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Pointless to get an alignment if camber is off?

1640 Views 12 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  LX98Civic
I need to get an alignment as well as my camber straightened out. I plan to use the washer / bolt trick for the rear, but undecided about the front.

Anyhow, I was going to get an alignment done at this shop and the guy told me that it would be pointless to get an alignment if the camber is off. He said that was part of the alignment (adjusting the camber). So, it's been 2 months and still no alignment. Actually, 43k on the odometer and never had an alignment.

I plan to do the bolt / washer trick sometime soon then have the alignment done.

Is that guy giving me a bunch of crap or what??
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I think he is just saying that doing an alignment will not get your car perfectly in line because the camber will still be off.
If you get an alignment now you'll be able to get the toe fixed if the car is drifting to one side. You'll prolly need a kit for the front, so once you put that on you'll need another alignment. Just out of curiosity, how do you know that you need a camber adjustment? It usually takes getting the alignment done before you know exactly what your camber is.

Oh, just FYI, for cars like Hondas an alignment does not effect camber much at all. Some cars are made so that camber can be changed easily by the people doing the alignment, but Hondas require camber kits. So basically an alignment for our cars is solely to change the toe angle, so he is kinda feeding you crap.
you def. need to get an alignment as soon as you can because if you drive around w/ the toe off then that will cause just as much uneven tire wear as driving around w/ the camber way off. you will probably need a front camber kit anyway, so order one of those right away and then go get an alignment as soon as you can.
unless your toe is off you wont need an alignment....that is assuming you do not get a camber kit....
He has the same springs I used to have and I needed a camber adjustment. It wasn't just the toe. That is why he was probably telling you to get a camber kit now and then get it aligned. I guess it is kind of like killing two birds with one stone.
what im saying....is if he does not own a camber kit yet and his toe isnt off....there is no point in him getting an alignment until he gets a camber kit
junglistgsr said:
what im saying....is if he does not own a camber kit yet and his toe isnt off....there is no point in him getting an alignment until he gets a camber kit
Yes, I agree with you. I think we were all saying the same thing, but in more confusing ways.
yeah, redundancy is hard to avoid :p ;)
Every car is different as far as the camber effect of springs. One Integra with H&R Sports might need a camber kit, and the one next to it with the exact same springs might not need a kit. Chances are that if the car was lowered more than 1.5" you will need a camber kit, and if that's the case you may be able to save some money by getting the camber kit, and then getting the alignment done. However, getting an alignment done is the only way to know whether you need a camber kit or not or sure.
Bampf said:
Every car is different as far as the camber effect of springs. One Integra with H&R Sports might need a camber kit, and the one next to it with the exact same springs might not need a kit. Chances are that if the car was lowered more than 1.5" you will need a camber kit, and if that's the case you may be able to save some money by getting the camber kit, and then getting the alignment done. However, getting an alignment done is the only way to know whether you need a camber kit or not or sure.
The funny thing is the camber in the rear seems to be off more than the front. The rear is 1.5" and the front is dropped 1.7" :confused:
Yeah, cars are weird sometimes...but if it is more messed up at the rear of the car, that's a little better 'cause there is a way to adjust the camber at the rear without getting a camber kit...something about washers, but I'm not too sure on how (don't need a camber kit myself...)
Bampf said:
Yeah, cars are weird sometimes...but if it is more messed up at the rear of the car, that's a little better 'cause there is a way to adjust the camber at the rear without getting a camber kit...something about washers, but I'm not too sure on how (don't need a camber kit myself...)
HERE! :)

Will be doing this one day
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