspension forum since I had no replies here, but ill update you.

The part numbers for the outer tie rods are different, as they should be, and they are installed for the correct side. There just seems to be a lack of adjustment available, which is odd...and might be because of the use of non-oem parts...i havent torn it down again yet.

Driver side is lower than passenger, so you are probably correct about the coilover idea there, I hadnt thought of that.

When i get some more info, ill update as necessary. Thanks for the post