Hi, I've got a 2000 Civic Si that was lowered when I bought it. The rear tires of course tip way in and wear heavily on the inside. A friend told me that I could install a strut brace back there and this would fix it. Is this true? What parts EXACTLY do I need here?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mcastleberg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hi, I've got a 2000 Civic Si that was lowered when I bought it. The rear tires of course tip way in and wear heavily on the inside. A friend told me that I could install a strut brace back there and this would fix it. Is this true? What parts EXACTLY do I need here?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Youre friend should not be within 5 feet of your car.....especially with such stupidity.

It needs an allignment, your toe is out of spec. A camber kit may help, but deffinitely start with the allignment.

 

You don't need any parts at all. Your tires are wearing becuase the car was lowered without getting an alignment.

It still baffles me why people lower cars, never get an alignment, then spend tons of money on camber kits and tires instead of just getting it aligned.

 

The front tires don't seem to be wearing unevenly, its just the rear ones. Is it still just an alignment issue???


Modified by mcastleberg at 8:24 AM 12/9/2005

 

Any time you mess with suspension you should get an alignment.
Smack your friend, and go get one

 

yes, when you lower the car, you mess up the alignment on all four wheels. sometimes it causes uneven wear and sometimes it doesn't.

get it to an alignment shop that will do a 4 wheel alignment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Slosc2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Youre friend should not be within 5 feet of your car.....especially with such stupidity.

It needs an allignment, your toe is out of spec. A camber kit may help, but deffinitely start with the allignment. </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AutoXer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You don't need any parts at all. Your tires are wearing becuase the car was lowered without getting an alignment.

It still baffles me why people lower cars, never get an alignment, then spend tons of money on camber kits and tires instead of just getting it aligned.

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


alignments help out a lot but they dont last long

i saw get a camber kit, and them get the alignment, and u should be good for a while

 

Get the alignment. You'll need a camber kit if it's way outta wack, but if it's not slammed just an alignment should be fine.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kleanlscivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
alignments help out a lot but they dont last long
</TD></TR></TABLE>

What do you mean by that? They set the toe by threading the tie rod in or out, and then locking it with a locknut; and on the rear, they adjust the compensator arm, and bolt that down. It doesn't come out of adjustment on its own over time.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SovXietday &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Get the alignment. You'll need a camber kit if it's way outta wack, but if it's not slammed just an alignment should be fine. </TD></TR></TABLE>

My camber numbers are very different on all four tires. My toe is 0, and I have no problems.

 

i meant to say to make sure to say also to set the toe, i got an alignment before and they didnt set that. and they also told me that the alignments themselves dont last long b/c i came in like 4 months after i got one of camber wear on my tires

 

You don't need a camber kit in the back. You can use a bolt and two washers. If your camber is really bad (which I doubt unless you are lowered 3"), then do that and get an alignment.

Otherwise just get it aligned and call it a day.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kleanlscivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i meant to say to make sure to say also to set the toe, i got an alignment before and they didnt set that. and they also told me that the alignments themselves dont last long b/c i came in like 4 months after i got one of camber wear on my tires </TD></TR></TABLE>

The toe is the only thing you can adjust on a honda without aftermarket parts. If you got an alignment and they didn't set the toe then what did they do?

 

I think he should just get a new set of springs ie tein 1.9/1.7 drop. My civic coupe with those springs are back to spec after I had all four wheels aligned at Sears, hehe. Camber is not adjustable using stock civic control alrms but the toe can be adjusted. $65 bucks.................

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kleanlscivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i meant to say to make sure to say also to set the toe, i got an alignment before and they didnt set that. and they also told me that the alignments themselves dont last long b/c i came in like 4 months after i got one of camber wear on my tires </TD></TR></TABLE>

What is camber wear? Because to me that would be called normal tire wear. Toe is the major culprit to uneven tire wear. I run -2.5* camber in all corners with 0* toe, and have yet to see irregular wear. People should really get it out of their mindset that camber affects tire wear so drastically.....it doesnt.

 

normal tire wear? Bottom of the line is that any lowered civic/teg will have the wheels slanted towards the body. I agree that the toe setting is what causes the tire wear but Honda didnt really make these cars to be lowered so much that the wheels slant inward.

My coupe has about 1 degree camber and 0 toe as well, I havent seen any abnormal tire wear either so I will agree with Slosc. BTW: It is within spec also.

 

camber kit. The money you spend getting the alignment, if that doesnt help, well, then thats money kinda lost... just get the camber kit

 

And what will the camber kit run me?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by H23Si_PRELUDE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">camber kit. The money you spend getting the alignment, if that doesnt help, well, then thats money kinda lost... just get the camber kit</TD></TR></TABLE>

You have it completely backwards.
Getting an alignment WILL help wether or not he gets a camber kit.

But getting a camber kit, without getting an alignment, wont help at all if your toe settings are still off.

For the 10th time, JUST GET AN ALIGNMENT.

 

You can make your own camber kit for the rear. All you need is a bolt and some washers for both sides. If you buy one you will spend $50-$100. Definatly get an alignment though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by H23Si_PRELUDE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">camber kit. The money you spend getting the alignment, if that doesnt help, well, then thats money kinda lost... just get the camber kit</TD></TR></TABLE>

Allignment will help way more than a camber kit, your basially throwing money away. camber will wear your tires more on the inside, but when your taking turns, whether at speed limits, or faster than normal, your car leans, creating more contact on the outside of the tire, not the inside.

People really have to get out of the mindset that camber is what causes tires to wear unevenly. It seems that no matter how many times people are told, the still resist to accept the truth.

 

alignment helps but not always will bring the camber within specs. do the alignment and then see what happens. if you still have camber wear get a camber kit dont add washer or any bullshit. do it right and clean.

 

i installed lowering springs. About a week later my camber kit arrived, and the same day as my camber kit was installed, i got an alignment.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDMEK-9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">alignment helps but not always will bring the camber within specs. do the alignment and then see what happens. if you still have camber wear get a camber kit dont add washer or any bullshit. do it right and clean.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Since hondas dont have anyway of adjusting camber, doing an alignment(which will only adjust toe) wont affect camber.

The point is, even with your camber out of spec, if your toe is on, your tires will be ok!