my car pulled way hard to the left, so u lifted it it played with the toe arms, now the car still pulls to the right but i ran out of thread on the TOE arm on the right side. is there anything i can do to correct this like bang a curb or something? im dead serious when i say this cuz im a cheap basterd (and yet my girl still loves me) and it still pulls to the right, so anyone know what to do? i ran out of thread on the toe bar/arm or else is just go a lil further but there is nothing left on the bar...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nerologic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my car pulled way hard to the left, so u lifted it it played with the toe arms, now the car still pulls to the right but i ran out of thread on the TOE arm on the right side. is there anything i can do to correct this like bang a curb or something? im dead serious when i say this cuz im a cheap basterd (and yet my girl still loves me) and it still pulls to the right, so anyone know what to do? i ran out of thread on the toe bar/arm or else is just go a lil further but there is nothing left on the bar...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Take the car by for a FREE alignmnet check. Most places offer a free check these days.

PS: Make sure to get a printout of the before and after specs.

 

dont do it yourself, you'll just **** things up worse. im sure since you are into cars and have friends that are into cars, someone has to have a hook up. ask around, besides..it's 50 bux to get it done at goodyear.

 

ya i knwo i want to get it done eventualy but in the meantime is there anything i can do?

 

i wouldnt be surprised if you didnt **** it up more than it was to begin with... alot of cars will look fine to the naked eye but when put on a rack they are jacked up... so i have no doubt in my mind yours is way beyond jacked up... good luck "cheap ***" ... oh i forgot to mention... toe is a tire wearing angle not a directional angle... you should be looking at your camber... man the guy who finally aligns your car is gonna have a bitch of a time

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nerologic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ya i knwo i want to get it done eventualy but in the meantime is there anything i can do?</TD></TR></TABLE>

NO, don't think so.
FYI: I don't adjusting the toe will "fix" the car pulling to ONE side.

 

I agree, just spend the $40 and get it done right with a warranty. You can barely see 2-3 degrees with the naked eye, but it will make a huge difference in tire wear / ride quality

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Steve90HB &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I agree, just spend the $40 and get it done right with a warranty. You can barely see 2-3 degrees with the naked eye, but it will make a huge difference in tire wear / ride quality</TD></TR></TABLE>

Agree with you and I'll add,

It's NOT good to have a car that PULLS hard to the left.... It's going to cost more than the cost of an alignment if the car "pulls" at a moment the driver is not paying full attention. Pulling to the left unless your in a country that drives on the left hand side of the road will put you across the center line into on-coming traffic VERY quickly.

Translation.. It’s cheaper to get the alignment done so the car doesn’t pull instead of wrecking the car, or getting messed up in a wreck.

 

get an aligment done you DAMM CHEAP BASTARD

 

ya tahts why i was asking about toe or align, i dont know which is which...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Nerologic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ya tahts why i was asking about toe or align, i dont know which is which...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Here you go:
http://www.supaquick.co.za/ali...n.htm

PS: the only thing adjustable on most Hondas is the TOE... If something else is out of spec it's bent.

 

actually caster is what mainly makes a car pull. easy way to check is to check how many fingers can you fit between the back of the tire to the fender on both sides.

Caster on your car can really be made more positive by cranking on the 17mm nut on the strut rod. This will pull the lower control arms forward. Whichever arm is further back try cranking that nut to pull it forward.

 

if a car is on cut springs, would an alignment shop still be able to align it correctly?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by notAcarGUY &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if a car is on cut springs, would an alignment shop still be able to align it correctly?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, but the only thing adjustable on a stock honda is the toe. For every 1 inch of drop fiqure about 1 degree negative camber added. On the rear you can use washers, on the front a camber kit may be needed.

 

You can adjust more than toe on a Honda.

Basically toe is if your wheels angle out or inward. This will create a little more stability in your car handling wise but since you are wearing the tires at an angle they will wear faster

Caster is how the wheel leans forward or backward. This is what makes your car try to straighten out when you let go of the wheel. Think of a Bicycle and how much its front wheel is angled. Thats why you can let go of the handle bars and not fall on your ***. Than think of one of those razor scooters where the front wheel is like at a 90* angle and those things have no stability at all.

Camber isn't really adjustable on a Honda but its how the wheel tilts inward or outward. Camber will give your more grip around a turn but will cause tire wear on the outsides of the tires. This will get screwed up when you lower your car.

Thrust angle is how the car is angled as it drives straight. If you had massive positive toe one one side of the rear and negative on the other side the *** of the car would be driving askew instead of straight on like it should. This is controlled by toe, sort of the sum of all the toes.

 

edit

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by APEX CRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">actually caster is what mainly makes a car pull.</TD></TR></TABLE>

this is true if you have a rwd car... on fwd's camber is the primary directional angle... caster is secondary... now if your camber is perfect but your cross caster is 0.5 degrees or more then expect a pull

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by FourthGenHatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You can adjust more than toe on a Honda.

Basically toe is if your wheels angle out or inward. This will create a little more stability in your car handling wise but since you are wearing the tires at an angle they will wear faster

Caster is how the wheel leans forward or backward. This is what makes your car try to straighten out when you let go of the wheel. Think of a Bicycle and how much its front wheel is angled. Thats why you can let go of the handle bars and not fall on your ***. Than think of one of those razor scooters where the front wheel is like at a 90* angle and those things have no stability at all.

Camber isn't really adjustable on a Honda but its how the wheel tilts inward or outward. Camber will give your more grip around a turn but will cause tire wear on the outsides of the tires. This will get screwed up when you lower your car.

Thrust angle is how the car is angled as it drives straight. If you had massive positive toe one one side of the rear and negative on the other side the *** of the car would be driving askew instead of straight on like it should. This is controlled by toe, sort of the sum of all the toes.</TD></TR></TABLE>


FourthGenHatch,

Sort of wondering how you adjust the CASTER on a 4th generation Civic. I just when outside to confirm for sure. On a 90 DX it is set-up as follows….

About 4 inches from the end of the front of the STOCK radius rods there is a washer that rests against a machined stop… Then a spacer, with one bushing to the rear of the front cross member, and one on the front side of the cross member followed by another washer, then a “nut” which locks everything into position.

I would agree with you if there were a “nut” on both sides, but with only a nut on the front side the caster cannot be adjusted.

My MR2 on the other hand is double nutted with a nut of the front and one on the rear. In that case the Caster IS adjustable.

 

i aligned a 98 prelude and to my knowledge the only angle adjustable on most hondas is toe... but the alignment machine told me you could adjust caster by adding shims to the radius rods or shaving the bushings slightly... i dont know how legit this is so i didnt do anything seeing that the cross was in spec and i didnt want to screw it up worse... so he could be right... most hondas suspension-wise from the late 80's up until 2001 are basically the same, so this may work on our cars as well

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by neutron91 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i aligned a 98 prelude and to my knowledge the only angle adjustable on most hondas is toe... but the alignment machine told me you could adjust caster by adding shims to the radius rods or shaving the bushings slightly... i dont know how legit this is so i didnt do anything seeing that the cross was in spec and i didnt want to screw it up worse... so he could be right... most hondas suspension-wise from the late 80's up until 2001 are basically the same, so this may work on our cars as well </TD></TR></TABLE>


Yes I know about that trick... You can make some adjustment via shims, but it's not adjustable to any degree with the stock set-up. Most alignment shops won't bother with shims... VS a car like the MR-2 that is double nutted and is EASILY adjustable for caster. Most shops just won't take the time unless they have to.

 

bump for a new alignment