Hi, this is my first post so please bear with me. I have a 97 accord with some minor mods. This winter I slid on some ice here in Pennsylvania and hit a tree. The body damage was minor, but I jacked up my suspension. I replaced the right lower control arm because it was bent. I also had an alignment done and the mechanic said that I have a caster problem. He also said that this should not effect the tire wear because the alignment was good. This seemed to fix the main problem but my question is, everytime I hit a large bump the suspension seems to travel from side to side as well as up and down. Is this because I have a bent frame or are there some other suspension components that I need to replace? I noticed that my drivers front tire is really getting ate up on the inside as well. I just ordered new shocks and springs but I was wondering if I need to take it to a body shop. If so, how much should I expect to pay to pull the frame straight again? Thanks for your help

 

wow..well first off if your caster is off then after you hit a bump or two your alignment will be thrown off again thus making your tires wear weird. Also your camber could be off too. As far as the suspension going side by side, is it loose steering or something else?

 

Caster is a non wearing angle. Toe and camber will effect tire wear. The abnormal wear on the inside of the tire is most likely caused by too much negative camber. The subframe could have been damaged. I have replaced several of those after even just "minor" curb hits. Take your car back to the alignment shop to have them check all the alignment angles again. Make sure you don't have any worn out parts too. Lower ball joints and outer tie rod ends must have zero freeplay. Jack up the front of your car, wiggle the tires back and forth while you "feel" for any looseness in the tie rod ends. Next stick a large bar under the tire and lift up and down whil looking at the lower ball joint for any movement. email if you ?'s

 

when i went to the honda dealer they told me i need to get a camber kit on my car... but i dont know~

 

OEM coils? Have you lowered the car? do you have a printed copy of the alignment? If you do lemmie know what the "actual" numbers are.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jfastman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Caster is a non wearing angle</TD></TR></TABLE>


True but if your caster is off so is your alignment. Or at least can make it easier for your alignment to get thrown off, which in turn causes bad tire wear

 

Wow, I didn't know that a caster problem would effect my alignment. That is good to know cause I have hit many bumps around here. The roads really suck in PA. I will have to have it looked at again. I need to get the caster problem fixed but I don't know if is my frame or not. To the body shop I go..........any idea what it will cost to have my frame straightened?

 

My suspension is oem but I have aftermarket wheels. They are 17's. Do you think that just having rims will cause a camber problem cause I have had a problem with tires ever since I put the rims on. Just not as bad until I hit the tree. I just ordered adjustable kyb's with H&R springs.

 

Do you know how much it will cost to fix the subframe? Thanks a lot for the tips. I will check it out.