Bad Tire Wear, Need Help!

[Doughboy]

Not necessarily.. I have had megan racing LCA's for around 4 or 5 months now and my camber/toe hasnt changed a bit, and I've had no alignment yet lol.

Most aftermarket LCA's are the same size as stock generally, 3/4 smaller or larger sounds wierd to me.

[imported_DIYperformance]

See, when I researched aftermarket LCA's, I kept reading the exact opposite, like all of them are shorter than stock to allow a wider wheel (one of the main purposes for buying them). It may be a 1/2", I don't remember, but worst case it is 3/4". But wouldn't that make sense to say that the toe is way off because the knuckle is being pulled in 1/2 or 3/4 inches?

[Doughboy]

and because I have aftermarket LCA's with no issues.. Id have it checked at an alignment shop.

[imported_DIYperformance]

As soon as I get my tires in it's going right to the alignment shop. I guess on second thought the LCA's can only pull in the bottom to affect camber whereas I was thinking as if they were pulling the whole assemble toward the chassis. So I guess maybe the whole point I was making is void? LOL

[NstyGrnHatch]

Originally posted by DIYperformance@May 20 2005, 07:59 PM
See, when I researched aftermarket LCA's, I kept reading the exact opposite, like all of them are shorter than stock to allow a wider wheel (one of the main purposes for buying them). It may be a 1/2", I don't remember, but worst case it is 3/4". But wouldn't that make sense to say that the toe is way off because the knuckle is being pulled in 1/2 or 3/4 inches?

Ok let the alignment master clarify all this information for you. ok:

First: more than likely when you did your rear disc swap you removed the compensator arm (toe adjustment arm) cause the bolt is an absolute bitch to get with unless you have some swivel sockets or something tricky, which throwed your toe out.

Second: Aftermarket control arms will not throw out your alignment, but yes they do allow you to run a wider wheel so it will not scrub on the inside of the wheel with an OEM rear control arm. If your interested I have wicked tuning rear control arms on my car which ran me like 80 bucks or something like that. Plus they have the mounting holes to run a rear sway bar which is also AWESOME.


You just need an alignment, toe and camber are usually the only two tire wearing issues. Your toe is probably WAYYYYYY off causing an abnormal amount of tire wear. Also if you get a front and rear camber kit, you still wanna maintain some negative camber. A degree or so wont hurt. Oh and the shaking on your car at about that speed is usually a bad drive axle, out of balance wheel, or excessive road force in the tire.

[Smooth_Imports]

[imported_DIYperformance]

Okay Dan, let me comment on the things you said just so we are on the same page here to maybe further help this situation:

Originally posted by NstyGrnHatch@May 20 2005, 08:05 PM
First: more than likely when you did your rear disc swap you removed the compensator arm (toe adjustment arm) cause the bolt is an absolute bitch to get with unless you have some swivel sockets or something tricky, which throwed your toe out.

Yes, I removed the compensator arms. I am thinking that you could not possibly be saying this as to mean that I am no longer using them right? I'm taking this statement as if you mean "the compensator arms were factory set to 0 degree toe, by removing and then replacing them they may not be in the same exact position causing your toe to be off". Would that be what you mean?

Second: Aftermarket control arms will not throw out your alignment, but yes they do allow you to run a wider wheel so it will not scrub on the inside of the wheel with an OEM rear control arm. If your interested I have wicked tuning rear control arms on my car which ran me like 80 bucks or something like that. Plus they have the mounting holes to run a rear sway bar which is also AWESOME. [/b]

Mine also have holes, they are just like that ebay-ish style ones that you see with 3 large holes in them. Not sure if they are the kind of holes inteded to run a rear sway bar though...?

You just need an alignment, toe and camber are usually the only two tire wearing issues. Your toe is probably WAYYYYYY off causing an abnormal amount of tire wear. Also if you get a front and rear camber kit, you still wanna maintain some negative camber. A degree or so wont hurt. Oh and the shaking on your car at about that speed is usually a bad drive axle, out of balance wheel, or excessive road force in the tire.[/b]

When I get my new tires mounted, I'm even going to put them on in the parking lot of the alignment shop! I'm not wrecking them at all! LOL As well as lower the car a little bit more. Pep boys has a $60 full alignment "for the life of the car" special. My friend took his accord there, and everytime he changed something he would go back and say it was off again and get another alignment free!!! Like 3 times, seriously!

As for the shaking, the new wheels and alignment will be done the middle of this week, so I'll see if it stops. If not, I'll check the others. What exactly is "excessive road force in a tire"?

[imported_DIYperformance]

Originally posted by mdlax1@May 20 2005, 01:50 PM
you need to stick around more.. and not just come around when you have a problem. You'll read more and retain all this information.

Mike i dont believe civic's have rear toe adjustment, i could be wrong though

Oh, and Eric- I don't have a lot of time to websurf these days unless I have a purpose to. I'm not "using" CL, but if I have spare time to browse the site I would only be doing it to get an answer/opinion (after searching first!) and to post up DIY's that I've done. I can figure out and fix a majority of the problems I have on my own, but if I'm not familiar with something or I want a second opinion, I'll turn to CL. I've only ever posted in the tech section anyways. I've never really been into chatting about crap. But I don't want to come off as "using" the site.

But how come you won't answer my PM's man? I sent you one saying that I couldn't go into the DIY section. I have tons of new DIY's that I want to post but it keeps telling me that I have to sign up to view that section ??? I think my ID to this site is messed up or something. I can't view stuff, maybe I can't PM either? I also PM'd you about a Nissan engine that I need, or possibly a transmission for now instead. I know you do, or did deal in swaps and stuff, but even if you don't do it anymore, return a members PM's bro!

Actually, I'm PMing you right now to make sure you read this! LOL

[Calesta]

Yes, by "removing compensator arms" I meant taking them off and putting them back on. You can't run the stock suspension setup without using them. If you took them off during the conversion process, you definitely needed to get an alignment at a shop with an alignment rack. Just marking the old position and putting it all back together isn't good enough. Having your toe just slightly out will really screw your tires- it's better to go ahead and pay the $50 instead of thinking that you're going to save some cash- because otherwise you'll just be spending $400 on new tires in a month.

[Toyz-B-Us]

It is most definitly the toe. If I remember right you need a pry bar and a 14mm. If you want a rough alignment before taking it to the shop, pry them furthest inside since that is usually where they need to be If I remember correctly, but it has been a while. You can also do a self toe adjustment by adjusting with a tape measure or string adjusting until the distance accross from the front of the rear tires is the same as the distance accross on the back of the rear tires.