MrChad

The complete Accord 6th Gen (98-02) Rear Camber kit thread: Installation for both an upper type SPC (Eibach) rear camber EZ-Arm kit and/or an Ingalls lower type Smart-Arm(s) camber kit. This also applies to the TL and CL sharing the 6th gen chassis. The 7th gen Accord and TSX are nearly the same as well.


First a list of tools I used, I don’t recall which were used for what kit, sorry, just know that I used this list to remove my old SPC kit and install the new Ingalls kit. What ever kit you use is up to you, you only need one kit. However, the SPC kits rear ball joint boot is a weak point of wear, the boot tends to degrade over time. The reason for my SPC kit removal.

Napa (Balkamp) Ball joint remover (lift type) + grease $20.00 or use Honda (07MAC-SL00200 tool $170.00).
Safty Glasses;
Pliers for Cotter pins;
17mm ˝” drive
14mm 3/8” drive
14mm ˝” drive (I would recommend a 6pt and 12pt for this.)
12mm 3/8” drive
10mm 3/8” drive
17mm box wrench
19mm socket ˝” drive (you need this for the SPC kit)
200mm adj. Wrench (cresent-medium) for jam nuts on Ingalls kit
˝” drive breaker bar
˝” drive socket + extensions
3/8” drive socket + extensions
3/8” t-bar (mini breaker)
˝” drive torque wrench
˝” drive swivel joint
soft face hammer
3-ton hyd. floor jack
mini-scissor hyd. jack
Pair of jack stands
shop towels
flash light
black magic marker perm. Type
Tape measure.
AND GET A WWW.HELMINC.COM SHOP BOOK FIRST!!!!

SPC (Eibach) rear type Camber kit: (note I show the un-installing of the SPC kit and reinstalling the Honda Arm, no big deal it’s the same either way.)

To install this kit first jack up the car via the rear toe-hook jack point, use Accord jack stand points for the jack stands. I choose to also leave my jack on the tow-hook during the install for more stability. Also be sure to put the car in Park or “R” for manuals, and chock the both front tires.

Now, once you get your wheel off. I started by breaking the 14mm bolt loose for the body connection of the upper arm. A 17mm nut will be located on the opposite end. I used a breaker bar and 6pt. Socket 14mm to bust the bolt loose. Finish the job using the 14mm 3/8drive socket and a 17mm box wrench. The area is tight! You may need to use the 10mm and 12mm socket to remove the ABS wire brackets and 12mm brake line bracket. I needed to do this. I left the bolt and nut loose in place on the body side until I popped the ball joint.


Then loosen the 17mm bolt on the upper ball joint. I left it on the end of the threads. Then I installed the Napa ball joint tool and used the 19mm ˝” drive socket to motivate the tool and pop the joint. Where some eye protection, this joint can part HARD and fast. Keeping the nut on the end will prevent it from shooting off the upright when popped.



Now remove all the nuts and bolts, remove the upper ball joint control arm. Honda calls this the Upper Arm in the Helm book.

Using the thread jam nut adjuster, set your new SPC (Eibach) arm to the length of your old Honda arm you just removed.

I used a small scissor jack on the hub to raise the rear suspension putting it in ride height, about 14-16” from the fender lip to the hub center. Then I installed the new EZ-Arm in the ball joint socket first. Lightly thread it in, and then bolt it to the body and secure the rear nut on the body bolt. With the jack set to ride height tighten and secure to 43 ft-lbs. Then tighten the ball joint to 43 ft-lbs. You may need to keep turning the ball joint nut if needed just past 43 ft-lb point to line up the holes for the cotter pins, install those then.



Re-attach the ABS wire brackets and the brake line bracket, if needed. You have finished installing your SPC (Eibach) kit. Go get a rear end alignment now.

Ingalls Smart-Arm(s) rear type Camber kit install:

Again jack up the car per the helms book, again I left the jack on the tow hook for a 3pt support system.

First mark the rear toe adjuster bolt-washer-nut for reference before you remove the rear most control arms. This is basically your Toe-adjuster arm. Then remove the single nut and washer on the rear hub upright, and remove the 14mm bolt, nut, and keyed washer from the body bracket. I again supported the hub; raised a few inches with a scissor jack just to give the hub something to rest on.




Adjust your new Ingals rear arm to the same length as the old Honda arm and reinstall, being sure the keep the body bolt and toe washer aligned at your earlier made mark. Torque all bolts the 43 ft-lbs.



Then remove/loosen the single 14mm bolt for the lower middle arm at the body, the 17mm nut for this arm is welded to the body.

The bolt-nut combo holding the lower middle arm (new camber arm) to the upright is 17mm’s on both ends. I braced a 17mm box wrench on one end against my scissor jack (be careful here!) then I used my 17mm socket to turn the other end. Then remove the lower middle camber arm. I used the attachment bolts to help me align the length for the new camber Smart-Arm. I then reinstalled them on the body and upright. Torque all bolts to 43 ft-lbs. Make sure your jam nuts are set on the arms. You are now done with the Ingals install, go get a rear end alignment now.


Adjust new arms to same length as old Honda arm.


Using scissor jack as a box wrench brace b/c I didn’t have a second 17mm socket…


Ingalls kit done, time for a beer…..

Any questions let me know, it was hard taking pics and doing the kit(s) but all was done for me in a leasurely 3-4hours.

jschmid

Cool, nice writeup...damn thorough haha.

So did you just leave them the stock control arm length? Are you going to just have it adjusted when you get an alignment, or mess with it to check tire clearance, etc before your alignment? I'd mainly be interested in finding out if you have more tire clearance at the same camber setting with the Ingalls vs SPC. In theory I would think you would, because instead of the SPC pushing the top out, the Ingalls pulls the bottom in.

What was your camber setting at your last alignment? With my rear camber right on the spec limit, I have minor rubbing, but no biggie.

MrChad

Yeah, I set it back as close as I could to OE stock my toe is out, and I'm sure my Camber it out too. It doesn't rotate well at the moment in the turns.

I'm going to have it aligned ASAP this week, I'm going to call around for some prices, and such. (The point of the kit is for the alignment now, it's what they will use.) I don't have a 1/2" drive 27mm crow foot to set the jam nuts at 80 ft-lbs. either let me know when you find one ha ha!

I had some rubbing with the old SPC kit when I ran the dragon's tail in NC-Tenn. mountains (highway 142 from TOV?). Else none really around town, I hope to never have any rubbing thanks to the Ingalls kit, I don't really have a way to check tire rub unless you put 1Ton in my trunk I guess. In normal compression I didn't rub, only with side loading.

I just wanted those old nasty ball joints out for good. (They popped like a zit when I put the tool in, oozed a nice mess.) If stuff won't last like OE it has no place on my car, period. Plus the Ingals kit gives you full Camber and toe adjustments through out the entire range, hopefully the kit will be in full spec soon. My buddies alignment shop in Cincy was impressed by the design of the Ingalls kit on the TSX. It's they way the kit should have been made period, but it wasn't yet on the market when I got the Eibach kit from TireRack last time. I got the Ingalls kit from TR too.


get this worn out crap out of here! I couldn't believe this only lived 3 years on my ride

And installing the Ingalls kit was d*** easier then doing the ball joint type kit that's for sure, alot eaiser and more room with the Ingalls kit.

Let me know how your new SPC kit does, I have a brand new SPC kit in my garage in the box sealed right now (from the warranty claim), not sure what to do with it, sell it cheap?

jschmid

27mm...that big huh? Well that's the same as 1 and 1/16", so if you find that, it should work. I did a quick search, found a 1 1/16" Snap on one, but it's $35 lol.



Well after reading this today I figured I'd go look my joints since I really haven't inspected them since I put the new set on.

Well I get to the first side, and things look good:



So then I go over to the other side, and I see this:



Are you kidding me??? I just put these on this summer!

It's weird to me that only one side is like that...it looks like completely different material. When I had to get my first set replaced, the guy said that they had replaced the boot material, I figured that was unlikely, just PR BS, but who knows, after seeing mine today it almost looks it's possible that I did get one new one and one old one haha.

So yeah, that kinda pisses me off. I might have to get some Ingalls...I really don't want to spend any more money on my car, I'd rather put it towards a future car, but oh well.

How much was the Ingalls kit?

MrChad

I paid like $250 shipped from the tire rack, money wasn't an issue-- permanent fix was.... (crawling under the car sucks!)

You need two (2) Ingalls kits one for each side. I'm sure you can find a cheaper price then the Tirerack, but I like the fact that the invoice is stored in the system for eons and the customer support is top notch. I won't argue for few bucks.

I'd get yet another set from SPC if I was you, then at least you could sell the new set you get If mine doesn't sell hello ebay! helps pay for the Ingalls kit ya know....

My original Honda uppers still look fantastic, (the boots looked funny from setting on the shelf, but they popped right back to life on the car.) It really makes me wonder if the Honda boots wouldn't fit over the SPC joint. You want me to autopsy my old Arm's? I'll send you one to rebuild if you want...

Honda sells the new boot and clip for like $5.

The boot can completely let go and you'll still have some time, if you keep packing new grease into the ripped boot it would last even longer, until you got dirt in the grease...

98CoupeV6

Very nice Chad, thanks for taking the time to do this :thumbup:

Do worn out boots cause the suspension to be noisy? My upper right front control arm has a bad boot (all broken) and it's been making an occaisonal soft clunking noise...could that be the reason?

jschmid

Yep, I had to replace mine this summer...the only factory ball joint that went bad on me.

Mine was a dull clunking over bumps, esp while turning. Take a wheel off, and see if you can wiggle the spindle/knucke at all front to back, side to side. Mine had probably a 1/4" of play front to back, easy diagnosis. If that's what it is...just a heads up...you can't get an oem replacement for the upper front control arm. BUT...Ingalls makes their own upper ball joint that fits in their upper A-arm, but it's the same size as oem...I bought one for $20ish and did the install. You do need a press, but that's about it.

98CoupeV6

I got an aftermarket replacement for the upper control arm off ebay and the boot blew last winter...POS. It blew in the middle of my mysterious knocking noise crisis (don't know if you remember that) that turned out to be a blown shock that had replaced a blown shock and led to my confusion.

How much do presses cost? How long of an install is it?

jschmid

I'll have to look up the exact price and where I got the ingalls UBJ...Ingalls lists it for $58 lol, but I got it for around $20ish I think:


I went out and looked at mine tonight...it's only been on since early summer, but it looks fine so far.

I have a cheap ball joint press I got from Harbor Freight for $30. But to swap the UBJ, you need to remove the U A-arm, which requires removing the spring/shock assembly to get to the bolts haha...which is kinda a pain, but oh well. It probably took me an hour and a half, maybe two, taking my time. I've used the press a couple times, worked like a champ, but sometimes had to improvise with sockets and a flat pry bar to line everything up when pressing a joint in or out. I attached a pic of my ball joint press and my generic ball joint release tool that I would recommend you get...just makes popping ball joints loose very easy.

MrChad

Ingalls sells new front camber arms too
upper plate has a replaceable ball joint.

You can still order the new upper front A arms from honda with the ball joint pressed in can you not?

The cheap clam shell Napa tool will now have a nick name, The Schmid...