Anyone using camber kit for more negative camber? - Honda Prelude Forum

SleepyFish · 05-01-2003, 08:05 AM

Even lowered, there does not seem to be enough negative camber in the Prelude and the outside portion of my tires still seem to wear more than the inside part. The car has about 1 finger gap clearance between the tire and fender and the GC coilover is almost at the lowest part of the threads. It's also at the lowest perch on the Koni dampers. Does anyone else show this type of wear on their autox tires? Is anyone here using a camber kit to get more negative camber in the front end?

Mugenlude · 05-01-2003, 11:51 AM

What kind of camber do you have now? I'm not positive, but I think DR may have camber kits because he's running like -3 deg of camber.

What kind of shocks are you running? When I had my GC's that low I was running out of suspenion travel, causing a mid-turn push.

SleepyFish · 05-01-2003, 01:53 PM

I'm using Koni's with the Ground Control. I don't want to go any lower since it's already pretty low. I'm sure there are guys out there who are even lower. There's about 1.5 finger gap in the front with the 215/45-16 Azenis on the car. I don't feel the suspension hitting the bump stops or anything, just surprised that the outer part of the wheel is still wearing more than the inner part. Last time I had the alignment done it was around -1.1 camber for the front. Since then, the car is a little bit lower so I suspect about -2 camber.

lightlude · 05-01-2003, 03:15 PM

how much pressure do you have in your tires?

maybe you still need to up your tire pressure.

ludikris · 05-01-2003, 04:06 PM

For inner tire wear check your toe settings. The combination of toe and camber is what's killing your tires.

What the hell is "finger gap"? Don't you have a tape measure

Jacques · 05-01-2003, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ludikris
For inner tire wear check your toe settings. The combination of toe and camber is what's killing your tires.

I concur, and as lightlude said, check your tire pressures. I can't find my alignment sheet (of course, I'm at work

), but it's -1.3 front, -2.0 rear. My toe is 1/16 toe out front, 0 toe rear...and I have the GC/Koni setup with a moderate drop (1.5" gap, give or take). I have accelerated tire wear on the inside of the tires (esp. the rear). I don't remember if it was Mugenlude or someone that mentioned it, but toe settings when the Prelude was stock tended to be toed in for stability purposes.

vwong · 05-01-2003, 05:08 PM

I don't have camber kit. My negative cambers are from the way I lower the car, approx. 1.75", and (my alignment sheet is at home also) I have -2.4 degrees in front, and -2.0 degrees in the rear.

SleepyFish · 05-01-2003, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ludikris
What the hell is "finger gap"? Don't you have a tape measure :

Yeah, I guess that's my poor man's tape measure where see how many fingers I can fit between the top of the wheel and the fender. (finger thickness).

I'm running 39psi front and 35psi rear on 215/45-16 Falken Azenis. I had the car aligned after I put in the GC/konis (1 yr ago) and it had close to 0 toe front and rear with about -1 camber in the front. Since then I lowered the car a little more so I'm not sure what the front toe is at now. Maybe it's time for another alignment. It's not that the outer part is wearing out badly, just not as even as I would think a car with negative camber should have.

Jacques · 05-01-2003, 05:38 PM

Hmm...well, I also have the same 215/45/16 Falken Azenis, and I don't have that same issue. Lowering it more may have not only changed your camber (which that's expected), but also may have changed your toe AND caster.

vwong · 05-01-2003, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SleepyFish
It's not that the outer part is wearing out badly, just not as even as I would think a car with negative camber should have.

Well, with -1 degree of camber and lots of auto-xes, you won't see even tire wear. The outer edge will always wear out quicker. I would guess you'll have to have at least -2.5 degrees and lots of auto-xes to see some even tire wear. Just do what I do, when you see the outer edge of the tire starts to show some wear, take them to a tire shop and have them flip all the tires so you can now wear out more on the "used to be inner edge" of the tire. This way you get more miles out of your tires.

lightlude · 05-01-2003, 06:36 PM

If you're using assymetric tires (like the azenis) then you can't flip anything around. The outside is always... well, the outside.

I think outside tire wear kinda comes with the auto-xing. I have a lighter car (3g), run ~45 psi in my fronts and have ~1.7 camber, and i'm still wearing the outsides faster than the insides.

and BTW....

does anyone here NOT have a Ground Control/ Koni setup!?

vwong · 05-01-2003, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lightlude
If you're using assymetric tires (like the azenis) then you can't flip anything around. The outside is always... well, the outside.

Believe it or not, the Azenis CAN be flipped and still grips very well. We have couple of guys locally who had done that and had success with them.

Mugenlude · 05-01-2003, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lightlude

does anyone here NOT have a Ground Control/ Koni setup!?

vwong is running a modified Tein HA setup.

lightlude · 05-01-2003, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Believe it or not, the Azenis CAN be flipped and still grips very well. We have couple of guys locally who had done that and had success with them.

i believe it. i still bet they work better the right way round though.

Jacques · 05-01-2003, 06:58 PM

After rereading the posts, I just realized that tire wear on the outer edge of the tire is normal after regular autocrossing, especially with a stiff-sidewalled tire like the Azenis.

bdb · 05-02-2003, 12:04 AM

Has anyone made a custom camber kit or modified their front upper control arms to allow camber adjustments like the Skunk2 kits?

ludikris · 05-02-2003, 07:51 AM

Does thinking about it count?

I'm dropped 1.5" up front and 1" out back. At last alignment I had -1Â° at every corner (+/- 0.1Â°). I'm looking for more camber (perhaps -1.5 or -2Â°) and have been looking at alternatives.

Mugenlude · 05-02-2003, 08:50 AM

I've thought about it too...

My other solution is shortening and revalving the Koni's so I can lower the car more without losing any more suspension travel. I'd rather have the control arms though because I still drive the car on the street... revalved Koni's on the street doesn' sound like fun to me...

vwong · 05-02-2003, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bdb
Has anyone made a custom camber kit or modified their front upper control arms to allow camber adjustments like the Skunk2 kits?

It's been done......but very costly. The red 5th gen at the Speed World Challenge several years ago had something similar to the Skunk2 arms. I spoke to them last November and they told me that the arms were custom made by another shop. I didn't ask for the shop's name. But he said that if I'm serious about getting a pair, he could probably talk to that shop and have them custom made another pair, but that would cost me at least $400.

I was thinking about getting them, but I figured I would do the shocks and springs first.

Also, I've modeled an UCA with camber adjustment in SolidWorks, but I was so busy that I didn't finish it with the correct dimensions and geometry.

bdb · 08-18-2003, 09:42 PM

I received my custom camber kit today. Made by a shop on a set of used front upper control arms. Allows a few degrees of negative camber at the ride height I presently have -- looks similar to the Skunk2 design.

I'm charging a set of batteries as I type to take a few pics. Stay tuned.....