Help With Rear Camber.

[Oem>]

Dropped my car and like i expected wheels went / \, didnt think way to much of it untill i had a million people telling me how bad it looked while driving, and went through new tires in 2-3 months. Didnt have cash for a "good" camber kit so just went with the $30 Ebay rear camber, installed it, Now heres the Problem. When i jack up the car, set the wheel where i want it, set it back down and its good but only for about a day then they / \ again, What am i doing wrong?

 

[speedygonzales]

your buying e-gay crap is what's going on... take that off, put the stock camber arms back on and do the washer trick to even out the camber

 

[2slo4u]

camber kits are useless..just get an alignment

 

[Oem>]

Totally Necessary if you saw my back wheels lol. idk tire place said i needed a camber kit for allignment

 

[blknpurple]

camber kits are useless..just get an alignment

Wouldn't you need camber kits to bring adjust camber after the car's been dropped that much? I dont think OE parts would allow for camber rear adjustments on Hondas/Acuras.

 

[speedygonzales]

2slo4u knows what he's talking about. get the alignment done and once again if need be do the washer trick that involves getting two longer bolts for both sides and about three washers for each bolt then put it all back together and viola not so much camber.
http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=199650 <--- read that

 

[stolle]

toe is what eats tires not camber.

 

[civexspeedy]

Ummm....

First problem is you're probably too low causing the extreme negative camber. I'd say you next problem is you probably didn't get a proper alignment done after setting your final ride height. The next problem is you bought garbage no name camber kit, which makes me wonder what crappy suspension you dropped your car with... It then sounds like you tried to align and fix the camber on your own, which will not save you from irregular tire wear if you're eyeballing it.

You've already wasted so much time and money and you will only spend more fixing your problems. Lesson learned the hard way...

If you have a questionable lowering kit on your car, replace it. While you're at it, replace the camber kit. All with quality parts. If you can't afford it, well you're SOL. Once everything is installed and your ride height is set, get a proper alignment done. Then don't mess with your suspension again...

And for everyone, camber kits ARE useful, just not always necessary. For some applications and certain TYPES of suspensions, setting toe within spec only goes so far.

 

[Oem>]

Had Neuspeed Lowering springs but had a strut in my trunk and for some reason some idiots broke intto my car and one of the things they took was one strut with one lowering spring? didnt have my old springs so picked up some coilovers from junkyard, put new oem struts all the way around if that makes it any better lol. Ive Learned the hard way though, originally planned on doing everything right but ended up rushing into alot, Have learned Patients is Key. When i got my Alignment done they only did the front saying the back needed a kit, told them to adjust. the toe but they disagreed with that. Saving up for 32-way Adj so i kind of fixed everything all together.

 

[JDM_SPEC_SI-R]

camber kits are useless..just get an alignment

lie.

um no thats not true. thats a s*** lie. anyone who has had camber kits can tell you they play a huge roll in the performance, grip, traction in a car as well as proper tire wear and placement on the pavement.

im sure you have fabricated something better yourself than some of the top notch kits from serious performance companies that spend thousands of dollars to fabricate these products.


ebay kits are not worth it. one decent kit is spec d tuning. very well fab work and bushing dont blow out.
i am sure your bushing blew since its ebay stuff. try the washer trick with longer bolts.
fyi the washer trick is just the same as a camber kit but its not easily adjustable like a camber kit would be.

if you get a good setup, i recommend getting a toe kit as well. and do the front setup too to set everything to factory or even at "0". but then again camber and toe kits are useless LOL!!!!!

 

[2slo4u]

I never used a camber kit. Just got my alignment done and never had big problems with uneven wear on tires or anything.

 

[JustJustin]

I never used a camber kit. Just got my alignment done and never had big problems with uneven wear on tires or anything.

Yeah but if you have enough camber, an alignment isn't gonna save your tires. lol

 

[Trekk]

Keep adjusting it out, till you find the right spot.

 

[gugiey]

toe is what eats tires not camber.

wrong . toe is the major tire wearing angle . BUT camber and caster affect. tire wear as well .

 

[Trekk]

wrong . toe is the major tire wearing angle . BUT camber and caster affect. tire wear as well .

Wrong!
Caster is the only adjustment that doesnt effect tire wear.
It effects steering return and effert needed to keep the car in a strait line.

 

[Decipher]

Yea, I wish the whole camber kits "not necessary" myth was true.

Unfortunately, I've only had my new suspension setup with brand new tires for about 9,000 miles(about 3 months), and taking the advice from material I had read on here, I passed on getting front upper control arms when I lowered the ride height... now my tires are bald on the inside.

That's brand new Nitto rubber, bald on the inside after 3 months... with a GOOD alignment! I'm getting a f**king camber kit for the front, I don't give a s**t what people think they know. The car isn't even that low, which is what pisses me off.

 

[crash!]

Wrong!
Caster is the only adjustment that doesnt effect tire wear.
It effects steering return and effert needed to keep the car in a strait line.

This.

Toe>Camber
Caster is something you rarely have to worry about.

The camber is really going to affect how low you are. I'm really low, so my camber is decently bad. And I've never had a camber kit and I haven't had any problems. Get an alignment and get your rear toe checked out, and while doing so they can see how bad your camber really is. But if your tires are wearing that fast, that almost sounds like toe.

Read up on this
http://www.clubcivic.com/board/showthread.php?t=199650

 

[civexspeedy]

Yea, I wish the whole camber kits "not necessary" myth was true.

Unfortunately, I've only had my new suspension setup with brand new tires for about 9,000 miles(about 3 months), and taking the advice from material I had read on here, I passed on getting front upper control arms when I lowered the ride height... now my tires are bald on the inside.

That's brand new Nitto rubber, bald on the inside after 3 months... with a GOOD alignment! I'm getting a f***ing camber kit for the front, I don't give a s*** what people think they know. The car isn't even that low, which is what pisses me off.

The car I race is probably about as low, if not lower, than your car judging by the pics. I don't have a front camber kit and I have a couple of washers for the rear. My car has sat at that height for years and my tire wear has been very minimal on the inside. I know this because I'm anal and I take a tire tread wear tool and measure the inside, 2 center points on the tire, and the outside for wear almost every time I work on my car. The inner like 1/8 of my tires are ALWAYS, and have ALWAYS been, only 1/32 less than the middle and outside of my tire. 1/32 is nothing to be concerned about. I do my own string alignments and keep my alignment within spec and I rotate my tires regularly which helps get me that kind of wear.

With a MILD drop, you really don't need a camber kit for 4th, 5th, & 6th gen Civics. So long as you have your toe within spec AND you rotate your tires routinely, you should be fine. Also have to take into consideration that the lower tread wear rating on your tires, the faster they will wear regardless of camber specs. 9,000 miles on a soft compound tire will obviously wear down faster than a 400+ UTQG rating...

The problem with people saying "you don't need a camber kit" is that they are applying that to EVERY car for nearly EVERY situation. Which is most definitely false. MacPherson type suspension cars benefit from a camber kit even with a mild drop. If you are extremely low, you'll want a camber kit. If you do any high performance driving and want the most out of your handling, you'll probably want a camber kit.

 

[GACivic]

FYI, the alignment shop told me today they will fix my uneven wear on my tires by doing the bolt and washer thing. They didn't say anything about needing a camber kit or anything.

 

[JohnS.]

civexspeedy said everything I wanted to say. If you're slammed, you're going to have more negative camber than usual and you're going to have to deal with it. Toe is more crucial than camber. As long as you get your alignment, get your toe dialed in within OE range, you're golden. Just rotate your tires regularly and you shouldn't have any problems.

The only time I may say you should get a camber kit is when you're insanely slammed and you want to dial in your camber back to OE range, or when you want to fully customize your toe/camber/caster settings.

It amazes me how many people buy cheap eBay garbage because, "I don't have a lot of money and I want to lower right now, not later" or "I picked them up real cheap. I'm going to use them until I buy good parts". No. Don't do either. You're wasting your money and will only end up spending more in the long run. Save your money and do it the right way.