hi,
i was wondering if you could tell the difference in the knuckles from a 91 civic std versus an Si...i did a b16a swap in my 91 civic std, and changed the knuckles, but my camber is messed up on the drivers side (i have about 1.5 degrees +)...

i think the knuckle may be bent, so i bought a new one from a yard, but it looks like my std one (the hole is the same diameter)...
i can't remember what the other one looked like, and i don't have my car (it's far away getting a roll cage welded in)....

so my question is to clarify, is the hole bigger in Si knuckle? the yard said it came from an si, but i think they may have made a mistake...

also, what else can be bent to cause +1.5 degrees...
this is with the car lowered about 2 inches with GC's...if it was stock height, it maybe much more than 1.5 degrees.

thanks

 

The # of splines in the shaft are higher, therefore the shaft diameter is larger, so if you got an assembly that is the same as your STD hub, then it won't work. The problem you are having is common I think. My swap I used the SIR intermediate shaft, along with the driver side 86-89 TEG shaft, and the passenger side the 90-93 TEG shaft. My driver side wheel is camber +

Now my friend used the 90-93 TEG intermediate shaft with the axles from a 90-93 TEG on both sides amd his camber problem is opposite. Si I am not sure what the deal is. Don't know if this helps but I feel ya!

 

Chances are it is not the knuckles at fault. I have done two swaps and have this exact same problem with both cars. There is too much camber on the driver's side and front driver's side tire wears like clockwork. I have tried to get the car aligned. But I have noticed something. Both wheels seem to be cambered about equally (about -1 degree). This is borderline for a 1988-1991 Civic/CRX. So clearly the extra weight is causing more negative camber than desirable. So why more wear on the driver's side? Probably the extra, unbalanced weight of the driver is causing this side to sag more, resulting in more negative camber.

So what to do about it? Well, there are several things to do. First of all, you might want to change your front bushings. Chances are they are quite compressed after 11 years. Changing them will help make your front end sag less. And with double wishbone suspension, this will increase your camber slightly. It will also help handling. You might also try changing your springs. Stiffer springs like those from an SI will help increase camber. You might want to lower. But this will actually decrease camber. If the stiffer springs and bushings don't help and/or you decide to lower, you will need a camber kit. This will solve your problem for sure.

 

i think you misunderstood me...i have + camber on my driver's side, and negative camber on my passenger side. so when viewed from the front the car wheels both lean to the right.

i am looking for more negative camber on both sides, but especially the driver's side. the car is lowered more than 2 inches with ground controls. i have the ingall's kit, but this kit is designed to give 2 degrees + camber or .75 degrees negative (i have it set to as much negative as it can go).

as this car is being set up for road racing, i don't care about tire wear, but looking for a lot of negative camber for better handling. so, i don't understand how i can lower a car so much and still get positive camber. something must be bent.

 

the only thing you changed was both knuckles - correct? and it WAS a STD 4 spd (not a DX) correct? Did you change upper control arms or are they STD?

 

The upper control arms are the same. In any case, it sounds like a camber kit is in order here.

 

You didn't happen to change out the rear beam did you?

 

didn't change the rear beam (not sure what you mean by that), i did change the upper control arm with a brand new one because i had a bad ball joint.

and the car definitely is a std (4 speed)

i already have the ingalls camber kit installed, however, this kit can only provide 0.75 degrees of negative camber (it provides 2 degrees of + camber, which is exactly what i don't want)...i have that maxed out, and my camber is still 1.5 degrees positive! so it would be 2.25 degrees positive w/o the ingalls kit!

i want negative camber, like the passenger side, at least -1.5 degrees would be nice....so i guess i am about 3 degrees away from where i want to be.


[Modified by JoeyM, 1:21 PM 3/15/2002]


[Modified by JoeyM, 1:22 PM 3/15/2002]


[Modified by JoeyM, 1:23 PM 3/15/2002]


[Modified by JoeyM, 1:24 PM 3/15/2002]

 

sounds like you have the wrong side upper control arm - compare the new one with the old one and with the one on the other side- there is a left and a right

 

no, it's the right one...since they are offset, a right sided one wouldn't fit on the left side (i tried it)...it's definitely the correct upper control arm.

also, even if it wasn't, that should only change the caster...not camber

 

A change in caster means a change in camber also- at least when we are speaking of alignments. So you compared the new arm with the arm on the other side- and they are similar?- It is always possible someone gave you the wrong part (happens to me daily)- the only other components are the knuckle and lower control arm- the lower control arm being attached to the rear beam (subframe). Can you send pics of both sides?


[Modified by fixhondas, 1:58 PM 3/16/2002]