Installing camber kit

See Image 1a. In addition I was prepared for the problems that seemed to plague many people's installs. I brought along a spray bottle of Aerospace Protectant, as well as some industrial silicone grease made by ShinEtsu and some thread lock compound. I will explain their use later in the article. See Images 1b. After the preparation was finished I headed to the garage with some portable jacks and jackstands, and began to support the vehicle. After removing the wheels, I began the process of removing the cotter pin from the castle nut and the castle nut from the upper ball joint.

In the case of this removal, the control arm being removed was a modified OEM arm with a Kmac camber plate with floating ball joint.

The ball joints were worn out on that kit. After removing the castle nut we carefully separated the knuckle from the ball joint.

Some peeople may need a ball joint separator which we did not need. After the knuckle dropped we zip tied the knuckle to the coil spring to avoid any possible damage to the lower suspension components. Now that that the knuckle was separated we just needed to remove the existing upper control arm. The Honda Civic arm is the only kit where the arm actually uses its own pressed in bushings..

This is because the bolts mount through the arms to the sides of the shock tower vs. After opening the hood we located the bolts holding the arm on.

We decided to remove the battery to get at one of the bolts which was not needed but helped. After removing the bolts we were able to dislodge the arm.

Before installing the Skunk2 arm I soaked a towel with Aerospace Protectant and sprayed and wiped the protective boot. It already had a coating on it however this was just a bit of added protection during the install. If it is winter or if the temperature is in the 40 degree range or below apply ShinEtsu to the boot using gloves. In addition, we loosened all of the allen screws on the control arms so the ball joint was free to slide. We then mounted the control arm.

We replaced the bolts holding the control arm to the sub frame but did not tighten them down to factory specs yet because the knuckle was not re-attached yet, nor was the car lowered back down onto the arms. After we had things ready we cut the zip tie and pulled the knuckle up to the main bolt on the control arm, making sure the knuckle was as flush with the balljoint as possible.

We installed the new castle nuts supplied as well as the cotter pin and tightened it down to factory specs. Now that we had that done, we preped the torque wrench and attached the 5mm allen key and set the ball joint in the middle of the grooves. This was just a temporary spot being that the car would need an alignment after this install.

We completed the same procedure on the other side, after everything was was set we reinstalled the wheels and lowered the car down, and tightened the control arm bolts under the hood down all the way to factory specs. Since I was not satisfied with the way the kits allen screws tightened down I contacted Skunk asking them why they don't have some type of torque instructions for these kits.

And related stories I had heard about the ball jount sliding out of place under race conditions, which would be a disaster. The major problems we have seen, is the rubber boot cracking, as well as the allen nuts coming loose. So I called your contact number which the gentleman on the phone gave me some general answers but not what I was looking for. I was told to email you. So here they are. What type of material is the rubber boot made from, no one seems to know. Regardless I am looking for a way to protect the boot from cracking, so knowing the material is half the battle.

Allen wrench screws. What size tool do the screws take? Tq, How much to Tq, the nuts. I understand they are self-locking. But what is a reasonable Tq level. This is a major concern for Autoxers. I appreciate your time Sincerely, Mark Sanew. Hello Mark, Thanks for your interest in our product. In response to your questions- 1. The boot is made of rubber. The bolt comes with a washer and a lock washer, some people have used larger washers to increase clamping area.

Of course if people are seeing issues of bolts loosening they should use an acceptable thread locking compound for their situation. If the top of the wheel is leaning in toward the vehicle this is known as negative camber. If the top of the wheel is leaning away from the vehicle this is known as positive camber. See illustration below. At first glance it would be easy to think that all vehicles have zero camber, the wheel is set straight up and down.

This is actually not true. While as subtle as it may be, vehicles will have at least a little negative camber if setup properly. Without going into the physics behind tire load vs. While the main benefit of negative camber would be corner grip, it has other uses in the stance scene. By adding extra negative camber you allow the tire to lean into the vehicle allowing for it fit into the wheel well tighter and thus allowing you to drop the vehicle lower.

While extremely exaggerated, see the photo below for an idea of how this can work. Keep in mind, by tilting the wheel into the vehicle that will also put the tire closer to suspension components so that will need to be taken into consideration when deciding how much camber you want.

Well since they designed it for the factory ride height, when you lower the vehicle it will throw off important suspension geometries, including some that will throw off camber. We always recommend getting an alignment after a suspension installation.

But if you leave the alignment shop wanting more or less camber there are a few options. A camber plate will be installed on top of the coilover strut and will allow the coilover to lean towards or away from the vehicle.

Leaning the coilover will alter the camber in the same direction; leaning it toward the vehicle will increase negative camber and leaning it away from the vehicle will increase positive camber. Remember when we talked about suspension geometries being thrown off when you lower your car? Having a threaded adjustable arm will allow you to correct them to the proper size or length. Rotate the nuts to tighten both the new and old bolts into place.

Do not move the heads of the bolts or the washer. This will place your car out of alignment. Shae Hazelton is a professional writer whose articles are published on various websites. Her topics of expertise include art history, auto repair, computer science, journalism, home economics, woodworking, financial management, medical pathology and creative crafts.

Hazelton is working on her own novel and comic strip while she works as a part-time writer and full time Medical Coding student. Step 1 Examine the different components of the camber bolt. Step 2 Park your car on a level surface and turn off its ignition.

Step 3 Remove the vehicle's lug nuts and tire. Step 4 Remove the bolt you will replace completely and loosen the other bolt. Step 5 Insert the camber bolt through the vacant holes in the clevis.

Step 6 Rotate the bolt without moving the washer so the thick side of the bolt's lobe faces the opposite direction of the long handle. Step 7 Move the washer to one side until the small tab on the underside slips into the hole of the clevis.