i got my mini aligned some time ago, maybe a year? and has been driving straight mostly ever since. however, since i got new rims and tires, the car seems to be tracking slightly, but its hard to tell sometimes, since minis drive on rails, and any slant in the road makes the car pull that way or another.

so, i got my tires rotated the other day, and now the car Really tracks to the right. it did this once before, and it turned out the tire pressure was way off on one tire. adjusting that fixed it. so, i messed with tire pressure again this morning, and the front tires are equal, and back tires are now equal as well, yet the damn thing still pulls to the right!

i love this mini, but my warranty is about to run out in 6500 miles, and im getting more and more worried about owning this car, as any repair is thousands of dollars, and it just seems like doing anything to the car causes issues.

thoughts on any of this? any idea how "long" a alignment should last? (i dont track this car or anything, mostly just highway driving, and less spirited driving recently with the cost of gas digging a huge hole in my bank account, so im not really beating on this thing...)

 

One or more of the wheels may not be mounted properly. If you are using cenetering rings, maybe got lost or damaged when they rotated the tires?

That's where I would start looking

 

yes, i have aftermarket wheels, and they do use those little plastic ring hubs. i saw them put them back on the driver side of the car, but not the passenger side.

reckon ill run it back to the tire place, have them re-do the wheels.

not super happy with these rims to be honest, i think theyre kinda cheap chinese things...

 

Hmm it didn't immediately begin tracking to the right when you left the shop?

 

i think it did. kinda figd it was tire pressure again.

 

What was the size of wheel and tire that you now had and size of your old ones you replaced. A different size rolling radius will affect suspension geometry thus calling for a new alignment.

How many miles did you drive on the new wheels/tires before rotating? Uneven wear may indicate alignment issue. Did they rotate front to back or cross pattern? Do you have directional tires?

What brand/make of tires did you have vs what you replaced with? Stiffer sidewall/ firmer compound will react more to road variations more than softer compound.

Lastly, alignments last as long as until something changes. Hitting curbs, pot holes etc may jolt camber or caster changes. Bent or damaged shock towers can affect alignment. As well as sagging springs or worn bushings. Really too many scenarios to consider whereas just getting another alignment check will immediately tell you what is going on.

Also, lack of wheel centering cap will induce wheel hop/ vibrations while driving so if you are only noticing consistent pulling on even flat parking lots then it is.likely not something simple like that.

 

I had the original stock runflats on before (i believe they were stock, they were on the car when i got it). then i put michellin super sports on, 215 width, so, larger than originals. i have been rotating the tires every 3k miles, and this is the 3rd rotation. not sure if they are directional, ect. should be, i reckon theyre just putting front to back, back to front.

i havent hit any curbs (new rims but various sized holes cannot always be avoided, so that is a possibility. yes the rims have centering caps, but those must be on or id have vibrations as you say.

i may have to just "live" with it until i go to mini next week. this will be addressed along with a small laundry list of random crap thats not working proper: OBD not working, AC blows out of windsheild vent regardless of setting, driver door window creaks with every little bump, passenger window slightly tilted, pulleys are still covered with oily crap from shock tensioner failure, some strange electronic whining noise when driving (kinda sounds like the fuel pump pumping, or a small electric motor, theres also a whistling noise at 35mph +, and there may be one or 2 other bits i cant remember...

 

i think my driver side wheel hub / bearing is going. its starting to make noise when i turn the wheel.

also, i think ive noticed some sort of "roaring" sound from somewhere...

feel like they dont make cars "like they used to". i beat the hell out of my '87 celica, and it didnt seem to have quite this many issues....

 

Un rotate the tires,it may be a bad tire.