Can anyone recommend an alignment shop in the Portland area? I need the rear camber adjusted, (H-Sport springs and lower links). I want a shop that will do a quality job. Thanks

 

I would highly recommend Dabney in downtown Vancouver. They've done a great job on the cars I've brought there. They did some custom shimming on the rear end of my old 635 and it worked out great. Ask for Tom.

 

I had my alignment done at an Alignment and Brake specialty shop that does all of the alignments on the local city and county Ambulances- in fact several were in shop doing alignements while I was there.

Contact your local county Ambulance maintenance person and ask where they take their ambulances for alignment.
The shop I went to was very good and had the equiptment to do the MINI to factory specs with any rear wheel camber I wanted. Factory rear camber is negative 1.0 to negative 1.5 degrees. Since you have adjustable rear control arms this is easy for them to do. 90 minutes and about $80.

 

I'm confused, what to ambulances have to do with MINIs? They are basicly domestic trucks and vans on steroids. I'd rather take my MINI to a place that is familiar with imports, BMWs in particular.

 

I went the local dealer and told the technician to adjust the rear camber to -.75 deg and when I picked it up he had set it at -1.5 deg. I have talked to several alignment shops on the phone and they all want to charge $130 for an alignment and they don't seem to understand that I want something different than the stock settings. early-apex, will Dabney do custom work? That's the shop I am looking for.

 

they will do custom work, but i'm not sure to what extent. the rear on the 635 is not adjustable, but mine was out of whack and they had to custom fab and install some shims to make it right. they said they had done it before, and the work on my car turned out great. it's probably at least worth a call.

 

>>I'm confused, what to ambulances have to do with MINIs?

I think perhaps it's because minihune is a physician and hence naturally, associating and referencing to the ambulance. :smile:

 

no way

 

I have the printout, it shows the value per each side. The factory range is -1 to -2 deg and he set it at -1.5 each side. I specifically told him to set it at -.75 deg and explained why I wanted it at that setting (I spent 20 min. talking to the tech. in the morning before leaving the car). I did not have to pay for the alignment after making a stink about not getting what I asked for (I was going to pay and chock it up to experience). In his defense he did offer to change it if I could bring it back and leave it for another day. I didn't because of the hassel of getting a ride to work and back later to pick up the car. I originally took the car in for rattles in the passenger door and seatbelt and to check the front brake rotors for warpage. They refused to work on the rattles stating that the lowering springs were the cause which voided the warranty and also said the rotors were warped because of the EBC green brake pads (I put on to reduce dust). All in all that was not a very good trip to the dealer. Before that I had nothing but good things to say about this dealer but now I am less than pleased. Maybe the reason you got what you asked for was because of my experience. I am due for an oil change (25k miles checkup) but would rather do it myself if I could reset the service indicator. I will probably take it in but still have mixed feelings about Rasmussen.
Dan :???:

 

>>I didn't because of the hassel of getting a ride to work and back later to pick up the car.

Rasmussen has a shuttle service. The one time we used it they were prompt and friendly. just fyi...

 

I'll be doing an alignment after the springs and control arms are installed. I hope Rassmussen will do a good job. :smile:

Dan, did they fix your problem?

 

After $129 alignment job, I noticed that my car drifts to the right while the steering wheel ***** to the right as well. Very disappointed! I made another appointment to take the car in again.

 

No big slam on the dealer buts thats why I have been reluctant to go back there for the rear camber adjust. I keep hoping I can find an alternate source. I did notice that the first time they did the alignment (I had the front suspension upgraded due to having an early build car) they adjusted the front to straighten out the steering wheel but it seemed to me that it was off to the left, similar to yours. I never bothered to get it changed as it was very slightly off.

 

If you can't find a shop in Portland, you might try Group 2 Motorsports in Seattle. I believe they specialize in alignment of performance cars. Maybe they know of someone in Portland.

Duncan Kelso

http://www.group2inc.com/

 

>>After $129 alignment job, I noticed that my car drifts to the right while the steering wheel ***** to the right as well. Very disappointed! I made another appointment to take the car in again.

After alignment your MINI should handle very well. If it drifts take it back. This assumes it happens with normal driving. Align it to factory specs or you can ask for rear camber to be negative one degree rather than neg 1.5

The reference to ambulances I made before is just that I noticed more than one ambulance in the many racks at the shop I went to so I asked what the deal was. They are a good shop so the city takes all their ambulances there- those vehicles take a beating from all the potholes and their heavy weight.

Sanddam,
If you feel your MINI is doing ok with the negative 1.5 degrees rear camber you can probably just leave it and not change it to negative 0.75 degrees which is what I am running right now. For street driving it doesn't matter. If it is not handling well and riding smoothly then try negative one degree as neg 0.75 degress is out of stock range and technically can void your suspension and wheel warranties.

Your rear camber values and ride qualities are not functioning in a vacuum since the other settings come into play.
Look on your sheet and see where the front camber is. The normal range is from zero to negative 0.9 degrees and that cannot be easily adjusted in a stock MINI without adding front camber plates to the top of the front shock towers (expensive but effective for autocrossing and track use). Mine is at negative 0.5 degrees. Your overall handling is an interplay of the front and rear negative cambers and your wheels. Don't go too far with the negative camber in the rear without know where your front camber is. If you wish to adjust rear caster and toe you may try using the aftermarket upper adjustable control arms and the lower control arms can adjust for rear camber only.