ksports and ride hieght questions

[venomous42]

im tired of replacing tires that are chewed up on the inside. 2 flats in 1 year is enough. after putting my first set on after buying it a over a year ago, i got it aligned. well that didn't help as the camber was way off. after the alignment it was sitting at -3.0 in the front and -3.5 in the rear. toe was set and not an issue. and by the way i have training in advanced alignments from hunter, so i know all there is to know about alignments. what i don't know is these shocks. fast forward to now. had a flat this week, so i finally bought a low profile jack and took the rear wheels off. i didn't know that these shocks were adjustable until i researched them a couple days ago. the car sets way too low. so if im thinking right, i can adjust the ride height on these which in turn will increase my camber? they looked to be adjusted as low as they will go. and it also looks like they could of done it on their own due to all three collar nuts were loose. so i found they bag that had the adjuster tools and instructions, and proceeded to raise the rt rear. i turned the bottom of the coil over until there was about and inch and a half of threads showing in-between the bottom collar and top collars at the spring. i put the wheel on and lowered it and it raised it quite a bit. i can get 2 fingers almost between the tire and quarter panel. i like the slammed look, with the tires tucked in the fenders, but it was a pain in the ass to drive around here, and the tire issue had to be fixed. im sure it will go higher, but i would like to know how much positive camber i just gained, from just that much, i would like to be -2.0 to -1.0 and still be low, but not this low. it says on the ksport website, that they have a camber adjustment on the upper mount as well. i cant see with the shock on the car though, so im not 100% it does. im pretty sure it these http://ksportusa.com/products/coilovers/kontrol-pro/
any one else have these coil overs or something alike as far as adjusting them goes? i will post some pics later of the ride height, and the coil overs that i haven't touched yet, and the one i did adjust. i looked over every thread here and couldn't find the answers in looking for. and yes i know most here think they are crap shocks, but its what i have now, and what i must use for now.

 

[Hapa88]

NSX like most other Honda vehicles increases negative camber the lower you get the car. Unlike most other Hondas, however, the NSX has camber adjustments but I think the max lowering you can get and still be able to keep it within spec is ~3/4" drop. There are/were camber kits available, but since the NSX market is so limited, you may have issues finding them.

In any case, the biggest contributing factor to your tire wear is the TOE, not the camber. While camber is the reason the inside of your tires is the primary wear spot, it's the toe that's accelerating the wear. If you remove set the TOE to zero (at the expense of corner stability) I can almost garantee you'll get much longer tire life.

 

[Jeff@Carbon6]

First, I don't think anyone thinks those dampers are that bad. It really comes down to what you are using them for. For street use, they are fine and give you a good amount of adjustment.

Regarding your tire wear, it sounds like the car was very low. You are right, the geometry of the NSX will reduce the negative camber as you adjust the swing of the control arm. One of the ways to do that is to raise the height of your shock like you did. Tire pressure/compound, caster, toe and rolling center all come to play for tire wear also. The factory settings on the NSX will scrub the front tires a little to make a car handle better. I would think by raising the car up slightly and trying to get the front camber to ~ -1.5 and a reasonable amount of toe that should fix a lot of your problems.

 

[venomous42]

NSX like most other Honda vehicles increases negative camber the lower you get the car. Unlike most other Hondas, however, the NSX has camber adjustments but I think the max lowering you can get and still be able to keep it within spec is ~3/4" drop. There are/were camber kits available, but since the NSX market is so limited, you may have issues finding them.

In any case, the biggest contributing factor to your tire wear is the TOE, not the camber. While camber is the reason the inside of your tires is the primary wear spot, it's the toe that's accelerating the wear. If you remove set the TOE to zero (at the expense of corner stability) I can almost garantee you'll get much longer tire life.

toe in the rear was in specs at .20 each side. should it be 0? but the camber is -3.5 lt side and -3.7 rt side in the rear, which is where im having the worst issue. in the front it was -2.9 lt side and -3.7 rt side, i forgot the toe.
looking at your pic by your name here, my car is that low or lower. im hoping there is a camber adjustment just like it shows on the ksport site, on the top of the strut. and its set in the middle. that would give me some camber, and combine that with the raising of the ride height 1 inch, i should be alot better. ill take it back to the only place in50 miles that can get it on their alignment rack and have them adjust the toe again. but go for less toe in on the rear and front. i only got 2k-4k miles on that set before that went flat from no tread on the the inside edge. you and some others here say toe is the biggest factor in tire wear, but here on this site it says different http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/TireWheel/alignment.htm
quote: Camber: This can and will, as said above, be the number one reason for rapid inside tire wear, 2nd is toe setting, but we will come to that later. The more camber you have the more high speed grip you will have, but be realistic, if you are excessively wearing out the inside of the tires, you not driving the car hard enough and should reduce what you are using. On a street driven NSX I would recommend setting the front to 1 1/4 degrees to 1 1/2 degrees negative camber and the rear to 2 degrees negative. Typically, the most you can get out of a stock NSX is 2 degree negative on the front and 2 5/8 degrees negative rear. This can be increased with offset bushings if it is track car. It will also change as you lower or change the ride height.

- - - Updated - - -

First, I don't think anyone thinks those dampers are that bad. It really comes down to what you are using them for. For street use, they are fine and give you a good amount of adjustment.

Regarding your tire wear, it sounds like the car was very low. You are right, the geometry of the NSX will reduce the negative camber as you adjust the swing of the control arm. One of the ways to do that is to raise the height of your shock like you did. Tire pressure/compound, caster, toe and rolling center all come to play for tire wear also. The factory settings on the NSX will scrub the front tires a little to make a car handle better. I would think by raising the car up slightly and trying to get the front camber to ~ -1.5 and a reasonable amount of toe that should fix a lot of your problems.

thanks for the info.
caster does not wear tires at all. unless it is off by alot side to side, as a car will pull to side with the least amount of caster. but thats only due to something being bent. the front isnt wearing as bad as my rear is. my rear is eating them. i took some pics, but its hard to tell in my small garage.

 

[docjohn]

are you asking us how to reduce your tire wear ...or are you giving us a fragmented lecture on alignment?

 

[venomous42]

are you asking us how to reduce your tire wear ...or are you giving us a fragmented lecture on alignment?

like your worthless fragmented comment that helps in no way? troll

 

[docjohn]

oh man you have to see the irony of your statement........best of luck with your tire issues.

 

[Rusted_nailz]

Your best option for your tire wear issue is to raise the car. That'll will give you positive camber to help with wear. The NSX doesn't suspension doesn't allow for upper camber plates as you described earlier

 

[venomous42]

Your best option for your tire wear issue is to raise the car. That'll will give you positive camber to help with wear. The NSX doesn't suspension doesn't allow for upper camber plates as you described earlier

i was afraid of that, even though the ksport website shows the upper plate on the damper having a adjustment. i know i couldnt see an adjuster with the damper in the car, which makes sense. thanks for all the help and advice. ill just raise it and get the toe set closer to 0.

 

[Nukem]

DocJohn is hardly a Troll, but best luck to you venomous

 

[Rope]

DocJohn is hardly a Troll, but best luck to you venomous

+1 to that

 

[docjohn]

lol....what a wack site prime would be if a troll had over 13k posts.... btw to the op ...sorry for sounding crass...but it seemed to me like you were not heeding the simple advice to reduce toe and raise your car.

 

[venomous42]

lol....what a wack site prime would be if a troll had over 13k posts.... btw to the op ...sorry for sounding crass...but it seemed to me like you were not heeding the simple advice to reduce toe and raise your car.

it was all great advise that i will use. i just took your comment the wrong way, and my comment was uncalled for.

 

[docjohn]

:smile:

 

[naaman]

lol....what a wack site prime would be if a troll had over 13k posts.... btw to the op ...sorry for sounding crass...but it seemed to me like you were not heeding the simple advice to reduce toe and raise your car.

Oh gosh!

And out of curiosity, what year is OP's car? I've heard (long ago) that the 91/92 NSX eat up tires due to aggressive alignment set ups. But in 93 they changed the spec to get more life out of the tires... (?) I've heard "the thing" to do with an earlier model is to have the alignment set to 93 specs in order to get a reasonable life span on the tires... Not even sure if this question is relevant to the thread or not (due to limited knowledge on alignment/suspension geometry).

 

[venomous42]

Oh gosh!

And out of curiosity, what year is OP's car? I've heard (long ago) that the 91/92 NSX eat up tires due to aggressive alignment set ups. But in 93 they changed the spec to get more life out of the tires... (?) I've heard "the thing" to do with an earlier model is to have the alignment set to 93 specs in order to get a reasonable life span on the tires... Not even sure if this question is relevant to the thread or not (due to limited knowledge on alignment/suspension geometry).

its a 92. and after im done with the ride height and installing the new headers, test pipes and pride v1 exhaust, i will have it aligned to a 93 specs.