I scheduled a service at my local Honda dealer to take care of the following items:

- 4 wheel alignment. This is needed because I've started seeing some wear on the inner shoulders of my front tires. The backs are wearing fine, but the fronts are noticably lower on the inner shoulder. FYI, the wheels in the front are 18x8 +53 with 225/40, and it occurs evenly on both sides of the car.

My front specs are: -.5' camber, 6' caster, 0-.02' toe. I'm thinking about having them dial down the camber to .25' to see if the slight wear problem is eliminated. Is .25' enough to make a difference, or do I need to go with even less camber? I don't want to ruin a perfectly good (and expensive) set of front tires because of alignment issues. Recommendations and comments welcome.


- Secondly, I'm having them take a look at my convertible top because with all the heavy rains we had this past weekend, I developed leaks at the front corners of my top. My passenger side latch is also rattling, and I'm pretty sure these two are connected. The car is still under warranty, so what should I expect them to do to remedy this? I've searched and found a lot of people solved this issue once and for all by installing the hardtop strikers at the windshield header. Again, experience with this issue would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Can't comment much on the tire wear except that it's normal to see our tires wear on the inner edges due to the camber. If it's even from left to right, it may not be an issue, but I suppose it never hurts to have the alignment checked if you are concerned about it.

I believe your year of car already has the hardtop strikers. They switched over and just put the heavy duty ones in about mid-way through model year 2002. If they rattle, then it may be in need of having the screws of the strikers secured with Loctite. Then there's the possibiltiy that your strikers may have had unusual wear, in which case, they should give you new ones. You could also be in need of having the latches shimmed.

Oh, and it wouldn't hurt to have your window seals silicone greased, but that'll be your nickel.

 

[QUOTE]Can't comment much on the tire wear except that it's normal to see our tires wear on the inner edges due to the camber.

 

Shimming the latches means to add or remove some spacers underneath each latch so that it can grab and hold the strikers from a slightly difference angle. This can help them to hold on better and bring the soft top closer to the windshield and compress the rubber seal more. Whether yours needs more or less shims must be determined by inspection and trial and error. In any case, your latches should not be rattling.

Rubber seals dry out over time. They should be treated with silicone grease at least every year to keep them soft and supple. This way, they keep water out better. Honda makes a "Shin-etsu" silicone grease for this application. It's a bit expensive but goes a long way. You can also go for the cheaper alternative like the GM Silicone Emulsion. Every manufacturer makes their own but they all do the same thing.

 

[QUOTE=Clayman,Apr 24 2006, 05:10 PM]My front specs are: -.5' camber, 6' caster, 0-.02' toe.

 

If your tires are not asymmetric tread, then you could flip the tires just before half life, to have them last longer by up to 20% or more.

 

It's not a Mustang!

Good advice. I've got S-03's on the car, so I could flip them if I wanted, but I'll just stay within spec on the alignment and see how it goes.

Tire wear was actually the lesser of my concerns. I just want them to fix my $#%& top so I don't get wet when it rains!

 

Then get a proper alignment for a sports car and stop worrying about a few bucks worth of rubber.

 

I have heard on most Hondas with a proper alignment (Honda specs) will show wear on the inner shoulder of the front tires. I was told the wear happens when the car is braking because the front wheels actually toe (I think thats the right term) out a little. I don't know if it is true, it's only an explaination I was offered.

 

the main reason our tires wear quicker on the inside is because of the negative camber. this is supposed to be like this, as it's the way the car is tuned for handling. if you dial it out to save tire tread, then expect your car's handling to be much less than stock.