genghis82

I lowered my car using H&R sport springs with Tokico Illuminas and would like to correct my allignment. There is a slight bit of negative angle in the front and less noticeable in the rear. I'm thinking of getting the SPC front and rear kits and wanted to know if these can be installed yourself and then brought to a dealer to adjust the alignment or is it best to just let them do it all. If it's possible, is there a DIY out there? The drop looks great with the 2 finger gap but I can't get past the negative angle. Any help is appreciated.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, you can do it yourself. It can be done with just simple hand tools but a ball joint press kit might come in handy. You can rent one of those for free at AutoZone (you just have to put down a refundable deposit). I don't have a DIY handy, but perhaps others might know where you can find it.

FYI, I didn't need a camber kit when I lowered my car on H&R Sport, but others did. I don't know the exact variable, but it depends on the car although they are all TLs. Go figure.

I would recommend going to an alignment shop that has one of those lifetime deals, or a warranty for a certain period of time. This way, you can see if it can be aligned without using camber kits, and if it can't be done, then install the camber kits and bring it back for a free re-alignment. If you don't need the camber kits, then you get to save like 300-500 bucks, so it would be the best way in my opinion.

genghis82

My original plan was going to a shop to see if they could fix the angle, but the dealer and Firestone say they won't adjust the camber unless I have a kit. I've heard it's possible to bring it back into spec if you haven't dropped it too much using the stock equipment. Maybe I'll just get an allignment from Firestone for now since they have the lifetime alignment warranty on sale for $129. I may be able to find a full set of SPC cambers for $200, so I'm tempted to jump on that.

genghis82

Ok, I bought an SPC kit for the front and the rear. Does anyone know where a DIY for the install might be or might be able to list me some instructions on how to do it?

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

I can't list full instructions, but I can give you a brief overview.

Front --

You have to remove the strut assembly. This is done by removing one bolt at the bottom holding the strut body into the fork, and the 5 nuts on top. Once that's done, remove the upper control arm with the ball joint in it. This will require taking out two bolts on each side of the UCA. You can try taking it off with the strut assembly on there, but it's a pain in the butt to maneuver the wrench. But that's just me. In fact, I would actually recommend first trying to get to the two bolts holding the UCA in, without removing the strut assembly.

Once the UCA is off, you need to remove the factory ball joint. You can either beat the hell out of it or loan a ball joint press kit from AutoZone or something. All you have to do is get the ball joint off the UCA. Once it's off, install the new one and reverse the process to put it back in. Make sure the nut on top of the UCA (a part of the camber kit) is tightened well. Otherwise it will slide on the plate and your car will wobble all over the place.

Same on the other side.


Rear --

My memory is a bit fuzzy on this one, so bare with me. And I'm sure others will chime in.
You need to take off the factory control arm. It's mounted on the subframe and the suspension. If I recall correctly, on the subframe side, it's secured by a bracket with a bolt holding it in. The nut is welded onto the bracket. On the suspension side, it's held in by a ball joint. Remove the pin and take off the axle nut. Then hit the ball joint out of its socket. The control arm should come off now. Replace with the camber kit. But before you put it in, match the length of the camber kit with the factory arm, then extend it slightly further out to compensate for the negative camber. The fine-tuning will be done during alignment.

Same thing for the other side.



That's it. I would recommend picking up a bottle of PB Blaster and let it soak on the nuts and bolts. It will make the job a lot easier. And have a pipe or a torque wrench handy for added leverage. Those bolts and nuts are on there TIGHT.

Good luck.

big mike 13

not knocking pure...
but here is a more detailed instruction with pictures...
/forums/showthread.php?t=18736
^^put @cur@world.com before that.... @=A

im contemplating picking up a set too.... my camber looks pretty bad
but how do you know how much to adjust by? do you have to get an alignment first to get the specs on how much negative it is and adjust it according to that? or can i install the camber, get an alignment and they adjust it? (free?)

genghis82

Thanks for the help guys. I got my kit on ebay for $210 shipped. It's a new front and rear kit for a honda, but the part numbers match up and I double checked them on the SPC site. We'll see how everything turns out.