just came from the tire/alignment shop. i was there this morning to have my Mini's new BC coilovers aligned. after everything being aligned and camber on all four corners set at -1.5 i went to a muffler shop to have my new muffler fitted. on the way, i noticed that whenever i let off the gas or brake, the Mini swerves a little to the right but when i give it gas again, it goes back to going straight!

i call the alignment shop and tell them about it and said i can go back and take a look at it. they first tried convincing me that coz of the added negative camber, the Mini (or any car) would tend to "follow the contours of the road more". suuuuuuuuuuuure. but we still put it on the lifter. and voila, he shows me the play of the control arm! good thing a friend of mine has the parts in stock

so should i expect any more parts to break down with the now increased negative camber?

 

That part didn't break because of the camber, it was already shot before that. It is a common problem with Mini's and it is only that you now notice more with the camber.

Make sure you change both and for PU ones.

 

Sorry to hear that man. It's just part owning an aging car; nothing to do with more negative camber. I also had to replace both my ball joints.

Have you checked your front control arm bushings? Mine were both worn out at the same time I had the ball joints replaced. I pretty much observed the same symptoms as you; it's hard to feel the slight difference in day-to-day driving caused from a slowly decaying rubber bushing, but once everything got replaced the steering, braking, & handling felt much more precise and the car was much nicer to drive.

 

didn't know there are PU balljoints. i just bought 2 ball joints a while ago what brand/company makes PU ball joints?

as for the control arm bushings, didn't check them while they were on the lifter. but at least i know that powerflex has front control arm bushings. i already have their motor & tranny mounts in mine

 

What's the mileage on your Mini? Just wondering if the ball joints are subject to early replacement if you've done suspension mod's.

 

30,2xx kms just a while ago. got the car with 7,1xx kms about 2 years ago. only suspension mods before the BC coils were Eibach pro-kit springs. blame it on our crappy roads i guess