Say I lowered a 95 Gsr 1.5" would the camber be off much?

 

Your camber shouldn't be more than -2 deg. and if you get the alignment done correctly and rotate your tires often, you shouldn't have any problems. My car is lowered almost 2" all around w/ about -2.3 deg. camber, and after 25K miles with no camber kit, tires are still almost perfectly even all the way across (although at almost 45K miles, these tires are almost done for).

 

My GSR is lowered 1.75" on 205-45-16 Sumitomo HTRZ-IIs

-1.5 degrees up front, can probably make 35K miles before replacing them.

 

is it just me or is PatrickGSR attracted to camber kit threads like a moth to a flame?

 

lol Im not to sure about that but I frequently see him in a lot post that I read up on


[Modified by kendogg, 2:28 PM 2/21/2003]

 

What tires are you running pat? I burnt my Kumhos on H&R sports after 15k...

 

Because he tries to spread the truth instead of more regurgitated internet bullshit!

Preach on brotha!

 

I'd get an alignment to see where's you're at. 1.5 is a pretty mild drop. I'd wager camber shouldn't be an issue.

Inccorrect toe settings will eat your tires though.

 

true dat, he knows his shizzle. he should just make an OFFICIAL camber kit thread, then MAYBE just MAYBE the noobs will use the search button and find it. but i could be wrong

 

Me tooo. Im still decieding on ingalls or skunk 2...anyone...

 

camber kitsa not really needed on tegs as much you an slamm the hell outtas thme and not get wear, i have webt on my tegs with like 3 inch drops and never realighned and no camber kits for ages and never had unusual tire wear. . call me lucky i guss.
But if you want camber kits, I deal in SPC, and can do pretty good deals on them

 

i call BS. i used to align cars for a living. in my opinion anytime u lower ur car u should get a camber kit. that is if u want ur tires to last at all. for all the guys that say they havent seen any camber wear, its prolly cause 1. ur blind 2. u drive ur car like its on rails 3. the tires r overinflated etc etc. u get the picture. -2.0 degrees is quite a bit even though it doesnt sound like much. rotations help out but no matter what eventually the same side of the tire always ends up on the inner side and camber will eat them.

 

I'll ditto that. Even at 1.5" you should at least need a camber kit in the front but may be ok in the rear. Dump it more than that and you should get both front and rear. I just got 35k out of a set of Ptenza 730's and could have gotten more if I had kept up on keeping my alignment in check.

Tim

 

you can call bs all you want , im telling you now in both my tegs i never aligned thme and never used aligment kits until now . and thats becuase i get them for freenow so i just put em on all the cars becuase i dnt pay for thme .

like i said maybe im lucky , but i have had no tire wear. . . well from camber at least, no traction with too much power is what does it for me .

 

i heard that camber kits are not necessary if you don't go lower than 1.5". that's the general rule of thumb. just make sure you get an alignment after you lower your car. the slight camber from a 1.5" drop can be corrected without camber kits.

 

like I've replied in other threads... as long as you get an alignment and keep your TOE in check... negative camber (to some extent) doesn't hurt.... on my cars I lowered them approx 2" w/ Eibach Sportlines and Koni yellows along w/ 16" wheels and 205/45/16 tires/rims... the camber ranged from -1.8 - -2.1 degrees... on the back I had the ghetto washer/camber trick.. and on the front I didn't have any type of camber correction or kit...

I rotated my tires at every oil change I did... and I kept my tires properly inflated and I made sure my alignment was in check (especially the toe)..I had a lifetime alignment plan.. so I got it checked frequently...

anyway I didn't have any bad camber or inner edge wear on several sets of tires... I know some people who went through inner edges like crazy.. but not on my car... I've had Nitto NT450s (these suck), Dunlop SP Sport 9000's on the same suspension setup.. no bad camber wear..

just sharing my personal experience...

 

well everyone has their own beliefs. i have my belief from personal experience and alot of under car time.

see this is the problem. U HEARD, which basically means jack ****. factory specs on front alignment from honda was +1 or -1 degree. most and i said MOST hondas already have negative camber. u drop that car even the slightest and the camber goes out of specs. well 93 EJ1 u just let all of us honda techers know how u in fact im willing to bet u cant correct it. thats what camber kits do they correct. hondas DO NOT come with factory adjustable camber.

 

well I call BS on that... I do agree that an alignment is a must, EVERY time the ride height is changed, because toe is affected by ride height changes, and bad toe will eat your tires way more than bad camber will. The fact is, I've been running -2.3 deg. camber on the same tires for over 25K miles now. Yes there is SLIGHTLY more wear on the inside edge, but the difference is negligible and the entire tire tread is worn past the wear bars anyway, so it's time for replacements (I have almost 45K miles on these tires now). And yes my car gets driven hard on twisty roads, especially my favorite road near my house. I have also done autox and 1/4 mile track racing with this suspension. I'm underneath my car at least every 3K miles if not more often, and I rotate my tires every 3K-5K miles, so yes I have been keeping an eye on my tires. Oh and I also keep the tires at 34psi all around. My front right tire has a slow leak, so it's actually a few pounds low most of the time.

And to those who said I always post in these threads, yes I do because I hate to see people wasting their money on parts that might actually decrease performance, aren't really necessary, might slip during hard driving or whatever. I've saved myself quite a bit of money by not using any camber kits. It doesn't cost extra or take extra time to align my car, I have no worries of any abnormal squeeking or other noises, no worries of the upper control arm hitting the inner fender, no worries of any slipping or whatever, and the car no doubt handles better than if I had less camber than what I have now.

As I've said before, IMHO camber correction kits are overrated unless you need adjustability for track use, or if you've slammed your car so low that functionality and handling have pretty much gone out the window, in which case, what would be the point anyway?

Hope I have helped in some way.

*edit* for the guy who asked, I have Nankang EX-500 tires, V-rated 320 treadwear, handles VERY well in both wet and dry, but I will probably try the Ecsta 712's next.


[Modified by PatrickGSR94, 12:16 AM 2/22/2003]

 

very well put

 

I have ~-1.5 camber in front, but I get the toe aligned. I have never owned a camber kit and have never seen any camber wear either. Either has a friend of mine.

PS I once went to a guy that does 'alignments for a living' too. Just because he knows how to do it and does it alot didn't mean he knew that much. In conversation, I said that I wanted slight toe out 'cause my hard core autocross friends say that is what would give better turn in response, and I was thinking about getting a limited slip put in. His reply was that toe in gives better turn in and that I should never get a limited slip because it's dangerous because then your car wouldn't turn well! Well, I never went back there ever again.


[Modified by red97gsr, 1:12 AM 2/22/2003]

 

Well looks like everyone is having mixed experiences.. however i personally have had some tire wear issues, but i'm not sayin all people will nor that it cannot be prevented without a camberkit. I personally believe that with a drop of 2" or more will most likely result in the need of a camber kit. i said IMO so don't flame! But Like most of the others said, with a minimal drop, you could probably get by without one. Just go get an alignment and see how bad ur alignment is after the springs settle.

Personally, I purchased for myself the skunk2 kit and am happy with the results. the reason i chose these was that it allowed me to retain them regardless of what suspension changes i may do in the future because they are fully adjustable from -4 to +4 according to skunk2. Plus they seem to have less likelihood of knockin the top of the fender well like many other kits have been prone to do. Some are concerned with the full adjustability of this kit and the risk of slippin along teh trackof the kit and allowin full travel, but with proper torquing of the kit, i personally do not worry about this problem arising. The only concern i have is with the ball joint breakin of its bracket as experienced by migs. He had that problem occur and group A/skunk2 replaced it for him wit a new improved piece. What better customer support is there than that? That is my spiel... what do ya all think?

 

Ok soo...


<U>Ingalls or skunk 2???</U>

 

haha... ok i guess i didnt make myself clear enough... skunk2! better? haha.. i kno it has some issues.. but overall i think its the better bet between the two.

 

Don't get the ingall's upper control arm (same style as the Skunk2), my friend had that an the ball joint stud broke while he was driving on the highway (not hard cornering or anything). He had to get his car towed the rest of the 80+ miles to school.

 

damn that ****** sucks. like i said.. so far so good wit my skunk2