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upper control arm question

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:18 am
by ohDirka
My upper control arm is bad on my eg8 and i need to replace it. I noticed that the camber kits are really not that much more expensive than the stock replacement, I don't know which one to buy. I would rather not mess with the camber because I don't know how hard it is to tune but if it is better to get the after market control arm then I'll buy that...throw out your 2cents

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 2:35 am
by teal_dx
you can get an upper arm for about $30 + SH on ebay if you only need to replace one (or both sides for $55). either way you'll need to get an alignment if you replace one side or both. If you plan on going low in the near future then I'd get the adjustable ones.

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:47 pm
by york62
teal_dx wrote:you can get an upper arm for about $30 + SH on ebay if you only need to replace one (or both sides for $55). either way you'll need to get an alignment if you replace one side or both. If you plan on going low in the near future then I'd get the adjustable ones.


x2 haha

PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 10:22 pm
by LowTEC-Derbo
as far as camber kits goes..

you will require alignment to adjust the camber properly.

There are a few couple one to run for the front arm.


Ingalls creates one that just replaces the bolts, and Skunk2, blox, etc all create a arm replacement one.


They should be anywhere from 100-150.


Only issue with camber kits is the bolts can come loose and your camber can be scrweed up. There is another issue with clearance with the fenders as it adjusts the length and pivot point on the suspension arms.




My camber is 2.5 degrees all around. Camber is actually beneficial as it helps corner at a small expense of accelerated tire wear. Toe that is outside manufacturer spec is actually more problematic with tire wear than camber itself.


I corner hard with my car all the time and my toe is set to 0 all around and my tires are evenly wearing out.





I would just buy stock arms from a junkyard and replace the balljoint.

PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 1:22 pm
by 89ssgti
From my experience I'd say go with new oem parts.Aftermarket upper ball joint seem to not last as long as oem ones and adjustable ones bring in their own problems too.

PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:53 pm
by ee8
LowTEC-Derbo wrote:



My camber is 2.5 degrees all around. Camber is actually beneficial as it helps corner at a small expense of accelerated tire wear. Toe that is outside manufacturer spec is actually more problematic with tire wear than camber itself.


I corner hard with my car all the time and my toe is set to 0 all around and my tires are evenly wearing out.






toe at 0 and camber 2.5, how on earth do your tyres wear out evenly?

no straight ends or freeways and only cornering? :D

PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 5:26 pm
by suspendedHatch
I agree with LowTEC-Derbo 100%. -2.5 degrees camber (mine's about -2) on a good summer tire daily driven with 0 toe front/rear and I experience no accelerated tire wear. If the toe is off, the tires will be no good in about a week. If the toe and camber is off, then the tire will be eaten up the most on the inside (what's called camber wear).

EG's are all double wishbone front/rear so camber wear is not a problem as it is on mcpherson strut vehicles (basically everything else on the road besides other Hondas/Acuras from the same time period and Porsches/Audis).

Add to the fact that a good performance tire is MADE to be run with negative camber. When I had some cheap all season tires, they wore on the insides after a while (about a year and a half).

If you lower your car less than two inches, that gives you the best handling for our suspension geometry and it gives you less than 2 degrees camber which is perfectly streetable.

Btw, the max spec for negative camber on the front is -1.3.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:59 am
by Graham
Ive got 2.2 degrees camber on the front, slightly less on the back but my tyres arent wearing out on the inner edge at all

I had my car alligned as soon as i set the height and im glad i did :thumb:

Camber rules

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 1:50 am
by BAXTER_EJ1
So just spitballing here...if in the spring I dropped 2-2.5", you'd suggest not adjusting the camber at all? Leave the stock control arms and just have the tires aligned again? If that's not what you mean, please correct me :thumb:

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:22 am
by Graham
Mines lowered a fair bit and i didnt bother - camber = good handling and looks awesome 8)

And if i had 0 degrees camber, my wheels wouldnt clear the arch :lol:

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:24 am
by Greasedmonkey
Mines dropped about 2.5 inches and I dont have a camber kit at all in the front. I just have the washer trick in the rear. I dont have much a camber wear problem. I do have toe set to 0 or as close to it as I can get when I align it.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 2:59 am
by BAXTER_EJ1
Sorry for being a newb but...what's the difference between toe and camber and how is toe adjustable? :?

Can't blame me for not apologizing...but this is my #1 project lol.

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:47 am
by 89ssgti
toe is adjustable from the factory with the threaded portion of the inner/outer tie rods

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:10 pm
by Graham
If youre looking at the front of the car standard it would be like | | <- Looks gay

If youve got negative camber its like / \ <- 8)

Positive camber is like \ / <- BAAAAAAAAD :P

And if you're looking down on the car, 0 toe is like | | <- good :thumb:

Toe in is like / \ <- bad

And toe out is like \ / <- bad

You can adjust the toe as theres a threaded part on the tie rod that adjusts the angle of the wheels, you cant adjust camber as standard though as its just a solid upper arm that has no adjustment in it

Hope that makes sense :lol:

PostPosted: Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:55 pm
by BAXTER_EJ1
That's PERFECT Graham!

When the car's lowered the result is actually negative camber though? Just thinking about it leads me to believe the car would buckle and the wheels would end up with a positive camber \ /.

Gonna slam that bitch :lol: :thumb: