Okay well as you know I put on sway bars and polyurethane bushings recently and my ride has been excruciatingly stiff and is now all about tramlining.

Whatever, that's fine, i'll deal with it.

But now, my tires look like they need air, but i checked them and they say 40psi? Which is already too high, so i'm kinda confused.

But that isn't the big problem. Now when I make turns I hear a whirring, revolving noise and when I start from a dig the steering wheel kinda shakes like bump bump bump bump. It's really strange. I don't know if something got messed up because of how much shock is going through it now that I put the bushings on or what!

It doesn't feel like a wheel weight because that would be some serious chugging along.

Any ideas?

 

Found the goddamn problem, i didn't think twice to look at my tires because I got an alignment to fix the toe that was way out, so I didn't think my tires would be worn if they did a good job.

look at what I found when I looked...



Both of my front tires look like that. Thank god they didn't burst while I was driving.

 

hmmmmm I seem to remember telling you to get an allignment and you saying you didn't need one

 

hmmmmmm, I had already gotten one within the first week of having my bushings put on, thank you very much.

 

that look like bad camber. do you have a camber kit?

 

They said my toe was way out and they said they fixed it.

Apparently not. I don't see why i'd need a camber kit, my car is still 4x4 stock height.

 

So i brought the car back to the shop and they told me the computer read thet everything was in order and they have absolutely no idea why the tires wore out like that. I don't know what to do, I can't afford new tires right now, so I have to put on my goddamn 18's again. Fuck.


Chris please move this out to the general 1st gen forum so more people can see this, I need as much insight as possible as to what the issue could be...

 

thanks 55!

 

Your tread looks like it's past the wear bar already. Incorrect toe will eat up your tires much quicker than incorrect camber.

When I had my winters on and had incorrect toe, the tread would stick out. As in when you rub your hand across the treads it would feel jagged. It should feel smooth.

How long ago did you have the alignment done? How long since you needed one?

You didn't get a print out from the alignment shop? The ones I get usually tell you what your toe, caster camber etc is...and they show you what the stock alignment should be as well.

 

that is toe. I just ruined my front summers in 4 weeks because of bad toe and a wobbly tir rod end. that is NOT camber.

 

When you ask for an alignment do they check camber normally or do you have to ask?

 

They should check and align everything. But some places won't know that you've got a camber kit. So they might neglect fixing your camber, since it's not adjustable on a stock CL. Just tell them and it should be fine.

 

If it's in the rear, I was told that sometimes the piece they adjust siezes and they can't readjust, no idea wtf they were refering to then though

 

guys camber does not do nearly as much damage as toe. toe is the main factor why tires look like that. a combination of the both is even worse. camber is mostly felt in rainy conditions when you feel the tire does not grip the ground because only a minimal part of the tire is on the ground. the effect is alot worse at higher speeds.

 

bullshit. anyone working at an Actual Alignment shop should be able to tell you whats wrong. sounds like they didnt align you right after your install, and now your tires are fucked and its their fault. and they are saying everything is normal just to cover it up

 

The only possible explanation they came up with is that the tire has wear that I was unaware of and it only worsened. But they changed me back to my 18's free of charge because i couldn't afford any new tires...

but they said my caster was all fucked up, but that hardly affects tire wear... anywhere here is the readout



and since i put the 18's back on, there is no toe or camber, they look way more in line than the 16's did, so maybe it really was strange wear?

and blackack I think you were taking about caster that they can't readjust,.

 

I believe that one is the toe adjustment for the rear. Connecting to the control arm I think.

They used a huge bar to break mine lose. That nut is not in good condition anymore. Some what stripped.

 

Yep, that was it, the caster, can't readjust cuz it is seized

 

What part is it that makes caster, some kind of control arm?

What exact part is it? It seems like I may want to replace them...

 

I think they connect to the trailing arm, but I really don't know

 

what is this "they" you speak of?

 

wow i wonder wtf it could possibly be. Keep me updated cuz my front tires look the same, although i put a shitload of miles on them. I got a beater for that now, thank god.

 

I'll be on the lookout

I must say though, I kind of am enjoying my 18's again...lol

 

oops I'm thinking the rear as in rear end of the car....

 

Damn Chris, you might want to replace them ASAP cause if they really are like Nates, that is seriously dangerous. I just had a blow out a couple of days ago on the way to a friends house. Thank goodness graduation is coming up and my parents are willing to get me 2 new tires or I would be running that spare for a loooooong time...

Kinda off topic question but I have heard that for example, if you have 2 perallis up front and 2 cheap goodwrench in the back, it will make your handling way worse than all 4 cheap goodwrench. Why?

 

caster is adjusted at the factory and not adjustable on an alignment machine. nor does it affect tire wear to the degree in the pictures.

how do you have -2.x camber with a stock heigh CL?

i just noticed those pics are for the rear tires. rear toe is definitely adjustable, i beleive with the trailing arms. but it's much harder to fuck up rear toe. I dont know what you did there.

 

they are the front two tires...

and the negative 2.x is the caster adjust, the camber is the top. The toe is the bottom.

 

I'm really pissed off right now. I spent 3 hours coming up with the right answer to your question. But before I opened my mouth, I wanted to double check something I came across which was new to me. Long story short, there's a bad storm over here, and I lost everything in my post along with the 7 damn links I wanted to provide. I don't have a clue what sites they were. I'll have to help you out tomorrow and reresearch those sites.

Dicorp is right about caster not being able to be adjusted via control arms on most macpherson suspension setups, but I found something new which is what I wanted to read more about. Apparently it can be done via the raidus rods. I didn't want to mention anything about that till I verified it. I was in the process of doing so untill the electricity went out twice!

One of the other things I came across in regards to your caster, is that something might be slightly bent due to any harsh hits, pot holes, possibly hit a curb? (I read that your frame could even be slightly off and would require for it to be straightened again to fix the issue) Anything of that sort could have thrown your caster off. This post is absolutely pointless to you, I know that. But it will help me remember where the ball was rolling.

 

Yeah! That's what they were telling me at the shop, but they only mentioned collisions or something, not potholes, that is a really good point.


I look forward to your full response

 

We Don't have McPherson Struts setup. Newer Honda's do.

The only way caster can be affeceted is when you'd hit a curb straight on or slight angle. It will make your wheel be pushed back, pull the UCA along with it.

 

Just how expensive is it to get one's frame straightened out in the event that it is way out of whack?

 

Using the radius rods would make sense since if you were to move that nut up front and put another on it behind where it goes through the hole, it would in a sense push the LCA back or you could thread it more and pull it forward. It's just going to mess with the bushings if the adjustment is too serious. I would think it is possible since I know my SPC balljoints can be rotated and not just slid in and out for camber.

Gnate, when you did poly bushings, did you do the radius rod ones too? I would think that it is possible that they simply don't compress to where the stock rubber would once the rods are bolted up and your rods could be pushed out of whack in one or the other direction (i'm not sure what specifies negative or positive caster).

 

you need to like, fucking fix that shit ASAP! before you die

 

lol I put my 18's back on my car, and I have two more 16's on the way because my dad was feeling generous

 

this thread makes me realize how little I know about suspension's.

 

Ooops. I was really convinced to look up macpherson suspension last night thinking the majority of hondas used it. I guess I've seen my friend's 7th gen civic and rsx front suspension more times then not.

Question for you, do we use shims on our upper control arms? If not, can we throw on caster shims?

Also, your second statement was exactly something I came across which I wanted Nate to know.

Also, even though we have wishbone suspension, is it considered single wishbone since it's not double? I can't seem to find a diagram of our suspension online. Just want to have it. I hate having to go to the garage for everything.

 

Caster is just the imaginery line that goes through your upper and lower ball joints. If the upper ball joint is in front, you have negative caster. If it's behind the lower ball joint, then it's positive caster.

Caster is a neat because it gives you more negative camber on the outside tire during hard cornering, while giving you positive camber on the inside tire. You'll never use negative caster for any reason.

While positive caster is great for handling capabilities on the track, it also increases steering effort. So coming out of a turn will require less for the car to self center back in a straight line, but it takes more effort when going into the turn.

 

BS, you said your brother is getting you continentals

 

I had a choice, either my bro gets me 2 Continentals or my parents get me 2 Perallis that were on sale as a grad pressent. That's why I wanted to know the question so I could decide weather or not I should let my parents get me the Perallis and use up a grad present or just let my bro get the Continentals. My brother already ordered me the Continentals so it doesn't matter anymore but I would still like to know why it's a bad idea driving with 2 different brands of tires.

 

I was driving with two different tires when this happened. Goodyear eagles and some other brand... which I will look at and tell you guys later. But In all honesty I don't think that had anything to do with it.