Hi, I recently bought a 1992 Prelude Si. The shocks are dead and the springs were cut so I'm going to replace them soon. I was looking at lowering springs and wondering how much of a drop from stock height I can expect before I need a camber kit. Also, how much would one cost? I'm riding on stock 16in rims (I don't think I'm going to replace them) and I don't want too much of a gap.
Would anybody know what's the maximum spring rate the kyb gr2 and agx can handle?
Thanks for your help.

 

Anybody knows?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B1uNight &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hi, I recently bought a 1992 Prelude Si. The shocks are dead and the springs were cut so I'm going to replace them soon. I was looking at lowering springs and wondering how much of a drop from stock height I can expect before I need a camber kit. Also, how much would one cost? I'm riding on stock 16in rims (I don't think I'm going to replace them) and I don't want too much of a gap.
Would anybody know what's the maximum spring rate the kyb gr2 and agx can handle?
Thanks for your help.</TD></TR></TABLE>

you can lower about 24625" before you NEED a camber kit. basically, you don't need one. it really depends on what you NEED it for. my rule of thumb is 3 degrees or less neg. camber doesn't require a camber kit. i doubt you'll get more than 3 degrees on a bb chassis...you'll be closer to 2 degrees with most common spring setups, and 2 degrees neg camber is nothing.

max spring rates on the gr2 would prob be in the 200's, maybe 250-300. the agx is around 400.

 

Okay, thanks a lot. So less than 3 degrees of negative camber won't negatively affect handling or increase tire wear? That's what I'm mainly concern with. I know a little bit of negative camber can improve handling, but I'm not sure how much and I want to find a compromise between handling and tire wear.
Where did you find the max spring rates on those shocks? I've been to their website but I didn't find it. Is it from experience? I want to do it right the first time because I'm short on cash.

 

dude the only way is to look at it. go to your fenders and look down and make sure they are straight from north to south. or lay down in front of your car looking straight at both tires on a flat parking lot about one car distance and see if the tires are in or out. if you see the tires going out or in. you will need camber kit. out meaning bottom tires is out and in is top tires is in. if you change tires every other months you will need them.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Fongman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">dude the only way is to look at it. go to your fenders and look down and make sure they are straight from north to south. or lay down in front of your car looking straight at both tires on a flat parking lot about one car distance and see if the tires are in or out. if you see the tires going out or in. you will need camber kit. out meaning bottom tires is out and in is top tires is in. if you change tires every other months you will need them.</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah cuz camber be bad!!!!

i don't know what you guys do with your cars, but i've got -2 degrees all around and i'm gonna get 25,000 miles out of a shitty set of kumhos that should last 20.

negative camber is your friend.

 

I know how to check camber. I just want to know how serious it will be when I drop my car so I can plan ahead.

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

yeah cuz camber be bad!!!!

i don't know what you guys do with your cars, but i've got -2 degrees all around and i'm gonna get 25,000 miles out of a shitty set of kumhos that should last 20.

negative camber is your friend.</TD></TR></TABLE>

bad-monkey how often did you rotate your tires? Did they wear evenly and was there any handling issues?
Also, I think I'm going with the KYB AGX. What spring rate would you recommend if I plan on using it as a daily driver and autocrossing maybe once a month. Would you happen to know what is the spring rate for OEM springs?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B1uNight &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
bad-monkey how often did you rotate your tires? Did they wear evenly and was there any handling issues?
Also, I think I'm going with the KYB AGX. What spring rate would you recommend if I plan on using it as a daily driver and autocrossing maybe once a month. Would you happen to know what is the spring rate for OEM springs?</TD></TR></TABLE>

i rotate everytime i change wheels, which ends up being fairly often since i have a set of wheels for auto-x/hpde and a set for daily driving. on average, i'd say every 5,000 miles or so, sometimes more sometimes less. they are wearing evenly at the 15,000 mile mark with plenty of meat left.

it handles much better with the negative camber. it would handle alot better if i could dial in another 1.0 degree of neg. camber up front. maybe reduce it in the back by .5 degree.

for AGX's, i wouldn't go with more than 400#'s of spring. for daily driving with weekend action i'd go with something like 350F/275R or similar. for reference purposes i'm on koni yellows and GC's running 450/550*. stock spring rates are 200F/100R or something like that.

*Honda guys (actually most FF guys) usually setup the rear stiffer than the fronts (if they know what they're doing) for competitive use to help with rotation and handling balance. This isn't always a good idea on the street though, since it can lead to some hairy situations if you're not careful (snap oversteer, lift throttle oversteer, etc) and it's also less comfortable to have stiffer springs in the back.

 

toe kills, camber is fun.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Shakes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">toe kills, camber is fun.</TD></TR></TABLE>i luv me some -camber, mmmmmmmm... grip.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Shakes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">toe kills, camber is fun.</TD></TR></TABLE>



set ur toe to 0 and it will stop most of of ur tire wear.

 

Thanks for all the help. When I go to get an alignment, wouldn't the mechanics automatically set my toe to zero? What about caster? How does that affect handling and tire wear?

 

1.9 degrees front, 0.5 degrees negative camber on the rear set got about 20k miles on Yokohama rubber. Toe was set to zero both ends. Turn-in was great, but on daily driving, you wear out the inside part of the tires, thus you lose about 20k miles on a set of tires. Sacrifice. You need a camber kit set to zero if you're drag racing to get the most rubber for launching. For conrnering, you want some negative camber, especially on the front. You get a lot more torque steer with the negative camber when you launch hard on uneven pavement.