lowered civic?

[bluemoon541]

im going to lower my 96 civic....
at what point do i need to aquire camber kits?
how low?

[Tranzlogic]

why dont you put this in the suspension forum !!!!!

and anything 2" and more i would highly reccomend a kit, due to not only the handleing reasons but as for tire wear as well

[lkailburn]

any time you lower the car, make sure you get an alignment. and i agree with tranz.. anything more than 2" and you'll need the camber kit

[eckoman_pdx]

Anything over 2" for sure, I've seen 1.75" and 1.5" drops need it. Get your car aligned for sure after you nstal the springs. If you don't do a camber kit right then, the alignment specs from the aligenement will be able to give you an idea of how badly you'll need a camber kit. If you need one and don't get it, your tires will have inner wear prematurly. Get new shocks too if you can afford it, becuase your stock shocks won't last more than a few months most before blowing out once you drop it. Again when you install the shocks, have it aligned again. Don't bother gettng "adjustabel coilovers" like skunk 2, etc. They suck. I recommend looking into an entry level tuned suspesion set if you can afford it (shocks + springs or fully threads coilovers like tein or JIC magic for example). Check out the H & R cup kit, as well as the entery level Tein tuned set-up. Bith should run about $700, give or take. Also, JIC magic has a entery level tuned set-up now too. If you have the extra money, this is probably a better option for you than doing it seperatly, as the springs/shocks are tuned for each other. The only extra thing you'll need after that would be a camber kit. Remember, any time you do suspension work, get your car re-aligned. This is why it's a better idea to do as much as you can at once. Not only do you save $$ on installation (if you don't have the equipment or know how to DIY), but you'll also save $$ on multiple alignments (1 when you do the springs, 1 for the shocks, and 1 after the camber kit). You'll end up paying less in the long run if you do as much as you can at once. This question really should have been in the suspension forum.

[BrokenLimits]

Dont let anyone lie to you. If you lower a Civic NO MATTER HOW LOW. You need a camber kit. Civics are not designed to be lowered and if you lower them without a kit, you will have abnormal tire wear...

[lkailburn]

Originally Posted by BrokenLimits

Dont let anyone lie to you. If you lower a Civic NO MATTER HOW LOW. You need a camber kit. Civics are not designed to be lowered and if you lower them without a kit, you will have abnormal tire wear...

uhh i'm going to have to disagree with you on that one. i know many(out of the 82308947329840918497 people who own and mod civics) who have lowered their civics and all that was required was an alignment. many would post back after 3,000+ miles without the slightest sign of abnormal wear.

please post why you think every civic needs a camber kit?

[BrokenLimits]

Common sense is why. Civics are designed to ride at stock ride height. I have owned 4 sets of springs on my Civic. I got an alignment after every one and my tires showed camber wear VERY early on.

When you lower a civic no matter how low you put it, the tires bow in. If you lower it a little they bow in a little if you lower it a lot they bow in a lot.

Just because you lowered it a little doesnt mean you dont need a camber kit, it is still going to have issues. I am too lazy to draw you a picture but I used to have one when I posted this same topic on www.clubsi.com

TRUST me I have experience, if you are going to lower a civic, you need to save money and go the extra mile and get a camber kit or you are going to kick yourself in the ass everytime you need new tires...

[BullShifter]

I work on & lower civics all the time. Lowering 1.5" max. will not have a dramatic affect on tire wear, the camber only changes about -1.0 degree. Stock BMW's use more negative camber than -1.0. When you lower more than 1.5" tire wear becomes a major factor without camber kits. In order to have "correct" alignment camber kits are needed ANY time a civic is lowered, even 0.5". Why? Civic's DO NOT have any factory camber adjustment. If you know anything about suspension & setup you know that negative camber is good to a point for street use. As Bluemoon read in his other 1of10 lowering posts - Toe causes more wear than camber.
If your driving hard on soft sticky tires of course the tires are gonna wear out quickly.

[jon@af]

One thread is all you need.