2002 Honda S2000 Excessive negative Camber

Tiny
HARDCYTR
  • MEMBER
  • 2002 HONDA S2000
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • MANUAL
  • 72,000 MILES
I have a 2002 S2000 and have some questions concerning rear wheel excessive negative camber: can it be correct and how. It is my understanding that some degree of negative camber is to be expected with independent rear suspension.

Since I purchased the car, there has been excessive rear wheel negative camber wear (inner aspect of the tires wears more), more so on the passenger side than on the driver’s side.

The soft tires that came on the car demonstrated abnormal wear at 12,000 miles of conservative driving. I spoke to the head of service at the local Honda dealership and made it clear I was not happy that my year old car had this problem. They recommended getting an alignment at the local Goodyear shop -- this was a waste of time since they did no adjustment of the camber.

I changed tire brands and am now running harder Goodyear tires The set I have on the rear now has 30,000 miles on them. I noticed today that the tread on the inner aspect of the passenger’s side is almost totally worn away whereas the outer tread is about 5/32". On the driver’s side the excessive negative camber is less severe with the tread 1/32-2/32 more shallow at the inner vs. The outer aspect.

I re-approached the Goodyear shop that did the alignment and the Manager at Honda without getting any satisfaction. The guy at Honda told me that I should expect the tire to wear out at 10,000 miles and that I am lucky to have gotten 30,000. This sounded bogus to me and I’ll think twice about doing business with this guy in the future.

Before I go to a dedicated alignment shop, I hope to find out what can be done so that I don’t again pay for something that I could do myself or something that can't be fixed. Any comments / advice would be appreciated.

Miles
Monday, March 30th, 2009 AT 7:23 PM

5 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,815 POSTS
Hi Miles,

The rear cambers are adjustable and you should check for worn bushes or arms and links before atempting any alignment.


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/192750_CamberRear02S2000a1_1.jpg



https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/192750_CamberRear02S2000a2_1.jpg

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Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 AT 8:35 AM
Tiny
HARDCYTR
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  • 5 POSTS
Thank you - excellent help!
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Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 AT 7:22 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,815 POSTS
You are welcomed.

Feel free to drop by anytime you got a question.

Have a nice day.
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Wednesday, April 1st, 2009 AT 8:18 AM
Tiny
DFWS2K
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I took my s2000 to be aligned today, and they said they were unable to adjust rear camber due to the "dog ears" on the rear subframe being bent, but your description of how to align does not make any mention of the "ears". Are they just BSing me?

They said I would need to have a new subframe put in before my car could be aligned.
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Friday, November 5th, 2010 AT 6:53 PM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,815 POSTS
I am not sure what they are referring to by dog ear but for the camber adjustment, behind bolt " A ". The hole is elongated and when the bolt is turned, it can move in or outwards, pulling or pushing the rod.

If the radius rod is bent, you would have to straighten or replace it. If the bracket is bent, repair is possible so I don't see the need for replacing the subframe, unless the damage is bad whereby at maximum adjustment the camber is still out of specs.

Get a second opinion.
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Saturday, November 6th, 2010 AT 6:31 AM

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