I hit a pothole about a month ago and the car started to pull to the right. I brought it for an alignment, with specs from here. The front left toe was out at 21 degrees. Afterwards, I still felt the car was pulling to the right slightly, so I brought it in and had it aligned to the MINI specs. It still feels a slight right pull, as if it's following the crown of the road. If I find a left crown, goes slightly to the left or straight. Should the MINI be that sensitive to the crown of the road?

Here are the specs-

Front Left Right
Camber -0.5 -0.5
Toe 0.1 0.11

Rear

Camber -1.2 -1.3
Toe 0.20 0.17

 

Depends on how stiff the sidewalls of your tires are. I have Dunlop Star Specs and they tramline too. I'm used to it.

 

that must be one deep/big pothole. i've hit many and some big ones but it does not effect my alignment. perhaps because i inflate my tire pressure to 37/38*

 

It was actually a utility cut that a contractor had cut perpendicular to the flow. The concrete was in, but not the asphalt.

I have Potenza 760s. How would the stiffness of the sidewall affect whether drifts in the direction of the road crown? It's not tram lining or wandering with grooves.

Thanks

 

Take a ball or marble and try to roll it in a perfectly straight line on a road with a crown and the ball will roll off to the lower side. That is physics and it well always happen.

Ii the car is properly aligned and there is a crown to the road it will wonder toward the lower side just like the ball. If the alignment is off to one side or the other the car will pull that direction even on a slightly crowned road. There is a point that the angle of the road will over come the bad alignment.

This is all standard physics.

 

Find a really flat section of road and see if that makes a difference.
If it does then it should be OK as far as alignment is concerned.

Otherwise just check your suspension parts for any damage (bent) and wheels.

 

Also the steering angle sensor maybe out of calibration due to the alignment. That can cause a "pull" from the electric power steering.

 

21 degrees? did you miss a decimal? If it was out 21 degrees I'd have to suspect something was bent . . . and you were driving in circles . . .

 

I thought I was the only one that caught that!

 

Did the same thing, Couldnt avoid it (car in front, left, and behind) bent my new wheel ~2days after install

 

what's the caster sitting at