HELP! Lowering & Back to stock camber prob!

[daswerve]

I have a 98 Eclipse GS Spider (auto tranny/18 X 8 wheels/tires). I lowered the car (via springs) 2 1/2 inches for about a year, but have recently went back to my stock springs due to rough riding and shitty road conditions. After 9 months of driving back with stock springs in place, the outsides of my front tires are completely bald - the tire place told me it was b/c when my car was lowered, they replaced either the upper or lower control arm bushings and tossed the stock ones, and now that I went back to stock springs, the front camber is off...

Now, can anyone please tell me: do I need upper or lower control arms bushings? Do I need to buy complete new control arms? The car is currently locked in "LIMP MODE" due to a bad Pulse Generator (waiting for the part), so I can't take it anywhere to verify what exactly it is I need! Also, can anyone point me to a good place to purchase what I need?

Much thanx in advance!

 

[dlh1999]

My assumption is that after you installed the stock springs, you had your car aligned again, correct?

 

[jtmcinder]

People on 18" wheels rarely fix camber via custom offset lower LCA bushings, therefore:

In the front, you probably have (a) eccentric bushings in your upper pivots or (b) adjustable upper pivots or (c) adjustable upper ball-joints. All of these can be adjusted for a non-lowered car without being replaced.

In the rear, you probably have (a) spacers behind the upper brackets or (b) adjustable upper brackets. The former requires that you remove the spacers and the latter can be adjusted without being replaced.

Take the car to an alignment shop that has a vague idea of what it is doing. Hand them a copy of this post and (hi, guys!) say "fix it."

- Jtoby

 

[daswerve]

All, thanx for the replies - much thanx for your interest.

Here's an update:

1. Front camber is positive 1 degree (wearing out the outsides of my tires FAST) - the rear is fine.

2. Ordered upper control arm bushings from Energy, but the aren't adjustanle, so that was a waste of time.

So, now I need either 1 of 2 things (this is what I have been told):
a. Set of front adjustable control arms
b. Set of front adjustable ball joints

Now, my questions are:
1. Which should I get?
2. Where should I get them from (best prices)?
3. What would cause this issue once going back to stock height?

It seems to be costing my twice as much to get the car back to stock than it did to lower/maintain it!

Much thanx in davance!