Swift Springs Civic Si

BoostedDreams

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Got my alignment done today. Front is fine. The rear camber is significant, it’s going to need a camber kit. What do you guys think?

Honda Civic 10th gen Swift Springs Civic Si 67375C5A-8095-4C06-9604-88B374856D4A
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powerwing

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Did the alignment shop enter your car information into the alignment machine? The reason why I ask is because the range of the rear camber to be within spec seems like a huge spread. -.6 to -2.1...

From my experience, shortened tire life from camber wear happens with toe being off. As long as toe is good, running negative camber shouldn't be that much of an issue in terms of tire life. All of it will depend on how you drive of course.

Having a camber kit is ALWAYS better. I'm still running the springs without one.
 

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Did the alignment shop enter your car information into the alignment machine? The reason why I ask is because the range of the rear camber to be within spec seems like a huge spread. -.6 to -2.1...

From my experience, shortened tire life from camber wear happens with toe being off. As long as toe is good, running negative camber shouldn't be that much of an issue in terms of tire life. All of it will depend on how you drive of course.

Having a camber kit is ALWAYS better. I'm still running the springs without one.
I don’t know if they did. Do you know what the factory front/rear camber is? He said ideally I should be just under -1.0.
 

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I contacted Swift springs again and asked them if the springs also could be used on a base sedan or if they needed aftermarket shocks.They replied that they also tested the springs on the base models and that they will work without any problems .So these springs work on all the models ,si ,sport and base models.

Are all these alignment spec's in degrees ? Or degrees ,minutes ,seconds? Seems weird that most cars already have such different caster settings left and right in stock form. Mostly from factory they are dead even for example 5.8 degrees left and right. (The older honda's had them that way).
 

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I contacted Swift springs again and asked them if the springs also could be used on a base sedan or if they needed aftermarket shocks.They replied that they also tested the springs on the base models and that they will work without any problems .So these springs work on all the models ,si ,sport and base models.

Are all these alignment spec's in degrees ? Or degrees ,minutes ,seconds? Seems weird that most cars already have such different caster settings left and right in stock form. Mostly from factory they are dead even for example 5.8 degrees left and right. (The older honda's had them that way).
Most cars will not have the same alignment specs between driver and passenger side, even ride height is different from the factory between driver and passenger side. I have never seen caster being exactly the same, a lot of standard alignment shops wont even touch caster. You have to take an extra step to measure caster, and since it actually has the least amount of effect in terms of tire wear, to the tire shops/alignment shops its not worth the hassle to mess with them.
 


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Most cars will not have the same alignment specs between driver and passenger side, even ride height is different from the factory between driver and passenger side. I have never seen caster being exactly the same, a lot of standard alignment shops wont even touch caster. You have to take an extra step to measure caster, and since it actually has the least amount of effect in terms of tire wear, to the tire shops/alignment shops its not worth the hassle to mess with them.
Ride height only affects camber and/or toe settings .Caster doesn't change if you're lowered or stock .It only changes if you had the front subframe loose .My 98 civic always had the same caster settings left and right from factory .Only when i changed the subframe the settings were off. Caster settings are always measured its part of the alignment ,and it only requires turning the wheels left and right to measure it.So i don't see the extra step they have to do to measure it...
Caster affects straight true driving and turn in greatly .So to me it's just as important as toe and camber .
 

powerwing

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Ride height only affects camber and/or toe settings .Caster doesn't change if you're lowered or stock .It only changes if you had the front subframe loose .My 98 civic always had the same caster settings left and right from factory .Only when i changed the subframe the settings were off. Caster settings are always measured its part of the alignment ,and it only requires turning the wheels left and right to measure it.So i don't see the extra step they have to do to measure it...
Caster affects straight true driving and turn in greatly .So to me it's just as important as toe and camber .
I don't know where you learned that ride height doesn't affect caster, but it definitely does.

Just picture the pivot point of the top of the shock and the pivot point of the control arm distance getting closer (when you lower it.. it gets closer to each other), that means if you already have a positive angle then it will become more extreme. The only time you can say caster wouldn't change is if it is, for some reason, set at zero.
 
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You are talking about Camber ,not Caster...
 
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Did the alignment shop enter your car information into the alignment machine? The reason why I ask is because the range of the rear camber to be within spec seems like a huge spread. -.6 to -2.1...

From my experience, shortened tire life from camber wear happens with toe being off. As long as toe is good, running negative camber shouldn't be that much of an issue in terms of tire life. All of it will depend on how you drive of course.

Having a camber kit is ALWAYS better. I'm still running the springs without one.
Shows the 2016-2018 Civic in the printout from the alignment machine he posted...
 

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When the spring settles in does it get a Little lower?
 


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When the spring settles in does it get a Little lower?
Immediately after install, my rears dropped lower than my fronts. After a few months, the front settled in to match.

A little later this morning I'll go measure my current ride height and list the settled in drop amounts I got.
 

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Immediately after install, my rears dropped lower than my fronts. After a few months, the front settled in to match.

A little later this morning I'll go measure my current ride height and list the settled in drop amounts I got.
===OEM ------ SWIFT
FR: 14-1/8" ---- 13-1/4"
FL: 14-3/16" --- 13-3/8"
RR: 14-1/2" ---- 13-1/2"
RL: 14-5/16" --- 13-5/16"

Total drop
FR: 7/8"
FL: 13/16"
RR: 1"
RL: 1"

So, after a long settling period of several months and lots of hard driving, it dropped the front 7/8" and the rear 1".

Initially, it looked like the fronts only dropped 1/2 inch or so.
 
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===OEM ------ SWIFT
FR: 14-1/8" ---- 13-1/4"
FL: 14-3/16" --- 13-3/8"
RR: 14-1/2" ---- 13-1/2"
RL: 14-5/16" --- 13-5/16"

Total drop
FR: 7/8"
FL: 13/16"
RR: 1"
RL: 1"

So, after a long settling period of several months and lots of hard driving, it dropped the front 7/8" and the rear 1".

Initially, it looked like the fronts only dropped 1/2 inch or so.
Thanks for the detailed info. Any issues with concrete parking lot curbs/bumpers or speed bumps? I wouldn't think so considering the drop is pretty mild.
 

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Thanks for the detailed info. Any issues with concrete parking lot curbs/bumpers or speed bumps? I wouldn't think so considering the drop is pretty mild.
I scrape rarely. And I scrape much, much less now than my 2014 Malibu 2LTZ does with its factory suspension.

I've even got the muffler from the Yonaka exhaust that hangs down quite a bit and I've never hit anything with it so far.
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