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caster LF 4.25 RF 3.50 Potential issue? CC kit fix?
SO.... I wrecked my 2000 Civic LX and had some pretty bad damage to the driver front that required me to tear the shock tower and related parts down to the frame, bend the front frame rail down about 1.5 inches to get it back to where it belonged. I have underhood dimensions from an auto body buddy and used those to piece the new shock tower parts back into the car, I was able to get all of those dimensions to within about 1-3 MM (within an 1/8 inch or less). I have everything tacked back up in place but before I weld everything back in permanently I wanted to check the suspension.
I have 3.5 degrees positive caster on the passenger side
I have 4.25 degrees positive caster on the driver side.
I work at a suspension shop as a fabricator and have the skill and ability to make a pair of offset balljoint upper control arms but I'm not sure thats the answer.
my boss tells me anything within about a half a degree will be difficult to notice, but f im going to reassemble the car i drive to work daily I want to get it as close as i can. I'm aware that one of the control arms or other suspension components can be bent, and the bushings could also be shot after the collision. I wouldn't even be wasting my time with this car but the engine and transmission only have 52k original miles on them and the car was straight when i got it.
Does anyone have any experience with having different caster left to right?
Is 3/4 of a degree difference going to make driving the vehicle unbareable?
Has anyone had any experience with camber caster kits> and if so,
What kind of adjustment can you achieve caster wise?
the way im checking the caster is kind of crude but my boss says its good enough, then again he's not going to drive the vehicle. btw, I haven't checked the camber yet, its been a long day .
thanks for stopping by
Last edited by steven7685; Jun 24, 2018 at 01:05 PM.
Maybe so. Caster spec I just found in FSM is 1*40', +/-1*
If you have a good aligner, take SAI/IA readings. Those can help you determine which ball joint might be in the wrong location.
A half degree difference in caster may or may not be noticed, but you don't have the rest of the picture yet (camber). You'd normally want the caster slightly lower on the drivers side to compensate for road crown (assuming camber is equal on both sides).
dimensions to within about 1-3 MM (within an 1/8 inch or less)
When it comes to alignment, that much can be a whole freekin bunch.
If the drivers side took the hit, is the LCA new? They are kinda flimsy.
If the drivers side took the hit, is the LCA new? They are kinda flimsy.
Thanks for the response!
No all of the suspension components are original, and i'm aware that some parts most certainly could be bent.
my thought there however is that the impact was from the front pushing backwards, and if the LCA took a beating it should be shoved back which should lessen the caster making the spindle stand more vertically. Now that absolutely does not mean that I did not place the shock tower further backward than it should have been, that would increase the caster.
I've been working 50 plus hours per week, so that makes this my weekend project and i'm beat from yesterdays efforts. I'll get back at it next weekend, and see what the camber is.
Also, another bit of my thought process. In a perfect world i would get everything as close as i possibly could. however this project has taken longer than expected, and at this point im not looking for perfection. I just dont want to replace tires every 3-5k miles.
Can you still move it forward to lower the caster?
I absolutely could, if i wanted to break all of the tack welds and basically start over. that may be the ultimate answer, but I would prefer find a "lazier" way to get it back on the road in a tolerable driving condition.
Perhaps I'm just over the project and am being too lazy?
Thank you for giving your time to lend some advice. I appreciate it!
Wow, that is quite a project you've got there. I'm always impressed when I see someone that committed to a project. And you probably have a very understanding wife/girlfriend
Wow, that is quite a project you've got there. I'm always impressed when I see someone that committed to a project. And you probably have a very understanding wife/girlfriend
Yes, yes my wife is very understanding. She had her reservations when I told her my plans initially, but I'm very blessed to have such an awesome partner in life.
It is a project that most wouldnt take on, but i have an everlasting desire to learn! It's been frustrating, and a learning experience, but best of all its been fun!
So... It's been a long time since I've started this thread and this project. I wanted to provide a few updates and pics to show where I am.
As far as the caster issue, I ended up making a set of adjustable UCA's as this seemed like the easiest way to a solution for me.I didn't take any real good pics of the arms finished but there is one progression pic and one finished on the vehicle. so you can get the jest. they have right and left hand threaded rods for easy adjustment. I was able to get the car to within .25 degree of camber side to side and spot on even side to side for caster with the arms I made.
All of the body work is done, and no it is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but for a commuter vehicle, it looks better than most other 2000 civics in my area and that's good enough for me. the color match paint isn't perfect but its close and I expected that for almost 20 year old paint, and the paint job leaves plenty be desired since I am no painter and did this in my garage.
The car drives smooth and straight, the steering wheel is a bit off center going straight but that can be fixed. the only issue I'm having now is a p501 code (VSS) and I am thinking it may have something to do with the wiring from connector to cluster. I've replaced my sensor and that did not solve the issue. I'm getting 12V from black/yellow wire, and 2.2V from blue/white wire. I've read that 2.2V should be close to 5V. so there's a CEL on and I can't get the car smogged until I fix that. But chasing a wire behind the motor through the firewall and behind the dash seems like a bear of a task and I've come this far.... Any suggestions for this issue would be appreciated.
Anyway. here are some pics to show progress and such. I hope you all enjoy!
Thanks
Last edited by steven7685; Aug 4, 2019 at 12:58 AM.
Wiring may have gotten pinched in the accident?
Or sensor damaged or just gone bad
If a line is pinched it's definitely not obvious. I've checked continuity for the notorious blue/white wire from the VSS to the cluster and it has continuity. It's measuring 2.2v from battery to blue white wire, and 12v from battery to black yellow wire in the VSS plug.
I also changed the VSS albeit with an aftermarket one because it was only like 10$. But nothing. And the fuse number 15 is good.
When I took it for the drive down to the smog station the speedo jumped to about 40 when I was damn near stopped. it hasn't worked since then. It was working when I first got the car back together if I remember correctly.
