87 Accord DX Hatchback Rear Camber Adjustment

There appears to be no way to adjust the camber of the rear wheels on
my 87 Accord DX hatchback. The tires always wear out on the outsides
and the insides are still fine. I almost hesitate to rotate my tires
because the ones in front are still great. I have been dealing with
this problem for years but I don't really drive this car that much.
There is VISIBLY a positive camber in the rear wheels (tops are
leaning out). I have replaced suspension, got alignment from Honda,
all to no avail. The car was rear-ended by a motorcycle, could that
have anything to do with it...

What should I do now? Bend the axle?

 

If the wear is just at the edge and not the type where you can put a ruler
across the tire and see the flatness, but angled, the problem is not the
camber but the toe in; the rear wheels are toed in too much, so the outer
edges are hitting the pavement first and taking the brunt of the wear.

I used to have a Lotus Europa, and it had such radical (negative) rear
camber it was obvious from a hundred feet away when viewed from behind. The
tires wore that way: beveled straight across the tread rather than worn at
just the inner edge.

Mike

 

Out? That's no good at all. The tops should be leaning IN.

How much damage? Was the car repaired by a body shop afterwards?

NO!! First find out why the tires are leaning the wrong way. Did you ever
get the spec printout from the alignment shop?

 

Not that much damage... no major body work. And after looking through
my service records the dealer did not give me a sped sheet. Just an
estimate and bill.

 

Then you have nothing to go on. You need to have the car racked again, this
time getting the tech to just give you the specs rather than re-aligning
the suspension.

When you said you "replaced the suspension", what exactly was changed?
There are quite a lot of parts associated with the suspension, and changing
them all would be prohibitively expensive.

 

Not only that but they had a three piece (either side) rear axle that made
setting bearing preload a bear...(Sorry bout that). At least the one I had
was like that. Of course, mine was a Lotus 47 (rt hand drive, Renault RO5
engine, British Home Country set up). But it would move and cornered like it
was nailed to the road....
DaveD

 

The only way I ever got my daughter's ''80s vintage Honda in spec was
to take it to a frame shop (a place that straightens frames after
accidents). They bent something, charged me $85 and the car was
perfect for the remaining 6 years we owned it. There are a few
adjustments on these things, but never the one you need. The mfr
(Honda) recommends replacing parts until it comes into spec, but from
my experience, the frame shop is the way to go.