integra-boy

I recently lowered my car on H&R sports springs (2000 teg) and I am very happy with the drop. However, I went to try to get the car aligned at local shops and most people are telling me theres no way that they can do an alignment on a lowered car b/c they'll never get it right. I finally booked an appointment with an acura dealer which specializes in modified acura's etc. and they told me I'd be wasting my money aligning the car unless I get a camber kit???? I thought a car dropped on h&R sports didn't need a camber kit??? any suggestions??? thanks

white lightnin

Just get the toe right. Tell them not to worry about camber.

PatrickGSR94

Tell them they are full of it and must not want your money

My friend works at a Chevy dealer service dept. and we aligned my car this past Friday. I have H&R Sport springs w/ Koni shocks (extra 1/2" drop in back). I do not have a camber kit. He hooked up the sensors to all the wheels, adjusted the rear toe, then adjusted the front toe to the rear, so all 4 wheels were in spec. for toe-in. My camber readings were:

front -2.1/-2.3 L/R
rear -1.7/-2.1 L/R

I have been on this suspension for 12K miles now (had an alignment previously after first installing suspension), and with rotating tires every 4K-5K miles, my tire tread is still perfectly even all the way across, with NO signs of uneven wear.

My right front tire was showing slight signs of scrubbing on the edges of the treadblocks, which is why I wanted to get my car re-aligned, and sure enough my toe-in was off just slightly.

integra-boy

Hey Patrick and whitelightnin thanks for your help. :thumbup: I have one more question though.... when you get an alignment do they adjust both the camber and the toe? or just the camber? I know the camber gets messed a little when you drop the car but why would the toe get affected??? Also, what exactly does a camber kit do? from what I know, a camber kit is just a bunch on nuts, bolts and washers, how does that work in keeping the camber in place??? Thanks again

PatrickGSR94

Camber is not adjustable on a Civic or Integra from the factory. If you want to get it closer to spec when lowering you have to use an aftermarket kit. As the suspension moves through it's range of motion, toe also changes due to the way all the control arms and tie rods and various linkages are connected. It's all about the geometry.

integra-boy

alright so when we get alignments done for tegs I guess we're only adjusting the toe....and a small camber discrepancy doesn't really make a difference.
thanks

later

PatrickGSR94

Well out-of-spec camber isn't what wears out tires so much as it is out-of-spec toe-in combined w/ too much neg. camber. I have well over neg. 2 degrees camber almost all around on my car, but w/ my toe-in set and rotating every 3K-5K miles, there are no abnormal tire wear problems.

But yeah, if you don't add any aftermarket parts to the suspension arms, then toe-in is the only thing adjusted when getting an alignment.