AcuraTLFan

I just got my car lowered with H&R Sport Springs. The car seems lowered more than 1.75 in...more like 2.5 in...i'm sure they were the sport springs and not the racing springs. But my concern is wheel alignment. I want to the local shop to get my tires aligned, but the guys there said they can't/won't align it because i have negative chamber. Has anyone have this experience before? Do i really need a chamber kit with the H&R Sprot Springs, or did they tell me crap? Can someone help ...thanks

Can anyone post or e-mail me pic of there H&R Sport Springs, so i can compare thanks. AcuraTLFan@hotmail.com

bricot

I was told we didn't need them, I didn't hear anything from the alignment shop when I got it back. I've also heard that a little negative camber is a good thing. Are you looking for pic's of the springs in the box or of the car lowered with the springs?

Bitium

you sure you got the sport and not the racing? what color are the springs? Go to another place, the camber in the back is not ajustable with an aligment, so you might want a camber kit for the back. as for the front they should be able to do it, just tell them to do a front aligment only. I will post later, why is good to have a little - camber in the back.

Mr Hyde

While it is true that as is the Camber is not adjustable on our cars, other things such as the Toe where affected when you dropped the car and they need to be corrected/ Toe in will wear out the tire 1000x faster than Camber ever will. Alot of people drop their cars, dont get an aligment, and then destroy the insides of their tires in the span of a few months and blame it on Camber when it was most likely the toe in that wore the tires which is easily fixed with an alignment.

Simply stating that a place cannot align your car because it is lowered and has some negative camber is ridiculous. Of course they can align it and get the other specs like Toe-in as close to the normal range as possible. Go to another place that knows what they are doing. I wouldnt let those baffoons anywhere near any of my cars.

Concerning whether or not you need a camber kit, with the drop you have I doubt you will, but the only real way to tell will be to get an alignment. After they adjust everything get a print out of the final alignment specs. It will have the Camber, toe in, and other specs for each one of your wheels, post them here and we will see what you've got. A tiny deviation of negative camber is fine and actually helps cornering, if you keep up with tire roatations you'll probably never notice the effects on your tires

As far as why the H&R springs seem like more of a drop than advertised, those springs were designed and made for an Accord but will fit the TL. The TL however is a heavier car than the Accord, so the drop on a Tl will be more than the advertised drop for an Accord. Post here with anymore questions.

AcuraTLFan

Thanks for the Help Mr Hyde. My mom has a 99 TL and I have a 02 TL-S...initially, my car was slighty higher than hers because we have larger rims and tires...but after the drop, i measured it to be alittle more than 2 inch drop, front and back...the springs were kinda dark blue/gray in color, the part number matched the one of the sport springs and not the racing springs.

Question: Is the TL capable of 4 wheel alignment or only 2 wheel?
Question: So any "GOOD SHOP" can align my wheels regardless if it's dropped or not?

thanks for ur help guys!

RX-72ATL-S

Mr. Hyde seems very knowledgeable on all his advise he gives. What he said about the alignment thing is true but.... From my experience I lowered a Civic twice and found that even with the alignment it still ate up the inside of the tires(front mainly). I don't know if the places that aligned the two cars were yahoo's or what. All I can say is I needed a camber kit for mine, and my problem was solved. I never had a print out to look at so I can't verify if the tow in was correct. I was assuming it was, since that's what I paid them to do. The only advantage I found with having the camber out like that was it handled corners sooo awesome.

Anyway, I'm glad you mentioned the H&R Springs, because I was wanting a drop, but very minimal. I don't want the slammed look. Been there, done that.

Mr. Hyde do you know of a spring made for our car that doesn't have such an aggressive look?

Thanks

Mr Hyde

The TL is capable of a 4 wheel alignment most definitely. I dont really believe in 2 wheel alignments. Most good shops will tell you there is no such thing. In order to do things properly you have to adjust the front AND rear wheels.

I had a 96 Accord which was dropped with Neuspeed/H&R sport springs(they are the same) and Koni adjustable shocks which further dropped the car more than the springs alone would.

For my alignment I went to a shop that actually does alot of work on imports and cars with drops. My import shop recommended them. Mabe give yours a call and ask who they recommend. Alot of shops will drop the car but dont do alignments themselves, so they do send their customers along with their own cars somewhere. Find out where. Even those guys said with the camber I had that I didnt need a camber kit and to just keep up with tire rotations. For them getting a camber kit would have only meant more $$ for them. My tires lasted just fine. Getting an alignment is not a major deal, but I cant teal you how many times in the past on even stock cars that I went to get one and the car still pulled either to the left or right. And the major tire chain places were the worst ones to go to. The local smaller shops usually did a better job and got it right the first time.

RX-7 how low was the drop on the civic?? YOu didnt say if they were neuspeed/H&R race springs or sport sprinsg or Eibach Sportlines, etc. Thats a major factor in how much camber would be affected. The lower the drop the more camber goes out.

The only springs specifically made for the TL are made by Comptech. If thats too much of a drop you amy want to checkout the H&R OE Softsports. H&R/Neuspeed/Eibach make several springs each one with a different drop, so the model is very important. The H&R OE Softsports are only supposed to lower an Accord less than an inch up front and about half an inch in the back. It would probably be a little more on a TL but maybe a less than teh Comptech drop, but I dont know how low they will drop the car. I've never seen a TL with them and have 0 experience with them.

RX-72ATL-S

My first drop was with tokico(sp) struts, Eibach sportlines. Then I went with the Eibach pro kit later. I personally hate rotating tires, therefore I don't do it as much as I should.
i might have to check out the OE Softsports. Is your car dropped? it doesn't look like it. Everytime I see your sig I kind of wish I went with blue. That was the other color I liked. I love the moving pic of your car, it looks great.

Mr Hyde

My TL is not dropped...yet.

I ordered the Comptech Headers over 2 weeks ago, but theres a backlog on them. As soon as I get them though I'll be heading over to Parke Ave for them to be installed, my first oil change and while I am there I'll be picking up the springs as well. Damn and I swore I wouldnt be modding this car other than for sways.........Oh well.