hey guys i just recently bought a 98 lude sh.... its a nice car and everything... i love the car... but there's just one thing idont like.. it pulls drastically to the right...
when i bought the car i thought it was just a simple alignment issue... i was terribly mistaken...
once the alignment was done i saw the readings.. my caster was way off, both of them. they ppl that aligned it said the only way to fix that was to pull the caster at a body/frame shop, they charge me anywhere from $250 to $350. i dont know wat to do. im broke as F**** lol. all my money went to buying the car. and on top of that i still need to go buy school cloths for my senior year.
help anyone. or and suggestions on what i should do.
thanks in advance
here are some pics so you can see how bad it is and my alignment readings.
You may need to have them do it man, the sh suspension is quite different than the base setup. I am not to sure it can be fixed another way. How bad is the pull? Also you should get a second opinion if you can(many people cannot work on imorts or they do but they dont know what they are talking about.....). The pictures you posted dont really help that much as we cannot see what the problem may be, only the result of it.
Nasty postition to be in, other than the fact that you ahve a bad ole Prelude to drive for your senior year.
I would try and find friends, or ask your parents if they know anyone. A lot of things can be fixed by "knowing" somebody, through family or friends...Try whatever you can. Shop around, save up.
Or you can live with it...However, I don't even know what the hell a caster is, what it looks like, and how/why it could need adjustment(is it part of the sub-frame?)...So I don't really know any home-made ways of adjusting it....
You may need to have them do it man, the sh suspension is quite different than the base setup. I am not to sure it can be fixed another way. How bad is the pull? Also you should get a second opinion if you can(many people cannot work on imorts or they do but they dont know what they are talking about.....). The pictures you posted dont really help that much as we cannot see what the problem may be, only the result of it.
my car is dropped on some eibach springs...
the pull is strong enough that when you let go of the steering while its going less the 10mph it will go to the right.
the picture are to show how much closer one tire was to the body of the car than the other...
Quote:
Originally Posted by pIERCE
I don't even know what the hell a caster is, what it looks like, and how/why it could need adjustment(is it part of the sub-frame?)...So I don't really know any home-made ways of adjusting it...
Ohh, so maybe someone hit a speed-bump REALLY hard, or ran into a curb....that is a real downer, does that mean theat the shock tower/mount area is ****ed up? whew....
the pull is strong enough that when you let go of the steering while its going less the 10mph it will go to the right.
the picture are to show how much closer one tire was to the body of the car than the other.
I understand that man, but like i said before that is only the result of the issue, not the cause, Take sime pics of your undercarriage and suspension so we can try and look to see what is causing this. Did you put the suspension in or was it there when you bought it. Post up some other pics please
Ohh, so maybe someone hit a speed-bump REALLY hard, or ran into a curb....that is a real downer, does that mean theat the shock tower/mount area is ****ed up? whew....
yea thats what everyone is telling me since the title is clean...
Quote:
Originally Posted by bouckarooo
I understand that man, but like i said before that is only the result of the issue, not the cause, Take sime pics of your undercarriage and suspension so we can try and look to see what is causing this. Did you put the suspension in or was it there when you bought it. Post up some other pics please
the suspension was already in it when i bought the car. only that the back is TOO low... it'll hit with an 190 lb person lol...
and about the pics i think that'll wait till tomorro afternoon... cause today ill be real busy and i work this afternoon...
The only way that caster can be that far off is due to the following things:
1. Someone installed bushings or other suspension parts on the front of the car (badly).
2. The car was in a front end collision of some kind.
Keep in mind that #2 is possible even though Carfax says it's clean. I know 3 people who's cars have been in a collision, and Carfax says nothing about it.
You need to take the car to a frame shop (e.g. collision repair shop), and have them do a frame check on your car. I did that automatically after I bought my used WRX just to make sure the frame was straight. My shop charged me $100 just for the report, and it's definitely going to cost more if they have to work on it.
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The only way that caster can be that far off is due to the following things:
1. Someone installed bushings or other suspension parts on the front of the car (badly).
2. The car was in a front end collision of some kind.
Keep in mind that #2 is possible even though Carfax says it's clean. I know 3 people who's cars have been in a collision, and Carfax says nothing about it.
You need to take the car to a frame shop (e.g. collision repair shop), and have them do a frame check on your car. I did that automatically after I bought my used WRX just to make sure the frame was straight. My shop charged me $100 just for the report, and it's definitely going to cost more if they have to work on it.
lol what are the bushings?
well if it is crashed, the people who repaired it must of done a really good job be cause the car doesnt look crashed or anyhting.. all the paint looks original with a could of scratches and chips normal for an 11 yrs of car with 118k on it. plus the airbags dont look like they have been deployed....
i think am take it to a honda dealership sometime this wk to see how much they'll charge me for a full inspection of the car.
to most people a repair job will be undetectable. especially if they have no prior reference to compare to. any collision repair that isn't a really good job that doesn't looked crashed or anything, is a poor repair job. so give collision repair shops more credit, no one takes a wrecked car to get repaired expecting it to look anything but new after.
but i agree with artifex about the carfax thing. carfax is next to useless unless used as a tool to sell a car to some one who doesn't know much about cars.
for the caster to be that off i'd suspect accident too as i haven't seen any poorly installed bushings.
you can try either raise the car and take off both front wheels and try to pinpoint the spot or cause of the shock being so tilted or you can try bringing it to a repair shop and asking them why it is that way and what they recommend. don't mention that you already know what's up, just see what they have to say.
well if it is crashed, the people who repaired it must of done a really good job be cause the car doesnt look crashed or anyhting.. all the paint looks original with a could of scratches and chips normal for an 11 yrs of car with 118k on it. plus the airbags dont look like they have been deployed....
i think am take it to a honda dealership sometime this wk to see how much they'll charge me for a full inspection of the car.
Dude you aren't listening.
1. Don't take it to a dealer. They know nothing about frame repair; they don't do that kind of stuff. Take it to a respected collision place. As a matter of fact, most dealers are shady enough just to take your money and tell you it's not a problem.
2. It's totally irrelevant if you think the car is fine. I can show you a car with all kinds of frame damage, and you would never know from the outside. Plus it has nothing to do with the airbags either.
3. The bushings comment was just an example. I've seen Preludes with horrific modifications on this forum; these cars just get butchered by idiots without any idea of what they are doing. Your problem could be caused by any number of aftermarket horrors. Again, a frame shop can help pinpoint what the problem is.
4. It's very possible that it's a bent tie rod or something. This problem doesn't mean it will be expensive to fix.
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you can try either raise the car and take off both front wheels and try to pinpoint the spot or cause of the shock being so tilted or you can try bringing it to a repair shop and asking them why it is that way and what they recommend. don't mention that you already know what's up, just see what they have to say.
well i have all raised the car and found out the my right swaybar link was missing. i installeed that right away. ya i think ima take it to a frame/repair shop and have them check it out.
but like type_Sh Racer said, my radius rod might be bent... so i need to take a look at that and also my tie bar like Artifex said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Artifex
Dude you aren't listening.
1. Don't take it to a dealer. They know nothing about frame repair; they don't do that kind of stuff. Take it to a respected collision place. As a matter of fact, most dealers are shady enough just to take your money and tell you it's not a problem.
2. It's totally irrelevant if you think the car is fine. I can show you a car with all kinds of frame damage, and you would never know from the outside. Plus it has nothing to do with the airbags either.
3. The bushings comment was just an example. I've seen Preludes with horrific modifications on this forum; these cars just get butchered by idiots without any idea of what they are doing. Your problem could be caused by any number of aftermarket horrors. Again, a frame shop can help pinpoint what the problem is.
4. It's very possible that it's a bent tie rod or something. This problem doesn't mean it will be expensive to fix.
ok so you are saying tthat not even a honda tech proffecional will no wat is wrong? i thought they where suppose to know everything about hondas. ok ill take your guys' advice and take it to a frame shop asap when i dont work. i just hope its nothing too serious and expensive....
haha i think my car was owned by one of those idiots you are talking about. come on it has a ghetto autopart brand intake, chrome housing tail lights, cheap purple looking tint, and to top it off chrome rims. ( haha but i gotta admit the rims and tail lights go good on the car. ima have to leave them on till i can afford better rims and oem tail lights).
it's sad but the truth about Honda techs, not all but quite a few, are something like college drop outs that take a course at wyotech or hield or something and land a job at Honda from someone they know.
Fixing a car at Honda is easy because they have this awesome book that tells them how to trouble shoot the car step by step. if that book was made public anyone can fix their own car. it's like a helm's manual but 100x better. well at least that's what my honda technician friend told me lol. maybe he's a liar like the car salemen there.
but anyways, good luck on finding the issue and i hope it's a cheap fix
it's sad but the truth about Honda techs, not all but quite a few, are something like college drop outs that take a course at wyotech or hield or something and land a job at Honda from someone they know.
Yep.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Storm_Rider
Fixing a car at Honda is easy because they have this awesome book that tells them how to trouble shoot the car step by step. if that book was made public anyone can fix their own car. it's like a helm's manual but 100x better. well at least that's what my honda technician friend told me lol. maybe he's a liar like the car salemen there.
Ask your friend if the cover is yellow and the title reads "Hondas for Dummies".
__________________
1988 Prelude S - victim of an 80mph backflip
1991 Prelude Si - sold
1989 Accord DX - impounded
1998 Prelude SH - totaled on 3/29/12
2006 CRF150F - sold
2006 YZ250F - sold
it's sad but the truth about Honda techs, not all but quite a few, are something like college drop outs that take a course at wyotech or hield or something and land a job at Honda from someone they know.
Fixing a car at Honda is easy because they have this awesome book that tells them how to trouble shoot the car step by step. if that book was made public anyone can fix their own car. it's like a helm's manual but 100x better. well at least that's what my honda technician friend told me lol. maybe he's a liar like the car salemen there.
but anyways, good luck on finding the issue and i hope it's a cheap fix
ya that is prettty said, lol and i wouldnt mind having one of those books too haha..
but thanks, all of you for the advice....
ima see if i can get my car looked at of thursday cuz i work all day tomorrow and then maybe i could get those pics of wat they find wrong
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