Advantage in aftermarket control arm?

I am looking into possible solutions to correct too much negative camber. There are kits that include a whole new control arm. Why is that. Is it any different than stock? Is there an advantage? Can I use adjustable ball joints on my existing control arms without any problems?

BTW - Mad Props to & Thanks to All of you who have been helpful in responding to all of my previous posts!!!

~M
:bandit:

You cannot just adjust your existing control arm, otherwise none of us would buy camber kits. Teh reason some kits include a whole new upper control arm is because the adjustment points are different of different kits. They're just different designs.

I realize that camber is not adjustable on civics without modification. You partially answered my question by saying that "Teh reason some kits include a whole new upper control arm is because the adjustment points are different of different kits. They're just different designs." But it is still a little unclear to me. Let me phrase it this way. There are some front camber correction kits that use the existing control arm. They use an adjustable ball joint to replace the existing non-adjustable one. Then there are the kits that come with a control arm and a new ball joint. What is better or are they equal?

Thanks again
~M
BTW - I like Britney
:alien2:

Written by Dezoris:

There are more factors involved here than meets the eye for a good kit, the most important is
1.)How is your suspension setup
2.)How low are you
3.)What wheel tire size do you have and offset
4.)What is your goal (race or pimp it)
5.)How much do you want to spend

With those things in mind, feast on the following

Front Camber kit

If you are lower than 3.0 inches, have 17"+ rims, or 40mm offset or lower (if you have any combination of those)

Your choice is this to safely drop your car, and to assure no rubbing. I feel if you have two of those issues you are already out of line for racing IMO

The best kit would be


Skunk2 Front camber kit.
King Motorsports uses these rebadged as their own.

Benefits are
These kits are the best for excessive lowering and for those who have improper offset rims and wide large tires, are pretty much guarenteed not to bang the upper A-Arm like the Ingalls that move the A-Arm out farther, it is also easy to install.

Drawbacks are
1.)Shitty allen wrench screws to lock down ball joint (I would not trust to race)
2.)Diffficult to align (must raise the car, guess adjust, lower the car, raise the car again) Can't be adjusted under load.

If you are using 16" rims or lower with an inch less than 2.5" and rims with the proper offset, and are considering racing
Kmac

Progress adjustable Ball joint


The reason for these is because you do not have to raise the car for adjustments which takes 70% less time to align so if you have the proper tools to align your car, or do it frequently it is great.
The kmac has a top nut that loosens to pull the camber plate forward or back with an adjustment screw for easy fine adjustments, while the car is under load, very easy.
The Progress ball joint has a similar idea.

The drawbacks:
longer install times, stock control arms and bushings (which can be upgraded) and smaller range of adjustment.

For an average drop of 1.5" or less and stock rims or 15-16" wheels with proper offset

Ingalls or Progress Suspension


Very good kit, but old design. For those condition mentioned this is the best kit. These kits use cam bolts to move the the a-arm pictured just above, in and out to adjust camber which is great for minor lowering and very effective, but can cause the following issues.

Drawbacks
1.)Excessive lowering will rub the a-arm
2.)does not have a large adjustment range
3.)Average alignment time. (easy to adjust)


Rear Kits

For the rear kit the best kit for a honda on the market is the King Motorsports made rear upper control arm kit.
The only thing I complain about is no, grease fitting for those who drive in winter, where the joints will get all grimmed up and nasty.


The second choice would be this
Ingalls rear


Advantages: this is the best most cost effective kit you can buy, the quality is proven and so is the adjustment range, that is from experience.

There is conversation as to where it is most effective to adjust camber on Hondas, the most popular for the rear is the upper control arms, which moves the top of the top in and out.

There are bushing kits like the Kmac that adjust camber using the Lower control arms to move the wheel in and out slightly lower than center which is more effective at keeping the camber of the wheel at what you set it at when the suspension is under load.

But, these kits replace the control arms bolts with eccentric bushings which means you can say goodbye to most sway bar mounts along with tire bars. It also can be difficult because adjustments on these bushings effect toe angles, so it may be easy to asjust at the track, you are effectively changing toe angles as well.

With that in mind and the drawbacks of those bushings the best most headache free way is the Ingalls or King upper control arm kits for the rear.

If you are totally cheap Ingalls offers this.


It is 10$ to buy and the cheapest way to fix rear camber, but totally gay to align since you are adding washers, there is no science to it and it takes forever.

But if you are doing this trick, buy these bolts for god sakes dont buy some soft metal bolts from Home Depot that will rust or break.

Muchas gracias CXHatchback!

~M
;)

No problem, the original version had pics, but they didn't copy.