starbai

Guys, I'm going to be replacing all my upper ball joints (front and rear) --
I want to get an SPC ball joint camber kit, not beacuse I'm sure I need it, but because its cheaper than replacing them with standard ball joints, and may as well since they're adjustable.

In any case I haven't gotten an alignment and dont want to until after I do all this work planned so I do not know how bad the camber will be off.

The car is a 93 prelude lowered about 2" - 2.5" on GC Coilovers and Tokico Adjustable Shocks...

I've read people saying that even that low, preludes dont necessarily need any camber kits... but I'm not sure.

Either way, SPC sells a kit that does "-1.5 to 1.5" adjustment, and one that does "1.5" to 3.0" adjustment.

Which would you guys suggest I pick up?

I know the obvious answer is get an alignment and see how far you're off... but im hoping the experience you guys have will save me from having to do an alignment now, AND AGAIN after I'm done.

Again the only reason I'm considering these at this point, isn't beacuse I KNOW I NEED ONE, but beacuse I am going to be replacing all the ball joints, and am trying to get all my parts together for this weekend.

Thanks in advance for your help guys!

mr_y82

why the ban from PZ? here's my post in case you didn't get it there.

mkazm83

I have the -1.5 to +1.5 (67165) on my 5th gen lowered with H&R Race springs (~2.1"F ~1.7"R) and they work fine. The alignment shop had no problems with them.

projectTeG

the only thing i dont like about them is the added height that the knuckles get from them. i tap the wells wit the ball joint when before i never had this problem. i do also believe the they throwoff the suspension geometry. becase it makes the car think its lower than it is.

i think it works in reverse then the large lower balljoints that you can buy from like mfactory.

spAdam

iTrader: (1)

I haven't used them, but I looked at them at the pri show last month and that was the first thing that I noticed. They're definitely gonna pop the uca up a little bit which is ultimately going to accelerate camber gain. They're also going to cause the uca to hit the towers unless the car is going to be modestly lowered.

As far as your alignment dilemma...

A lot of shops, especially your average chain places, are gonna try and jam you for extra labor if the have to screw with your camber. Try and find a good alignment specialist or race shop. These places will almost definitely have chassis guys that are far more qualified than some recently promoted tire monkey at firestone. Even better if its some 60 year old dude who still rocks an old hunter string level rack

OR

Spend a couple hundred bones on SPC's Fastrax thing (w the toe setup too) and learn how to do alignments yourself. Its a little fiddly *** on a garage floor instead of an alignment rack, but it only takes a couple hours and once you get good at it you'll never need to pay for one again. My .02

bsmith100

Definitely! Go to a race shop to get your alignment done if possible.

spAdam

iTrader: (1)

I was more promoting the learning to do it oneself. If he has the skill to install some ball joints he can probably figure out how to do an alignment on an old Honda.

Tyson

the bad side of those adjustable balljoints is that they add height to the upper knuckle. which means its less suspension travel before the arm can physically bottom out at the top of the fender. plus, i dont like the design of them, they look like they have to be mechanically weaker than a normal balljoint.

i wouldnt go with SPC out of cheapness, really.

bsmith100

Oh I agree with you that doing an alignment is not that difficult. It is definitely something a person could do themselves.

However... the reason I suggest a race shop, is that they know what alignment setting work the best for different applications. Doing the alignment isn't difficult. It is figuring out what alignment settings to use (unless you are simply going to use the factory settings).

In addition to the SPC tool, Longacre Racing has a bunch of tools that seem a bit more accurate for about the same cost.

bsmith100

I agree with you there. The adjustable ball joints seem like an inherently bad design, and from what I have heard wear out much more quickly.

I would go with the OEM Honda parts. If you really want adjustable camber I would go with new upper suspension arms that allow for that.

mr_y82

I've had SPCs for two years... so far so good... I have not had problems with the car being knocked out of alignment either as some people elsewhere have stated.

As for it screwing up the suspension geometry... I think that is a minimal concern. My handling did nothing but improve, of course I did the while suspension shebang at once.

Does anyone know if these balljoint kits can cause toe issues????

This was my last alignment... they did a shitty job. They claim they couldn't get the toe any better in the back (as you see):