Talk To Me About Camber Kits

My son's car is ripping through tires like there's a tire fairy ready to
replace them every 6 months. We've been told he needs to adjust the toe
in the tires are experiencing due to the 17" wheels and lowering that's
been done.

A camber (sp) kit is recommended to fix the problem. A little background
knowledge and price info would be appreciated. This is for a '99 Civic
EX coupe. TIA.

 

My 98 Civic has a 1.3 inch drop (Pro-Kit) and a camber kit was not required.
My tire wear is slightly increase, but I can still get about 80,000km from
the Proxes FZ4, so I'm not sweating it. However, If the drop is greater then
1.3, a camber kit is recommended.

Pars
98 DX Hatch

 

regarding tire wear, first, make sure you take it to a shop that knows
how to allign properly. i had to take my 2000 civic back no less than 3
[as in 1-2-3] times before my guys finally got it right. [could this be
because excess tire wear = more tire sales???]

the alignment gear used today is pretty accurate - the problem comes
with it's the operator not fitting the sender units properly and their
tendency to adjust everything to one end of the tolerance range for
"luck". "luck" = faster tire wear.

regarding camber kits, they are expensive for hondas. you can get them
from summit racing & king motor sports easily enough, but again, to have
them set up right, you need to find someone that knows their business.
don't buy cheap for the front because the wishbone is much more
sensitive than a strut so it needs to be set up straight and /stay/
straight.

whether you /need/ one depends on the amount of lowering. 20mm is often
reckoned to be ok without, more than that, camber kits are definitely
recommended.

 

I was told it was a 1" drop and it looks to be about that. The inner
edge of the tire is getting worn *fast*. You can visually see the toe in
of the tires.

I have a good alignment shop I'll have him take it to to diagnose
whether an alignment is what he needs or this $$ camber kit is the way
to go.

Thanks, Pars.

 

I've been hearing $300. installed.... yikes.

Just what does the camber kit do? I know it will help straighten the
wheels out, but how does it accomplish that?

 

it provides adjustable lengthening of the upper control arm - returns
the wheel to vertical.

 

Ahhhh, thanks. I like knowing the 'how' of stuff, even if I'm not
personally doing the work.

 

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 14:56:32 -0700, (ravelation) wrote:

||My son's car is ripping through tires like there's a tire fairy ready to
||replace them every 6 months. We've been told he needs to adjust the toe
||in the tires are experiencing due to the 17" wheels and lowering that's
||been done.
||
||A camber (sp) kit is recommended to fix the problem. A little background
||knowledge and price info would be appreciated. This is for a '99 Civic
||EX coupe. TIA.

Lowering moves the suspension out of the adjustment limits.
You probably have too much negative camber, so the tires are wearing to the
inside edge? Looks like a Specialty Tools 67135 is an adjustable upper ball
joint that gives additional adjustment. Getting the camber right and then
re-setting the toe will probably solve the problem.
Texas Parts Guy

 

On Wed, 16 Jun 2004 20:58:09 -0700, (ravelation) wrote:

||
||"sdaro(remove)"@hotmail.com (Pars) wrote:
||
||>My 98 Civic has a 1.3 inch drop (Pro-Kit)
|| >and a camber kit was not required. My
|| >tire wear is slightly increase, but I can
|| >still get about 80,000km from the Proxes
|| >FZ4, so I'm not sweating it. However, If
|| >the drop is greater then 1.3, a camber
|| >kit is recommended.
||
||I was told it was a 1" drop and it looks to be about that. The inner
||edge of the tire is getting worn *fast*. You can visually see the toe in
||of the tires.

If you can see it, you are probably seeing negative camber - the tires is
leaning in at the top. Needs to be more vertical.
||I have a good alignment shop I'll have him take it to to diagnose
||whether an alignment is what he needs or this $$ camber kit is the way
||to go.
||
||Thanks, Pars.
||

Texas Parts Guy

 

It's not easy finding a shop that can do a decent alignment job on modified
springs. The performance shop that installed my springs recommended Formula
One Honda dealership located in Toronto. That was 5 years ago and I haven't
needed an alignment since. At the time, I inquired about the alignment to
other Honda dealerships, but they declined because they didn't have the
proper equipment for a modified car. Parkway Honda couldn't even get my car
on the alignment machine because my ground clearance was too low.

Note: You'll need new tires in order to get a proper alignment done. If the
shop is willing do the alignment with your uneven tires (and doesn't warn
you about it), I'd look elsewhere.

Pars
98 DX Hatch

 

low clearance can be an issue, but only when they're too chicken to
drive it up the ramp and don't like the scraping noise. tell them
/you'll/ drive it up if they won't. works for me.

modern alignment gear very accurately measures camber, caster & toe,
front & rear. shops don't like being asked to do camber on cars without
adjustment like a stock honda, but with a camber kit, there shouldn't be
any problem.

i think that's tire sales-speak. hondas are real tight with their
suspension - on the front at least. what you're trying to allign is the
wheel disk. the only influence the tire can have on that is if the
suspension is real worn and/or the tire is somehow exerting unusual
force, maybe because it's pressing against the guide channel on the
ramp. otherwise, it should be fine. and be practical - you're not
going to buy new tires if they're only 10% worn, so you /have/ to draw
the line somewhere.

 

Perhaps you're right if the tires were regular stock. But I know for a fact that
my 50 profile Proxes FZ4 which have extremely hard side walls can exert a
significat amount of force without flexing (especiall if they're fitted to wide
rims). If the tires have uneven wear on them (inside is bald and out side is ok)
and they're low profile, I'd expect them to exert a great deal of resistance
against a proper alignment.

True, If the tires only have 10% of wear, it's probably not going to be an issue.

Pars
98 DX Hatch