suspension + camber

ok.. from what i understand, when you lower your car... you get the negative camber.. well, here's where i'm confused... Coil-overs, do you have do adjust your camber every time you raise and lower your car? i hear its a pain in the ass to get the rear camber correct with washers?

the rear wasn't hard at all. used the stock bolt in mine and added 1 or 2 washers. what kind of camber kits for the fronts are you looking at? there are 2 styles

styles you say?:confused:
tell me more

there is the common style...i'm sure it's the one you've seen. they are the cheaper ones. there is also a balljoint style. i'm sorry....for once i am at a loss for images for examples. hopefully 88CiViC_DX will find this thread tonight...he has pics of them

I was wondering on the front. Wouldnt a longer upper control arm, move the wheel out more, in turn correcting the camber?

so the balljoint style allows for adjustabilty?
i know absolutely nothing on this..
and.. adding washers in the back, is it something a dumbass could do in his shed? easy enough to change like twice a year?

88CiViC_DX knows more on the balljoint style than me. so i'm just gonna send this thread to him and make sure he replies ;)

as for the rear...generally the front end is slammed more than the rear. http://www.4thgenerationcivic.com/Staff/LadynredSi/pics/civic5.JPG
http://www.4thgenerationcivic.com/Staff/LadynredSi/pics/civic7.JPG

back end was lowered approx. 2" in those pics. you'll have to forgive me...it was almost 3 years ago when the washers were put in. i know the stock bolt was used and either 1 or 2 washers added. haven't touched it since. when it snows the car is raised maybe 1 turn on the coliovers and it's good to go for the winter.

Balljoint camber kits replace the upper balljoint so you can adjust camber. The other kind connects at the end of the control arm and pushes the control arm out a lil bit. both would do the job, i think the balljoint one is cheaper though.

heres pics from 91zc's thread about his balljoint camber kit.if they dont work go here http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?threadid=76444&highlight=balljoint+camber

http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Dec/20021238452609455089464.jpg
http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Dec/20021234680120243180007.jpg
http://mediaservice.photoisland.com/auction/Dec/20021236887135720622448.jpg

cool thanks..
to sum it up..
so for the washers in the back.. they can just stay in when you raise your car up a bit.. doesnt make that much difference..
and the balljoint style camber kits allow you to adjust the front accordingly... am i right?
think i'm going to take my car to a mechanic to have it all done...
what's a good brand of coilovers to get?(weapon-r??) i think im going to get some tociko blue shocks aswell..

i have weapon r and tokico blues...lowerd all the way down. its a lil bouncy sicne its slammed. i have yet to raise my car up any to see if the ride improves. i'd recommend Ground Controls, they seem to have a good ride when all the way down.

http://www.fourthgenhatch.com/photos/reardiscswap/tarmdiagram.jpg

That will help you for the rear.

As for front Camber Kits I have a Ingalls which replaces the stock control arm anchor bolts. It allows you to slide out the control arm more or less and locks with a big nut so it will never move on your like I hear a lot of these balljoint things doing.

Originally posted by dirtydx
i think im going to get some tociko blue shocks aswell..

i hear people say bad things about tokico blues. but i thin it's all "hear-say". there is a myth that within a years time of your car being slammed that they wear out. thumbs down. i've had mine well over a year and my front is always slammed at least 2.5" and i have no trouble with them.

FourthGenHatch that is a kick ass illustration :ylsuper

by the way...the hardest part of changing up your suspension is decompressing the struts. if not and you start to take your stock stuff apart...it's going to shot put across the room :eek: doh! my last DX the struts were so bad they had completely leaked and were already compressed. jack up your car like you were changing the tire. after the tire is off try and move your stock springs. if there is much up & downward travel then you could most likely do it yourself. if the spring is in there good then i would take it to a shop :D

thanks a lot :)
im gonna do this for sure....

is fixing the rear camber a difficult task?

Rear camber fix is get yourself some grade 8 washers, undo 2 bolts put washers on them put them back in. Easy as hell, it's literally taking off just one bolt, like the blue ones in that picture.

As for changing springs that is easy to, get a spring compressor from the auto store for like $10, or rent one, or you can even use the weight of the car to compress them (which seems to me would be more of a PITA). I've replaced almost my entire suspension and it was all pretty easy.

Major FYI, 90% of the time the bolts for the rear LCAs are frozen and the heads will break off. Use an impact wrench if you can or take it to a shop and have them put in new bolts for real cheap then go back and do the rest yourself problem free.

Hey FourthGenHatch, Was your camber kit hard to install. Im still trying to decide which style i'd rather go for.


Btw...Happy Bday Also.

No it was mad easy...

-Jack up car, take off wheel
-Undo 2 nuts from inside engine bay
-Pull down control arm and spin it around so it is accesible
-Undo the nuts for the anchor bolts and pull them off
-Reverse to install, torque according to instructions
-Then get an alignment as this fucks up your toe