Hi All,

I just took my 2007 Cooper S to have 4-wheel alignment check and correction.

The guys tried to adjust the toe on the rear right side but said they couldn't adjust far enough to get it good. However they did adjust the front for me.

Apparently to adjust the rear toe the bolts holding the trailing arm bushing to the body can be loosened. There are elongated slots in the bushing bracket so it can be slid on the bolts. They suggested the trailing arm might be a little bent but were not 100% sure why they couldn't get it adjusted correctly.

Possibly could they be not adjusting right? At first they said the control arms are adjusted, but then said they were wrong and it's the trailing arm as above. Is it the R53 with adjustable control arms?

Has anybody had a similar experience? Comments welcomed!

I can swap the trailing arm (is it difficult?) but would like to know this is the problem first.

 

Note right side rear camber is also off. I wonder if the control arms are damaged. Looks like the left side is okay so I could possibly measure and compare.

 

Most often it's a tweaked control arm. Lots of people hit/run over curbs and potholes and s..t happens. If you could get underneath and measure them center of bolt to center of bolt, someone here might have that dimension.

 

Okay I think I have found the culprit! Short answer it looks to me like the bushing has slipped in the trailing arm bracket.

The weather is just horrible today. So rather than getting under the car I knelt on a bag and took some photos up the car's wazoo.

Finally I noticed that on the left trailing arm bushing (which seems good) I can see the rubber ears popping out near the domed washer and that washer is quite proud of the bracket. However on the right side I can see the rubber on the trailing arm side and the washer is pulled in to the bracket a fair bit more.