Uneven rear guards clearance

[migoreng]

Hey guys,

My left rear wheel just clears the stock guard thanks to negative camber O.o

Does anyone know why there's roughly a 5mm gap difference between the rear guards?

Left rear guard only has space for the tip of my fingers. The second joint of my middle finger is able to squash into the right rear guard...I can't push my finger in any further.

Tyre size is 215/40/17 on a 17x7 +38 rim

Left rear guard

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff47/migoreng1/project/rear%20guards/DSC02566Medium.jpg

Right rear
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff47/migoreng1/project/rear%20guards/DSC02567Medium.jpg

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff47/migoreng1/project/rear%20guards/DSC02569Medium.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff47/migoreng1/project/rear%20guards/DSC02573Medium.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff47/migoreng1/project/rear%20guards/DSC02577Medium.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff47/migoreng1/project/rear%20guards/DSC02579Medium.jpg

[dc2r-0636]

hey, do you have king springs or any other lowering springs? because they do the left side a tad lower coz most of the time wen driving, u will be alone, so obviously u will have more weight on the right side of the car, so the right will drop couple millimeters and make it look same.

when i adjust my coilovers i have the left a tad lower. so when i sit on the drivers seat it corrects evenly (give or take 1mm lol)

[migoreng]

Yeah...Kings springs.

All my wheels definately have a bit of camber but maybe the left rear has less camber than the right? I don't have a camber kit.

Or another way to say is it the left rear wheel seems to have a few more mm of positive offset compared to the right...

Or is the left 1/4 panel and guard pushed in more compared to the right?

It's hard to work out just by looking at both sides of the car

[dc2r-0636]

i know what you mean mate. have you had an alignment since you got springs put in ?

also you get camber when lowering any car, its just a characteristics of suspension when you lower the car.

i still havnt gotten an alligment since i got coilovers put in. when you get a 4 wheel aligment done you will see on the computer the TOE in/out and camber of all four wheels.

[integragsi96]

yeh i used to have king springs on the rear of my dc4 and the rear left sat just a little higher, i thought something was wrong but now i have coilovers i can control that

[migoreng]

When I had my +45 DC5S wheels on I did suspect the gap wasn't even. Now that I have +38 rims I can tell there is a slight difference between both guards..
The sort of gap i'm talking about is not the fender gap height wise, it's width.

The right wheel looks like it clears the unrolled fender lip fine due to negative camber. The left just clears as well but the gap is slightly smaller.
It looks like the left wheel has slightly less camber if you know what I mean...Or the left guard is pushed in more or vice versa..

It's very hard for me to work out.
It's not really a problem. Just would like to work out why. Anyway I guess I could get a wheel alignment from reputable shop and request a printout showing my suspension settings.

Hope these pictures make things clearer..
From what I can see the left wheel has slightly less clearance from the unrolled lip compared to the other side.
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff47/migoreng1/project/rear%20guards/DSC02587Medium.jpg
http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff47/migoreng1/project/rear%20guards/DSC02586Medium.jpg

[mocchi]

wtf. what a clean garage!! holy.

[aozora]

The definitive way to measure height is to measure hub to guard height.

So basically, the center of your wheels straight up to the guard. Compare from there... that way camber doesn't really play into it when you measure by finger :)

If the heights are the same, you will need an alignment BUT as other people have said, it's common for people to take into account driver's weight. So on the driver's side you may find there will be less camber/toe and even height if corner weight balancing is done?
If the heights are still different, there could be a number of reasons...

- If you're on lowered springs with stock shocks... I'm not 100% clued in with Prelude rear suspension but if it's like most double wishbone or many other suspension types - it could be worn bushes, bent or damaged subframe/guard/lower control arm etc. (In alot of Nissan multi link rear suspension I see the subframe bushes wear out and "shift" off center... which can throw out ride height, camber, castor etc etc... The only fix is to drop the whole subframe and reinstall new bushes but I highly HIGHLY doubt this one as most of the Honda rear suspension I see is mounted fairly solidly. Otherwise check for "differences" in suspension arms on either side if you're concerned about an accident history.)
- If you're on lowered springs with aftermarket shocks, especially Koni's - check the circlip grooves or spring seats are set to the same height (But I'm doubting this one otherwise you probably would have mentioned it...)
- Check that your springs are seated properly - both sides should have rubber seats top or bottom or even both? If either are missing, that will attribute to the height difference.
- If the springs were bought at the same time, one could be simply wearing/sagging faster than the other... but highly doubtful. King springs are usually decent.

Either way, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's not a huge difference at all but a lot of people query it so I hope the above helps...

[vinnY]

without going into too much detail, by the looks of things one guards slightly rolled(probably from previous owner/wheels) whilst the other's bent downwards

[migoreng]

without going into too much detail, by the looks of things one guards slightly rolled(probably from previous owner/wheels) whilst the other's bent downwards

no idea..

Anyways just an update.

- Before Alignment:

Front
Camber left -1*38' right -1*50'
Toe left -0.1mm right -2.8mm

setback -0*09'

Rear
Camber left -1*28' right -2*22'
Toe left -1.5mm right +2.5mm

- After alignment:

Front
Camber left -1*39 right -1*49'
Toe left +0.7mm right +0.5mm

setback +0*01'

Rear

Camber left -1*25' right -2*21'
Toe left +2.3mm right +2.3mm

[vinnY]

that's a lot of toe in on the rear.. +4.6mm total?
pretty sure honda spec was like +1 on either side for a total of +2

also the after alignment figures on the rear right, missing a - for camber on the right?

[migoreng]

edied: added setback and fixed some errors..
yes negtive camber on rear...
-2*21'

Anyway the car drives straighter now, same with my steering wheel. 2 weeks ago I got my steering boot replaced at Hannys and the steering wheel went from slightly right when driving straight to left after the job.

With oem wheels the right rear camber wasn't too obvious until I got my new wheels with a lower offset.
The wheels clear the guards anyway when I have passengers in the back so I don't have anything to worry about.

[evilclown]

what kings u using?are u using oem shock?