I will be lowering my car next week with KYB AGXs and H&R Sports. When I go to get an alignment should I do it right after I install my suspension or wait a couple of weeks to let the springs settle in? Can they adjust the camber any w/o the kit?

Thanks!

 

Well that's a tough question.

The alignment specs will be different after the springs settle, so waiting isn't a bad idea, BUT your tires will suffer greatly while you wait.

Camber?

You will need a kit up front, but the rear can be fixed with "shims" and longer anchor bolts if need be.

What kind of car?

 

EJ1 - 95 Civic EX

I drive about 150 miles a week so maybe I can hold out for a week or two. I would go w/ the Prokits because you don't need a camber kit but in the pics I've seen it looks like the car is not even lowered.

 

any time u lower a car , the camber suffers. front kits area needed in most cases if not all. trust me your tires will show it, if u decide to avoid the problem

 

Would you suggest getting the:

up to 1 degree kit

OR

the 1.25-3 degree kit

I think I'll go with Ingall's. Are they any good?

 

well im sure there pretty good. im sure TOm can tell you about the skunk 2 cambers. he's had first hand experince with those. i dont reccomend the skunk 2' from waht is saw. i dont know about ingalls first hand but i have heard good things about them.

 

Thanks for your help. So I get an alignment, see how many degrees off from stock it is, purchase the kit based on how many degrees camber, and install the kit? Can the place doing the alignment install the camber kit or do I need a shock/strut install shop to do this? I don't trust myself when it comes to suspension.

 

well its not going to throw the camber off no more than 2-3 degrees. so find a kit taht can adjust 2-3 degrees. throw the new susp parts on and the camber kit. then go do an alignment. if u wait to get the camber kit later, then u may have to pay for another aligment. so do it all at one time.

 

OK, let me see if I understand

1. Buy shocks/springs & camber kit (1.25-3 degrees)
2. Have all of them installed
3. After getting alignment they will adjust the camber using the kit

Is this correct?

 

yes sir. any one correct me if im wrong.

 

Just buy the 1.5 degree kits from Specialty Products. They are "uprights" that go into your Civic's upper A-arms. They have an offset bolt that can be adjusted to push the top of your wheel outward - thus fixing the negative camber.

They are cheap and effective, and easy to install.

1.5 should be enough if you aren't dropping over 2 inches.

 

Do you know where I can purchase these? The ones I am looking at are about $130.

 

Hey guys guess what, I've been driving on a 2" drop for about 17K miles now and my tires are still perfectly even all the way across, NO camber kit. I have about ~2.25 deg. neg. camber all around.

It's not the negative camber that will kill your tires, it's the negative camber PLUS bad toe settings which will occur if you change the ride height w/o getting an alignment. Unless you totally slam your car 2.25" or more, you can probably get away w/o a camber kit. Just make sure you get the car aligned and get the toe-in set to exact specs on all 4 corners, and make SURE you rotate your tires every 3K-5K miles.

You do NOT want straight up zero camber. Negative camber helps the car handle better. If you aren't slamming the car, let the negative camber stay.


[Modified by PatrickGSR94, 9:53 PM 9/14/2002]

 

ill buy that!

 

wats the process adjustin the aliignment? how do they do it?

 

Two tape measures. And tools. And seat time.

 

...Or I do them on a $30,000.00 Hunter laserbeam alignment machine.

And here's where I set my own camber at so it would handle good but still not wear tires uneven:

Front: -.8 both wheels
Rear: -1.3 (max camber for 1992-1995 Civics as specified by Honda specs and Hunter specs)

It's true that some negative camber won't hurt too bad with proper toe, but what needs to be understood is that a lot of these cars already have some negative camber from the factory, so when you lower it the specs get really out of whack.

Example?

A poplular set-up seems to be Neuspeed Race springs on the 1999-2000 Civic Si.

Want to know what the rear camber ends up with those springs?

-3.0--3.4!!!

Sorry but that type of camber even in the rear ruins tires like you would not believe.

The fronts usually end up right around -2.2 - -3.0

That kind of camber up front with the weight of the motor on it will absolutely demolish tires even if the tow is okay.

Keep in mind the Neuspeed drop is about 2-2.5 inches. Hell most people with the coil-over sleeves go further than that, so guess what their camber looks like?

 

ah **** . . . dropping the car focks up the cambers and the alignment ?

 

Have you done a search? Here's one of my old threads https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=221464

 

My friend is running the exact same setup on his 5th gen coupe Si (CDN model) and he just got an alignment done yesterday. His fronts are now sitting at 1.6 and 1.7 corrected respectively. Mine will also be running the same setup very soon -- I've got my AGXs and the H&R Sports are coming (good setup by the way) -- I'm curious as to whether that minor bit out of spec is going to be a major problem... it is so close to the acceptable limits.

I read the other thread but I still can't decide whether its necessary or not to have a camber kit put in. I've also done a lot of reading on the various camber correction kits out there and know some of the good and bad with each type.

Overall, what does everyone recommend for this setup?

 

I have Neuspeed Race spring in my 99 Si. I just had my alignement done last week. The drop is pretty low all the way around. Anyways, I bought a Progress Ball Joint kit(+1 degree max) and shimmed the rear with 2 washers. The hard part sometimes is getting your car on the rack to get it aligned. They had to jack up the back a couple inches so my exhaust would clear. Here is how my alignment went.
Front (driver) -.7 (Pass) -1.4
Rear (driver) -2.0 (Pass) -2.4

Toe and Caster were perfect afterwards. Hopefully my tires will thank me later.

 

Yep, my friend aligned my car for me on the big Hunter rack at the Chevy dealer where he works. My camber was something like -2.1/-2.3 L/R in front, and -1.7/-2.1 L/R in back (H&R Sport springs, front Koni perch at stock height, rear Koni perch at lowest height).

 

i wish i had a friend who worked at the chevy dealer

 

I called an alignment shop they said they couldnt do it b/c I was lowered and would be too low to fit on the alignment machine?? WTF? How high is it?


[Modified by Muckman, 8:13 PM 9/17/2002]

 

Def get an alignment and camber kit, you don't want to see what my tires look like cause i put off getting both of these.


[Modified by SilverCivic2k, 1:10 AM 9/18/2002]