I'm ordering a camber kit for my car tomorrow and I'm just wondering if I should just get the front or front+rear. I was talking to my friend and he says the rear isn't necessary. He also said that having some camber [no camber kit] in the rear will improve cornering ability. Can someone clarify if this is true? WWHTD?

Thank you in advance !

 

ill clarify it. having some negative camber will improve cornering ability in the front and rear. what do you plan on setting your camber to once your kit arrives?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Conclusion &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm ordering a camber kit for my car tomorrow and I'm just wondering if I should just get the front or front+rear. I was talking to my friend and he says the rear isn't necessary. He also said that having some camber [no camber kit] in the rear will improve cornering ability. Can someone clarify if this is true? WWHTD?

Thank you in advance !</TD></TR></TABLE>

Most likely, you don't need any camber correction at all, unless you're just totally **** and want the negative camber setting to be exactly the same on both sides (and NOT using it to set camber to zero, that will make handling suck).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ejprimo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ill clarify it. having some negative camber will improve cornering ability in the front and rear. what do you plan on setting your camber to once your kit arrives?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, I'm just worried about the tire wear that comes from having no kit, if that's true as well. I've heard that the tires only last about three months or so, but I'm not fully sure.

 

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

Well, I'm just worried about the tire wear that comes from having no kit, if that's true as well. I've heard that the tires only last about three months or so, but I'm not fully sure.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Camber does not wear tires, toe does.

I've been daily driving for 2 years with -4* of front camber, my tires still have 1/3 of their tread left, and are wearing evenly across the tread face.

Lowering your car changes both camber and toe. If you do not get an alignment after every height change, your toe will destroy your tires in very little time. Since camber is visible to the eye and toe isn't, camber gets blamed for the wear, when toe is the actual cause.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Camber does not wear tires, toe does.

I've been daily driving for 2 years with -4* of front camber, my tires still have 1/3 of their tread left, and are wearing evenly across the tread face.

Lowering your car changes both camber and toe. If you do not get an alignment after every height change, your toe will destroy your tires in very little time. Since camber is visible to the eye and toe isn't, camber gets blamed for the wear, when toe is the actual cause.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm sorry for being such a noob, but what is "toe" exactly? So you're saying that having a camber kit is not necessary? Just get an alignment to fix this tire wear that I'm talking about?

 

toe is the direction that your tires are pointing. if you toe is not set at zero they're not pointing straight.

having a camber kit is unecessary as mentioned above.

just get an alignment to fix your tire wear. get a camber kit if you like riding on the outside edges of your tires when cornering.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ejprimo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">toe is the direction that your tires are pointing. if you toe is not set at zero they're not pointing straight.

having a camber kit is unecessary as mentioned above.

just get an alignment to fix your tire wear. get a camber kit if you like riding on the outside edges of your tires when cornering.

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

Riding on the outside edges of the tires is a bad thing, right?

 

yes it is a bad thing.

ideally you would like to ride on the full contact patch when your turning vehicle at speed and you cant do that if you have zero camber.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ejprimo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes it is a bad thing.

ideally you would like to ride on the full contact patch when your turning vehicle at speed and you cant do that if you have zero camber. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Sorry for sounding like an idiot, but what's the purpose of a camber kit if it's not good for your car?

 

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

Sorry for sounding like an idiot, but what's the purpose of a camber kit if it's not good for your car?</TD></TR></TABLE>

the reason i have a camber kit is to add more camber. i currently have -3.5f and -2.5 rear because i was chewing up the outside edge of my nitto nt-01s at the track. i only had aprrox. -2.5f and -1.5r on stock front UCAs. for a daily driven street car just stick with the stock UCAs.

 

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

the reason i have a camber kit is to add more camber. i currently have -3.5f and -2.5 rear because i was chewing up the outside edge of my nitto nt-01s at the track. i only had aprrox. -2.5f and -1.5r on stock front UCAs. for a daily driven street car just stick with the stock UCAs. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Ahh, okay then. I decided to just get an alignment. Thanks for all of the help ejprimo, you're the man!

 

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

Sorry for sounding like an idiot, but what's the purpose of a camber kit if it's not good for your car?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Almost every company markets their camber kits to reduce tire wear. This is either out of ignorance on the company's part, or just trying to make more money from car owners who themselves are not pertinent to the truth.

It's not that they're bad for the car. They're good if they are used for dialing in camber settings for optimal handling on a track car. But that usually isn't necessary for a street car. One of the few needs to set a lowered suspension back to zero camber is for a drag race car. But there again, not for a street car.

But the reality is that most camber kits don't have the engineering and R&D that prevent problems like UCA clearance issues, slipping, squeaking, and all those things.

 

What car is this for?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Almost every company markets their camber kits to reduce tire wear. This is either out of ignorance on the company's part, or just trying to make more money from car owners who themselves are not pertinent to the truth.

It's not that they're bad for the car. They're good if they are used for dialing in camber settings for optimal handling on a track car. But that usually isn't necessary for a street car. One of the few needs to set a lowered suspension back to zero camber is for a drag race car. But there again, not for a street car.

But the reality is that most camber kits don't have the engineering and R&D that prevent problems like UCA clearance issues, slipping, squeaking, and all those things.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks for clearing that up for me

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What car is this for?</TD></TR></TABLE>

95 Civic

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PatrickGSR94 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But the reality is that most camber kits don't have the engineering and R&D that prevent problems like UCA clearance issues, slipping, squeaking, and all those things.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i needed more camber for the track for my new R888s so i got a skunk2 pro series camber kit in the front to replace my stock UCAs. my very first track day with this kit i hit a curb, rammed the shock tower, and ended up with max neg. camber on the rf. i never had this problem with my stock UCAs no matter what i drove over.

 

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

i needed more camber for the track for my new R888s so i got a skunk2 pro series camber kit in the front to replace my stock UCAs. my very first track day with this kit i hit a curb, rammed the shock tower, and ended up with max neg. camber on the rf. i never had this problem with my stock UCAs no matter what i drove over.</TD></TR></TABLE>

There you go, that's EXACTLY why I never wanted a camber kit for my car. With the horrid streets I have experienced I'm sure they would have slipped on me more than once.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Conclusion &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">95 Civic</TD></TR></TABLE>
You won't need any camber kit at all then. '88-95 Civic suspensions have excellent camber curves in front and rear. For '96+ Civics, I recommend some minor adjustment in the rear, but I rarely ever see a need for front adjuster kits on any double-wishbone Civics. Have the toe set to 0 for the front and 1/16" total toe-in for the rear and ignore the camber unless it is very uneven (difference of more than 0.5 degrees left to right).

You always want the front camber to be more negative than the rear for handling purposes, but you don't necessarily want a huge difference - usually 1 degree or less.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
You won't need any camber kit at all then. '88-95 Civic suspensions have excellent camber curves in front and rear. For '96+ Civics, I recommend some minor adjustment in the rear, but I rarely ever see a need for front adjuster kits on any double-wishbone Civics. Have the toe set to 0 for the front and 1/16" total toe-in for the rear and ignore the camber unless it is very uneven (difference of more than 0.5 degrees left to right).

You always want the front camber to be more negative than the rear for handling purposes, but you don't necessarily want a huge difference - usually 1 degree or less.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanks!

I know this is off topic in my case, but I went to get an alignment today and my car still moves to the right slowly. Is this natural or are they doing a half-assed job? Nevertheless, I'm back there to get it fixed again tomorrow.

 

Post the specs from your print-out sheet.

If you didn't get one, remember to ask for one before you drop the car off next time. You should always get a "before" and "after" print-out when you have the wheels aligned.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Post the specs from your print-out sheet.

If you didn't get one, remember to ask for one before you drop the car off next time. You should always get a "before" and "after" print-out when you have the wheels aligned.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, thanks alot. I'll be sure to do that tomorrow

Only sheet I got was the service that I ordered and the total.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TunerN00b &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Camber does not wear tires, toe does.</TD></TR></TABLE>


So I have a lowered ef. The toe is not at zero. Therefore, my 3 month old tires are showing steel on the inside.
Multiple mechanics tell me they cannot align my car because the coilover kit messed up the camber.

Should I fix my negative camber? In doing so, will that in turn allow for my car to be aligned?

 

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


So I have a lowered ef. The toe is not at zero. Therefore, my 3 month old tires are showing steel on the inside.
Multiple mechanics tell me they cannot align my car because the coilover kit messed up the camber.

Should I fix my negative camber? In doing so, will that in turn allow for my car to be aligned?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If a mechanic is claiming to be unable to align the car, there could be several reasons.
1) He's too lazy to deal with a lowered car (they can be harder to put on the rack)
2) He's trying to sell you additional parts at great markup
3) He is incompetent

Either way, its time for a new mechanic. All of our Hondas have adjustable toe stock, and can be aligned without any difficulty. The only exceptions to that are collision damage and radical lowering (we're talking dragging bumper low). It is possible the dump the rear far enough that the toe can no longer be put into a reasonable value (or so I have been informed), but the car isn't exactly drivable at that height anyway.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kingofnothing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Multiple mechanics tell me they cannot align my car because the coilover kit messed up the camber.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i dont know how a coilover kit itself can mess up your camber. lowering your car will change your camber. if your slammed you will have an extreme amount of camber and the only way to improve your handling is to raise it up.

how low is your car?

 

Well a while ago I was under the impression that I had sub frame damage from a very tame "accident"

The report said that the camber was 3 degrees out because of subframe damage.

Then an auto body shop said that damage to the frame happens in a linear fashion. From the suspension components at the wheel (CA's, ball joints, etc.) onward towards frame. Making it unlikely that the frame would receive damage and not other suspension bits.

He replaced my control arm and he himself took it to a Firestone for an alignment. It was then that Firestone said they could not complete the alignment because of the lowering of my car.

Its only dropped an inch and a half.