Don't know if this belongs in this forum, but, whatever...

My MINI played chicken with a pothole, and presumably lost.

Took him to Town Fair Tire for an alignment, and they told me they couldn't do an alignment because the MINI doesn't have camber plates. They said I must've bent part of the suspension...

I thought this was kind of odd, since I thought that an alignment is done by adjusting the tie rods?

Any thoughts? Thanks

-Chris

 

They are right, but it all depends on what's wrong. The car has no camber or caster adjustment from the factory, all you can set is toe in-out. So if the camber is out, you probably did bend something. The rear suspension looks as if it has a toe adjustment as well, but I don't see anything for rear camber stock. This isn't all that uncommon, bmw's are the same way. Aftermarket camber plates for the front are available from kmac.

 

If you would like to do an alignment for your MINI you might call a brake and alignment specialist shop.
I found one and they did an alignment for me after I had installed aftermarket springs.
They had equiptment to do adjustments and align my MINI to factory specs.
Not a big deal for them.

 

Chris:

My brand new MINI (EB/EB 03/03 #316 JCW) pulled slightly to the right. I brought it back to the dealer who checked it and stated it was within spec and there was no adjustment. My reply was that I needed a new MINI as mine must have been damaged in shipment if it was within specs and behaved in this manner. The dealer kept the vehicle for a week and after much conferencing with the builder returned the vehicle which now tracks a straight line.

Joe

 

(I may get flamed for this, but...)

You're generally not doing yourself any favors by taking your new, under warranty, car to a tire shop for ANYTHING other than tires! If you're concerned about alignment, take it to the dealer.

(Now, I know that in fact some MINI dealers are not any more mechanically reliable or knowledgable about the cars than the local tire store...but at least in theory the dealer should be the better choice)

 

If you can describe your symptoms, we might be able to figure out if you really whacked your alignment out of spec, or if something is bent.

Everything can be adjusted... alignment bolts only adjust Toe; you have to loosen carriage/subframe bolts to adjust camber/caster... Go to a good alignment shop, that has worked on mini's before.

 

Thanks for all the responses fellas. Symtpom, car pulls to the left. Not a huge amount, but definitely noticeable. The only possible reason is a significant pothole that I couldn't see and tagged head on with my left wheel. I plan on asking my dealer tomorrow, as I also need to get my coolant reservoir replaced... as it has the typical MINI leak...

Thanks again.
-C