hardrace camber kit

[mugen_ctr]

Yeah I heard that when installing some camber kits, you need to bang the inside fender bit to make space for the camber kit. Do people usually do this? I will if it means the camber arms won't hit anything.

u need to cut shut and weld the new shock tower in order to clear the camber arms as they extend more than the oem, hence why alot of USA guys do it, not sure on the cost but id say not worth the money

[baethos]

ok, so tried installing the camber kit this weekend. rears went in - done. then went to do the fronts. undid all 3 bolts, 1 on the camber arm and 2 on the shock tower...i could not get the ball joint of the camber kit (oem) off the camber arm! GRRRRRR! I bashed away at it, in an upward direction with a dead blow hammer. damn thing wouldn't budge. even sprayed wd40 on it. still no good. anyone had this problem before? i can't get the camber kit off the camber arm.

[Chr1s]

It's common, tapered fits baby.

Please tell me you didn't bash the bottom of the stud with no nut on it, if so, the balljoint is bonkers for good, it's flared the base so you won't fit a nut on it again. There is a dodgy fix to this, but don't mess around with suspension please...

My trick to "pop" the UCA from the knuckle is get two hammers and hit either side of the knuckle at the same time right near the balljoint, it will release itself, don't be shy with the hit and it might need a couple. Just don't go spastic and end up damaging something, if you have poor aim, get someone else to do it.

[baethos]

I was banging the bottom bolt like instructions say (to pop the ball joint off the camber arm). Anyway, I didn't damage anything...in the end I put back all 2 bolts and nut and it's fine. But I need to get it off so I can replace it with the hardrace one.

[baethos]

Gah! I cannot get the ball joint off the camber arm. Anyone used a ball joint splitter before? Do they work?

Saw this vid. wow the guy makes it look so easy haha! so should i give the camber arm a good few whacks with a hammer? I don't wanna break it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDsci-izhhc

[Daveho1]

they work but its not needed. try hitting where the ball joint passes through the knuckle as previously stated, or thread a nut onto the ball joint then hit it, this prevents mushrooming.

[Chr1s]

Must be school holidays I think.

[Daveho1]

seems that way lol. I know it sounds what ever but atm im considering a front camber kit for my eg...why? because good quality replacement upper ball joints don't seem to be available at a price that's competitive. so I can buy hard race for 200 for the set or 245 per arm at Honda... hmmm

[baethos]

Anyway, school or not I managed to get the ball joint off the knuckle. Several good whacks with a hammer and it popped right off. So the camber is dialed in, and the fronts no longer rub. One thing I immediately noticed though. That while the car does turn in easier/faster as expected, the steering wheel does not return to center as easily/fast as before. Is that expected? The car feels very different (in a bad way). I was actually testing and I can turn the wheel at full lock, take my hands off the steering wheel and the car will keep doing circles. lol the steering wheel doesn't return to center. WTF???

[Daveho1]

So you obviously took the car for a wheel alighnment, cause you would have to be dumb as fark not to...right?

[baethos]

^ well, not yet. I was gonna get my camber sorted out first, then get an alignment to correct the toe. I've been reading that the castor may have an affect on whether the steering wheel returns to center. Anyone confirm this? Would I have affected my caster by changing the camber plates? I only ask cos when camber plates were installed on my other car, it did not have this effect. So wondering what's up?

[Type FN]

^ well, not yet. I was gonna get my camber sorted out first, then get an alignment to correct the toe. I've been reading that the castor may have an affect on whether the steering wheel returns to center. Anyone confirm this? Would I have affected my caster by changing the camber plates? I only ask cos when camber plates were installed on my other car, it did not have this effect. So wondering what's up?

i would suggest getting an alignment where they can dial your camber correctly as well as fixng your toe in/out, you cant dial in camber yourself and expect it to be exact without a proper camber gauge/alignment machine so i wouldnt recommend diy, i do my own wheel alignments with a camber gauge and a toe measurement tool and even this wont be as exact as a laser machine but its how all the race teams do alignments (string never lie). As for castor both my previous civic R and my dc2r have castor maxed out for best performance and have never noticed what you said above. Hope it helps.