CivicEx1998

Hi there, Havent been postedf on this forum for a very long time, just would like to give a little insight, i live overseas and drive a Accord EuroR. I think i have finally come to a conclusion to a reason why the TSX and EuroR has the famous drift. I also dont think what im gonna bring up has been discussed before so please bare with me. I have taken my car a few times alignments but it doesnt seemed to help. So one day i was discussing with my dad about this issue, he brought up how having one wheel more foward then the other can affect the tracking, the forward wheel track better straight leading a the backward wheel to drift. So this lead us to measure both side wheelbase, and to our suprised, we have found that the driver (right) is about 5 mm shorter then the left side. This tells me that the longer wheel base makes tracking straight better while the shorter side will eventually has more tendency to make the car turn. I have this problem since day one, so im sure is not caused by hitting patholes. Now the question is, does anyone know how can i correct this? It could be that a control arm has been bent from shiping the car overseas? But if nothing is bent, how can it possible pull 5 mm forward on the shorted side.

Any one can comments, thank you.

poltergeist

Trying to measure wheel alignment off the body panels tells you very little. A proper 4wheel alignment will show if one front wheel is pushed back in the caster reading. If the caster is in spec and close to the same on both sides, then more than likely any pull/drift is caused by the tires.

CivicEx1998

Thanks for your response, but like i said, i have my car at the alignment a few times. The readings of the alignment (more positive camber on left and less caster on left) tells me that my car should drift to left instead of right, but now instead im having the opposite, my car tends to drift to the right. Besides, caster is the tilt angle, in which u could have different wheeelbase yet same caster readings. By the way, i should correct, my car doesnt really drift, it tracks pretty straight, is just that it tends and is easier to drift on some roads. And you can actually feel that the turning resistance is different on both sides, the resistance is higher while turning to left, and lighter while turning to right.

TaSeX

i've also been experiencing the same problems!
is there any set solution to it?!?

78transam

Years ago, I took an evening class at the local technical college for chassis alignment. Back then most cars had adjustment capability for caster and camber. The instructor made the statement that some alignment settings took into consideration road crown. This was accomplished with different left to right side caster settings. I don't know if this is being done anymore with current cars or the TSX.

s001y

I noted you are in Macau? Is your car new or used and if used, which country did the Euro r come in from?

How did you measure that the front driver's side is shorter? Did you use the rear wheel axis as reference point? It could be your right rear wheel to be "forward".

If you have one side shorter, most likely :

The arm is bend or potentially, the subframe is bend. Jack up the car and inspect the subframe in front and the rear. If the subframe is bent, you will have to replace the subframe or mechanically try to "pull" it back. However, it is near impossible to get back to reference geometry.

Check your rear arms bars and measure if there was any tightening or lossening of the nuts that may have shorten off. Do the same for the front arms and also check any bending of the front driver double wish bone.

Once you have located the issue, then a possible solution, depending where the issue is. Most likely, the front arm and lower arm is bend, but this will mean you simply have to change the whole arm set up. This assume the subframe is intact and geometrically correct.

last solution : If you cannot detect what is wrong and about to give up to live with this issue, then set up your car with toe-in front & rear and camber positive 1 degree outwards (use 2nd generation US, SPC front camber kit with red rubber tubing) to set this out. I think this SPC set does max 1.5 degree for front but take note of the SPC camber kit on the mounting and has instructions sheet.

For the rear, use the SPC rear camber kit set and do a 1 degree positive outwards.

I assume that you are using aftermarket suspensions and car is lowered. Once the car is lowered, usually the rear is 3 degrees outwards and thus the SPC rear camber kits readjust this to 1 degree. The front will be about zero once lowered suspension, thus the SPC camber kit will adjust it outwards 1 degree.

With positive camber front & rear and toe-in 0.5, this will keep the car alignment as straight as possible. The camber will reduce the tighter feeling of the turn left or right. Last, make sure tires pressues are correct. If stock Euro R, 215 tyres, set to 240 front/230 rear. If 225, add +10 to give it more side wall hardness....