Axle dimensions and swapping - Honda Prelude Forum

Locust · 10-02-2010, 07:49 PM

Alright, I have an '89 Prelude, 2.0 SI manual transmission. Stock engine and everything. I'm looking to put negative camber in both the front tires, since I have a road race coming up in a month. I was able to get up to -2.5 degrees in the right front by fabricating a new adjustable lower control arm and pushing the bottom out, since I couldn't pull the upper arm in all that much without rubbing against the spring.

With a quick measurement it looked like the bars were the same length on both the left and right, so I went ahead and did the same thing on the left side. Apparently something is different however, possibly offset a bit, since the new lower left control arm I made pushes the axle out too far, causing it pop out. The current axles are around 22 inches or so.

I was wondering if any other model Accord or Prelude axles would fit my car, preferably between 23-24 inches long. Or in the least, if there was anywhere I could find Prelude axle dimensions, my searches aren't having a lot of luck so far.

Thanks for any help.

Colfax · 10-06-2010, 05:03 PM

I would like to see these adjustable lca's you made. Would you mind posting pics?

As far as I know, the axles are the same length. But the inner spline is different on the two, and this may be why one of them is popping out. I actually ran for a month or so with a driver side axle in the passenger side, but it was leaking tranny fluid. It was when I compared the two side by side that I saw the difference. The diameter and spline count are the same, but one of them is a little longer.

Is your car lowered? I know that you can gain a couple of degrees of positive camber just by lowering the car.

As far as different axles go, I have no experience with using any axles other than 3rd gen axles. Sorry. I will try to remember to look in my factory service manual to see if it has the specs on the axles.

Locust · 10-08-2010, 04:31 PM

I cut off the end of the control arm that attaches to the inside mount, then replaced it with a heim joint and spacer combo.

I had an S-cam from a semi truck lying around just taking up space, so I cut around 2 and a half inches off of that, to make up for what I originally cut off the arm. Drilled an 11/16 hole through most of it and ran a ¾ inch tap in. Once finished I just welded the piece and control arm together. All you have to do then is screw it in or out how much you want, I have about 1 ½ inches to use, tighten the nut to hold it in place and you're good.

It's not particularly good looking nor professional, but I've used it for about half a year on the track and haven't seen any stress fractures yet. Can't say if it'd survive any long term abuse.

As for the axles, I may just find a second pair and try to mix and match, see if I can find some slightly better results. Worst case I'll just have some spare axles which can't hurt.

Colfax · 10-08-2010, 11:18 PM

Hmmm...never thought of lengthening the inner portion of the lca's. That's gonna change your radius rod and shock angles, and probably even affect spring rates. I used to race off road RC trucks, and we would change the suspension geometry like that to make the truck handle corners better. But it was less stable on the straightaways.

You never said if your car is at stock height or if you've lowered it at all. Like I said before, you will gain positive camber by lowering it. And it doesn't require longer axles.

Thanks for posting pics.