.... and I'm a bit worried about the winter months & potholes to come.

A few weeks back I don't remember the condition but there was a bad hole that banged the right front & rear suspension on a bottoming-out. The car had an ever-so slight bias to the right after that; I really hate that. At around 1200 miles on the Odo and all I could think was "the honeymoon is over".

I looked @ the strut towers for mushrooming and the right & left looked the same, but I dunno, Even a 1/32nd inch would affect the track.

The other day, while making a slight right at a 'star' type intersection, there was a dip before a hump in the road/intersection, with a nasty hole @ the bottom of the dip I didn't see @ all that my left wheel(s) caught.

....The car's tracking solid & straight now!

I'm a bit worried about how easily my Lil'Buddy 'bended'.

On a related note, why are the strut tower reinforcement plates made & sold by dealers made of aluminum? That's a soft metal that deforms & sheers easily. I wouldn't want steel or stainless either; also easily bendable (like what the strut towers are made of themselves) Why not poured & case hardened iron alloy?

 

I'm not a metallurgist but the plate is pretty thick while the sheetmetal its reinforcing is relatively thin. I think if you bend the plate, you will have bigger issues then mushrooming

 

There are many different aluminum alloys available today, with varying degrees of strengths and weaknesses. Some have higher shear strength. Some have better memory. Some have better tensile strength and so on.

Then you can further augment the metal with heat treating, forging, gravity casting, stamping, molded, shot peened, and so on.

Some aluminums are stronger than some steels, depending on the alloy and manufacturing used.

As one example, forged aluminum pistons are incredibly durable.

Many monocoque space frames, used in race cars, are made from aluminum alloys.

Your alignment shifts were more likely caused by an adjustment being knocked about, rather than something being bent.

 

Good reason to now have your alignment checked, before your tires are ruined.

 

[quote=minim8o;2524464\) Why not poured & case hardened iron alloy?[/quote]

Case Hardened Steel, is just that, "case" meaning only the exposed layer of surface is hard, usually a depth of apprx. .015/.060
Keep in mind that Hardened Alloy steels are very Heavy, not to mention Brittle. I would much prefer Aluminum like mentioned above.

 

That's my feelings as well. Chances are likely that the toe has just been knocked out of its adjustment.

 

Yes, but the only way you can change the toe is to shorten or lengthen the steering arm links, which means since you didn't turn the threads, you bent them......ever so slightly. Or, you never bent anything and the first pull was either imagined or simply due to the crown of the road you were driving. It's highly unlikely you bent anything, and even more unlikely you bent it back exactly enough to make it perfectly straight again........I wouldn't worry, I don't think you bent anything..........

 

Another possibility is the steering knuckle attachment point of the tie rod was bent. This is a cast part I believe and I doubt that would move. Remember a .04 toe out/in can cause a pull. Alignments get knocked out very often. I recommend getting an alignment every 6 months if you have crappy roads in your area. It's FAR cheaper than tires! Especially runflats!

 

I wanted to get them but like everything have been lax in acting, but feel I must now, even if this particular occurrence was or wasn't attributable to that (I guess when I go to put them on, I'll know!). So was wondering why they're aluminum (good for cutting & milling), and not cast iron (not good for cutting & milling extremely high resistance to sheering/bending). ...Thanx for the answers people.

BTW, I thought I'd address if anything really even happened. The effect on the car was definitely not imagined. To get to my home I have to drive on a 3 mile long -=flat=- road that goes over a "sand bar", all just a few feet above sea level (if it was not for that sand bar, where I live would be an island... hey, with rising sea levels, it may become an island in my lifetime!). The private community that built on that sandbar has their own police force that enforce the 30mph speed limit like you may never have seen; it's rare to not see police out enforcing the limit. So the drive is "set the cruise control & forget it", with very slight crowning on the road and near zero elevation change. So during that drive, before and after both incidents, I'd frequently release my grip on the steering wheel to test the tracking of the car. After the 1st incident, there was an acceleration off to the right; trust me, I tested is several dozen times along different spots along the whole road. Before that, and after the second incident, there's from nothing to an ever so slight and linear bias to the right you expect from the crowning of the road. Something definitely bent, and bent back when smacking the other side to a close enough degree to allow the car to track more uniformly as when I'd 1st picked up the car. Thanx everyone for the thoughts on what it may have been.

 

Sounds like you're pretty sure, so I'd take it for an alignment - could be you toed the right side out when you hit the first bump, and the left side out when you hit the other - that's why it seems like it's straightened itself out, but if both sides are now off you're going to eat up some tires pretty quick.
NTB in our area will check the alignment, and if you're in spec they won't charge you......

 

Your MINI should show a little rightside bias due to road crown.
I would get the alignment checked. Only way to be sure.