I have a 90' EF hatch, and its got DA knuckles, new UCAs (EF) and new LCAs (EF) and all new balljoints. It's got KYB shocks and Skunk2 springs as well. I'm having an issue with my front drivers side wheel...It has positive camber and sits higher than the rest of the car does. The other 3 sides sit perfectly. I've had the car aligned twice and everything checks out ok, but you can clearly notice the positive camber on the front drivers side wheel. The subframe has not shifted, i've gone over that a few times as well just to make sure. Now i bought the car with the DA knuckles on it...so they are kind of an unknown condition...What are the odds that the drivers knuckle is bent? Is there an easy way to figure that out? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Are you sure that the shock fork is seated properly on the shock body?

 

Yes 100%. When I lower the car off the jack, the passenger side tucks in nicely. But the driver side sits as if it was still jacked up a but. About a 3/4 difference between passenger and drivers side.

 

Are the DA knuckles taller or shorter than EF? I know they're taller than EG/EK knuckles. Are you sure the knuckles are the same height on both sides? Was the top shock nut secured properly with all the washers in place below the top mount? Any shock pistons sticking up through the mounts when the car is on the ground?

*edit* sure you have the same shock forks on both sides? I know there were some height differences there also among various years.

 

They are a 1/4in taller than the DX knuckles. And no, the shock piston is fine. I'm just blown away, I have no idea what's up with it. It looks like I lowered 3 sides of the car and left the front drivers side stock. Oh and yes, I'm using EF forks on both sides. I feel like the driver side is stiffer than the passenger side...

 

Assuming the same distance between hub center and the lower ball joint seating surface, a taller knuckle should actually increase negative camber, because it will cause the UCA to have to sit slightly higher, which pulls the top of the knuckle in slightly. That's what happened when my friend put DA knuckles on his 98 Civic hatch, without knowing the DA knuckles were considerably taller.

I would remove both front spring/shock + fork assemblies from the car and actually lay them down side-by-side to compare. Take a pic and post it if you can.

Then with the front sway bar disconnected, push up on the LCA (on both sides) with a floor jack to run the suspension linkages (LCA, UCA, knuckle/hub) through its full range of motion, from full droop up until the UCA touches the shock tower, just to be sure everything moves as it should with no interference.

 

That's a great idea! I will do that this weekend. Thanks for the help!

 

Alright, so I took the suspension bolts loose and disconnected the sway bar and used a jack to compress the suspension. In doing so it only compressed a little but before lifting up the car. So then I took spring/shock out and then jacked up the suspension, and it compressed fine and the UCA hit the shock tower. So then I bolted up a spare coilover that is brand new that my brother had, and did the same thing, jacked up the suspension...and again it only went up a little but before it raised the.car....what is going on!?

 

I meant bit not but.

 

Well that's what it's supposed to do if the spring/shock is in there. I meant lift up the suspension WITHOUT the spring/shock in there, so that you could verify that everything is moving freely and there are no obstructions to the suspension arms moving, at least up until the UCA contacts the shock tower.

Did you place both front spring/shock assemblies side-by-side and inspect/compare them? Any pics?

 

I did take out the shock/spring and it went up and hit the shock tower with no problem. I then replaced the shock/spring set up with a full body coilover, and then let the car down, and it still sat the same way. Even with the purches all the way down. I wasn't able to snap any pictures then, but I'll take a few this weekend when I get back into it.

 

The UCA could be catching on the pinchweld at the top of the wheelwell. To check for this jack the car up and take the wheel off. Place a jackstand under the LCA, then slowly let the jack down. When or if the UCA hits the pinchweld, mark where it did. Then you can make clearance by whatever means you see fit.