endless negative camber...

[xlosinghopex]

I bought my del sol VTEC about 6 months ago and there's something wrong with the suspension and I can't figure it out. It came with KYB AGXs, Eibach Sportlines, and 17" rims. Eibach says the Sportlines lower it 1.6" front and back yet the front end was so low that the tire was actually tucked a little under the fender, just a little though. This seemed like it was lower than it should be but I don't know how low it is with stock springs so I couldn't know for sure. Also the rear end was much higher, still having fender gap. When I checked the camber on the front end it was a whopping 3 degrees negative burning away my tires in 3K miles. Obviously I was gonna have to change something. I decided to get new springs instead of a camber kit because it rode too bouncy anyway. I got H&R OE Sports which only lower it 0.5 in front and 0.25 in back figuring this would solve my camber situation and give me a smoother ride. Well the ride is smoother but the front end still seems lower than it should be, almost no fender gap at all while the back looks fine. I checked the front camber again fearing that my problem wasn't over and it was 1.5 degrees negative now. How could a 0.5" drop cause this much negative camber? So now I had to buy a camber kit anyway. Any ideas whats wrong with my car?

[CivicSiRacer]

Sounds like the previous owner cut the springs OR the shocks are blown. Either way if it's lowered too much you would be bouncing off the bump stops which would also make it bouncy.

[xlosinghopex]

Well the previous owner cutting the springs would explain the noticably lower front but I've got the new springs and it still seems really low for a half inch drop. The shocks don't show any signs of being blown as far as I can tell either. The large negative camber leads me to believe that somehow the front suspension is lower than it should be regardless of the springs. I'd say the sportlines lowered it 2.5" and the brand new H&Rs lower it 1.5" (again this is only in the front end). So apparently the suspension is about an inch lower than any springs should make it. What could make the suspension lower besides springs? Possibly a broken part somewhere??? Any ideas please

[hondacivic4drlx]

did you check the cv joints.

[xlosinghopex]

I haven't checked them. Where are they located and what am I looking for?

[hondacivic4drlx]

they stem of the tranny. and have black boots on both ends. check if the black boots are busted.

[xlosinghopex]

Ok, I checked out my suspension some more. The CV joints look fine. The height actually is about where it should be, maybe only slightly lower if at all. So the car is a little lower than stock height and one front wheel is 1.5 degrees negative and the other is 2 degrees negative. The guy who mounted my new tires said that it could be caused by the oversized wheels but I've never heard of that happening. Isn't ride height the only thing that affects camber?

[micheal]

your forgetting an important part of tyhe equation and if its costing you every time you get an oil change then you should definately be concerned. perhaps an exaggeration but what are the speck on the tires?
particularly to profile and width. although it sounds like more than just the tires i would ensure that your tire size is in line with your FWD car.

[xlosinghopex]

My tires are 205/40/17.