My car is a 98 Civic EX Coupe. A few months after I bought it new I threw on some 17x7.5 rims (same offset and everything) with 215/40/17 tires with eibach sportline 1.8" springs and tokico shocks and ingalls f/r camber kits. I didn't know back then about the baseball bat trick for rolling, etc and got some body work done to raise the fender clearance in the back because when i drove the tires would rub the fender. Make a long story short, i replaced the springs with eibach 1.4".

I've noticed that my car physically leans 1/4-1/2" to the left when looking at it from the rear and the passenger side cosmetically suffers since the wheels should be tucked under the fender. Now they look "inline" with the fender, one time the front tire even stuck out, while both on my driver's side are tucked fine. It's more noticeable with the front tires.

I have been in 2 accidents since and the result is still the same. They replaced a right lower tie bar and still no difference, just shifted the wheel forward. My alignment is fine and drives very well. I'm thinking it can't be a camber thing because I get it computer aligned every year with the same -1 settings and the techs at honda never say anything's wrong. Is there something else I'm missing? Or could it have been this way from stock and I never noticed? Anyone ever heard of this? Someone said something about getting the frame aligned but didn't say what it would do... thoughts? Maybe it's a mix of camber and something else...

I want to fix this problem bad because I think it looks so uneven, but I feel I've been wasting my time with "oil change" mechanics who like to hear themselves talk.

 

If the alignment is in spec, car doesn't pull, tires don't wear funny, you're fine.

 

Your first mistake is you put 17 inch rims on a civic. Then you lowered an already low car even more than it should be. Then you got into not one but two accidents.

You know what, I'm not even going get into this one. It's less stressful to just sit back and laugh. Good luck with your car.

 

what....
so explain to me why you cant do this. Because if you can explain this one you may have proven thousands of civic owners wrong

 

Its not that it cant be done, its just not the wisest thing to do. I new the car was in an accident fron the subject line. That being the case, its just a tweaked car. Get another one. Put that car on a lift, I bet you could really see it then.

 

i know that you can do this i do this day in and day out. I slam cars every damn day with rims and install camber kits and then corner balance them and then ship them on there way, nothing is ever wrong with there tires or handling or perforamance or traction, i just dont have a clue to what dokta is talking about


[Modified by 1320in11, 2:13 PM 11/8/2002]

 

In all seriousness the car can be in perfect alingnment and still have a problem with the suspension. Most 'body' shops don't have a clue when it comes to suspension. There is possibly a bent control arm or the strut tower itselfcould have been pushed back or whatever from the accident. If the problem persisted before your two accidents then the car was probably inan accident before you got it. Lowering it just made the problem visible. By the way,you shouldn't have had to make any modifications to your fenders if the wheel was correct. I run an 18" wheel for shows and it doesn't rub at all and the car is a lot lower than 1.4". Good luck with your car.

 

Evey response i have read to this has made me laugh. dont worry so much about the car. and please dont alway look for the most difficult problem and assume that that is it. the truth is there can be several things wrong with the vehicle. it may be out of alignment, camber can be off, the accidents may have done something. finally and this is my guess is that the installer put the springs in wrong, and that your springs are not in the cups all the way. its an easy fix if its the case. raise the car and turn the spring until it is sitting in the proper conifguration. youll b able to tell. good luck HiGhO|{TaNe

 

im going with the install was wrong ive seen it before, but to tell you the truth its such a weird mistake you never think about it. Good post