yea, i got my GC slammed, so when i find somebody that will actually align my car (whenever that is), imma have them raise it about an inch; i went to Meineke today and they said i have to find the specs of the GC's so they can align them properly, do they actually NEED the specs for the GC's to align it or are they just giving me some kind of BS excuse? Well anyway imma search more shops tommorow and see what theyll tell me, but i thank yall for yall responses.
-aj

 

by GC do you mean Ground Control Coilovers? If so i had GC before ksports and i was able to get an alignment just fine....i don't know what kindof specs for GC's or where they'd get them...sounds like bs.

 

yea i have ground controls right now, and the front end is slammed, when i get my wheels aligned i plan on raising the front about an inch or so.

 

i'm not sure that the alignment will still be true if you change ride height. i haven't had coilovers, so I can't say for sure.

 

woow man wasn't that what i was talking about???? change in ride height (originally i said curb height which is the same...)
also guys read this maybe it we help a little bit http://www.heldmotorsports.com/Honda/Lowering_Info.htm

 

that was in response to what the previous post said. he mentioned lowering the car with coilovers, having it aligned, then raising it and expecting the alignment to hold true after the ride height change (as I read it, i may have misunderstood). please read throughly before getting excited.

 

Can't you just go to the dealer? I know it will cost more but Im sure they can get it right...

 

on my car when they installed the suspension, they had to align it with out ajustable camber bolts and they had a little hard time to get it aligned, but they got it. It was really close to spec and it drove real nice up until now. I highly sugest ajustable camber bolts and that's it. My guy guy does cars for a speed shop next door and knows about any car and has aligned them all. From civics, to Minis and Maxima's(mine hehe) and even my dad's Grand cherokee which has these bars under to adjust...it's all good.

 

Here's my theory on this whole issue. When a vehicle is lowered, the oem specs are no longer valid as the entire geometry of the suspension has been compromised by the lowering process. Regardless of what parts are used there is going to be additional wear and tear on the parts as well.

 

just stop posting noob, you obviously have no clue what you are talking about.

 

but he's a mechanic!

 

A honda mechanic?

 

lol and he actually got me going............. that's what i get for second guessing myself and listing to a

 

I dont think they can exist, I mean if that line "Hondas never break" holds true. Maybe thats why they suck so bad..

 

but you meet the nicest people on a honda!


i don't think anyone in this thread is old enough to remember that

 

Difinitively, it's absolutely possible to perform a proper alignment on a lowered 4th gen. I'm currenly riding on Ksports and 18's. My alignment is proper. I did it myself! It's not a mystery, nor is it some dark magic, it's just a working understanding of the components in your steering system.

If I could give you some advice about it, find an alignment shop that WOULD be willing to do work for you. They DO exist! In fact, a lot of small shops that have alignment racks are willing to do the work. Next time you see a slammed ride, see if you can ask the person where they got their alignment done! I can absolutely understand why you don't want to blow through another set of tires in 5 miles because of an improper alignment.

DISCLAIMER - this is true

The excessive wear on the inside of both your front tires is primarily due to the TOE being out of spec. Your camber does have an effect on tire wear, but not as much as TOE. WHY? Instead of your tires being exactly parallel with the direction the vehicle is traveling (forward), they are now slightly turned out (called TOE-OUT); the passenger side tire is slightly to the right, the driverside is slightly to the left. The opposite holds true as well; If the OUTSIDE of both your front tires showed excessive wear, than your front tires are slightly turned in (TOE IN); your passenger side is turned left, your driverside is turned right. How is this possible?

Your vehicle is now riding lower than before. If I could create a poor verbal illustration, imagine you are rowing a rowboat. What happens when you lean back and pull in your arms? The end of the oars pivot! If you could imagine the ends of the oars as the ends of the tires, and your body as the rack and pinion, your arms as the tie rods, than you could possibly see why this illustration makes sense. As the new lower suspension has allowed the body of the vehicle to ride lower, the rack and pinion too, has lowered, while the tires/knuckle/spindle are still at the same height as before! (read that again!) The rack is still grabbing onto and holding the knuckle/spindle/tires from the inside (via the tie rods), and because of that, both wheels are turned out (just like if you leaned back while still holding the oars, they start to move). It's quite an easy adjustment to extend the length of the tie rods (that's why they are made the way they are) so that both tires face parallel once again.

Yes yes yes, I know, for the experts, most cars are aligned with a TOE-IN from the factory, blah blah blah, but it's understanding CONCEPT that is important!

Misinformation is much worse than no-information - hopefully this helps you out, but next time an alignment is performed, not just on your max, but any other car you bring to a shop, see if you can watch and ask the guy to show you how everything works! It took me a long time to understand how it works, but I'm sure you'll get it! Best of luck

 

theres a song that goes like that I've heard, old though. I never saw the ad thing though.