DIY front alignment?

[iamcombat]

I have a 92 civic, the previous owner lowered the car (skunk springs in front, cut in the back) and the front passenger wheel is leaning in at the top a fair amount at the top and it's eating up the inside tread on my brand new tire.

Is there a way to adjust this so it's not as bad til I can afford to get a professional alignment done?

 

[XpL0d3r]

An alignment really isn't that much $. But, I would et new springs first. Cut springs aren't cool.

If the passenger wheel is leaning in, aka negative camber, you can correct that a bit by getting a camber kit. But I still recommend an alignment regardless.

 

[Restotech]

Your gonna need a camber kit and there are ways to diy it but it's not near as accurate as a laser machine.

 

[iamcombat]

Your gonna need a camber kit and there are ways to diy it but it's not near as accurate as a laser machine.

Yes I know it's not very accurate but it would be CLOSE....the whole first inch of the inside of that tire is already worn down too much

So is there no way to adjust the camber without buying a camber kit?

 

[Restotech]

So is there no way to adjust the camber without buying a camber kit?

Nope.

Wanna diy it. Get this

And this

 

[Mr.Baker]

Spring the $50 for a shop to do a front end alignment.
Then save up for an affordable, quality suspension.
Or look for used OEM suspension to get you by for the time being.

 

[iamcombat]

Well I just went out and took off the front pass tire...but both front tires are the same, both wearing on the inside. I was looking for some way to adjust it, but I saw nothing and there was no free play in anything. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I've only had the tires on the car a few weeks and the grooves on the inside are almost completely gone...

I would pay for an alignment, but right now I'm unemployed and can't really afford it.

 

[XpL0d3r]

Well I just went out and took off the front pass tire...but both front tires are the same, both wearing on the inside. I was looking for some way to adjust it, but I saw nothing and there was no free play in anything. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I've only had the tires on the car a few weeks and the grooves on the inside are almost completely gone...

I would pay for an alignment, but right now I'm unemployed and can't really afford it.

Well, really it's either pay for an alignment now, or pay for new tires later. Alignment would be much cheaper.

 

[lethal6]

Well I just went out and took off the front pass tire...but both front tires are the same, both wearing on the inside. I was looking for some way to adjust it, but I saw nothing and there was no free play in anything. I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I've only had the tires on the car a few weeks and the grooves on the inside are almost completely gone...

I would pay for an alignment, but right now I'm unemployed and can't really afford it.

Tires don't wear FAST on the inside edge from camber. That is a misconception. Your tires are wearing rapidly on the inside because the toe alignment is off and the tires are scrubbing the pavement as you go down the road.

Getting a camber kit will fix that bad camber, but your toe is still going to be off (maybe worse if you mess with the suspension again), and tires will still keep wearing down.

 

[Mr.Baker]

I would pay for an alignment, but right now I'm unemployed and can't really afford it.

These types of statements kill me, here i go on a tangent and rant.
I don't know your situation, but it seems that people try to cheap out on the dumbest stuff.
You need to find the money, either you buy all new tires or find the $50 and get the front end aligned, SOLVING the problem.
DIY alignment won't be right and is a huge waste of time.
Far to often browsing these econobox forums, nobody has money for anything.
Do you smoke, drink?
Cut some things out that maybe you don't need, make the sacrifice for things you need over things that would be nice to have.
Since you need a job, you more than likely need a car I'm guessing, I would get the car fixed so you can be employed.
Borrow some money, sell something, find a temp job, I' don't know.

 

[iamcombat]

I hadn't thought about this until now after watching a YouTube video and was wondering if these "bottlecap" wherls are causing the alignment problem? Just thinking the offsets for them might be way different than stock.

Sent from my LGMS323 using Tapatalk

 

[Mr.Baker]

I hadn't thought about this until now after watching a YouTube video and was wondering if these "bottlecap" wherls are causing the alignment problem? Just thinking the offsets for them might be way different than stock.

Are you talking about BMW wheels?
The E30 bottlecaps are 14 x 6 with +35mm offset, which shouldn't effect anything.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByJakAZxENMCMjAwYmE2MjUtNTNjNi00ZTMxLWE1YTctZDkzM2E2NTFiZjBl/view?layout=list&sort=name&num=50&pref=2&pli=1

You need a professional alignment.

 

[anv2tk]

dude man, most shops will turn you down for an alignment simply because of your spring setup. as @lethal6 said, you can/should get your front toe corrected, but expect to be warned that your alignment will not be warranted. unfortunately, the only way to fix this is to spend money. other than that, I would take the bus or ride a bike till the suspension is fixed.

 

[Mr.Baker]

the only way to fix this is to spend money. other than that, I would take the bus or ride a bike till the suspension is fixed.

The least expensive route, find someone selling their stock suspension.
Get your car back to stock height with stock components, get an alignment.
Then if you want to lower it in the future, research, save up and buy a quality aftermarket suspension.

 

[HeX]

These types of statements kill me, here i go on a tangent and rant.
I don't know your situation, but it seems that people try to cheap out on the dumbest stuff.
You need to find the money, either you buy all new tires or find the $50 and get the front end aligned, SOLVING the problem.
DIY alignment won't be right and is a huge waste of time.
Far to often browsing these econobox forums, nobody has money for anything.
Do you smoke, drink?
Cut some things out that maybe you don't need, make the sacrifice for things you need over things that would be nice to have.
Since you need a job, you more than likely need a car I'm guessing, I would get the car fixed so you can be employed.
Borrow some money, sell something, find a temp job, I' don't know.

That may be the most positive rant on this forum in quite a while.

I would pay for an alignment, but right now I'm unemployed and can't really afford it.

Perhaps you need to consider selling some stuff so you have reliable transportation to get a job. Tough times call for desperate measures. Otherwise, you'll have a useless car and no way to get funds to fix it. Consider borrowing $100 from someone, save the amount needed for alignment (get an estimate), and use the rest at a junkyard to find 4 OEM springs or 2 lowering springs similar to the good ones but for the back. This is all assuming you have reasonable mechanic skills to SAFELY install the other springs. Get a job, pay off the $100, then the mission is over.

 

[lethal6]

I hadn't thought about this until now after watching a YouTube video and was wondering if these "bottlecap" wherls are causing the alignment problem? Just thinking the offsets for them might be way different than stock.

Sent from my LGMS323 using Tapatalk

Again, not going to cause excessive wear to the inside of the tire. Your tires are wearing excessively because the toe alignment is off. Only correction is to get it aligned back to specs.