Well, months ago, I fixed my mushrooming strut towers, and replaced the stock plates with IE fixed plates. I said I was going to have the car aligned, but being the big procrastinator that I am, I never did.

Well, after this years MOTD, I wore down my front tires during the event. Plus my car has always never gone straight. It has always pulled a little, or torqued steered really bad. So, today, after having two new Parada Spec 2s mounted on the front, and a 4 wheel alignment, I now realized I should have done this MONTHS ago when I originally did the work.

Before numbers: Front Camber: Left -2.4 Right -2.0
Front Tow : Left 0.60 Right 0.50
Rear Camber : Left -3.1 Right -2.7

After numbers: Front Camber: Left -2.4 Right -1.9
Front Tow : Left 0.15 Right 0.15
Rear Camber : Left -2.9 Right -2.5

As you can see, the front toe was off pretty bad. The car went down the road after that straight as an arrow. I didn't post the castor readings, but if anybody wants to know, I'll post them. I just thought this was pretty interesting.

 

So the tow was just sanding your front tires down for you.

So your car is or isn't lowered? I want to put H-sports on mine, but I really don't want to spend a lot of money on camber stuff like I have in my past cars. I just want to fix the mushrooming, install springs, align and drive away with no tire wear problems. Is that even possible?

 

Hopefully, it is possible. You mention everything I have done...have H-Sport Progressives, Ireland fixed camber plates, M-7 STRPs, a new alignment, rear adjustable control arms, and new tires. The new tires came about after I burned the insides of my fronts at the Dragon in May...and promptly got the car aligned when I got home. We'll see how the wear goes now...stay tuned.

WMWNY

 

So camber plates in the front and adjust arms in the rear. Hmmm, and you still have quite a bit of camber after the alignment too. I'm just not sure what the factory 2003 Mini camber is on my car? All I know is that I'm getting really awesome tire wear, and I'm afraid to lose it.

 

I had Waylen check out the stats the alignment place gave me and he thinks the car should be ok now. We'll see, as besides MME and the Dragon, I have a few more HPDEs to attend, as well as perhaps MITM/

 

What are the units for those toe measurements, inches, degrees?
I'm curious what your measurements were before/after the alignment.
2.5/2.9 does seem like a lot. Is that what you asked for?

 

Yes, the car is lowered on APEX springs with the IE fixed camber plates and M7 STB. The only reason I went with the Irelands in the first place was strength. I had heard these were a lot tougher than the OEM strut plate. So far, they are holding up fine.

If you just lower your car and then have it aligned, you should be fine in the tire wear department. I had the exact same setup on my 2003 base model Cooper, minus the IE fixed plates. I was running the same springs and tires and never had any extended tire wear. It surprised me how fast I burned those tires down. I really didn't even have 5,000 miles on them and they were almost bald.

 

The unit of measurement is degrees.

You know what, I didn't even ask them to set them at a certain degree. I just hope now the tires don't wear down as quickly. Now the car doesn't wander and pull left and right anymore. She pretty much goes straight, so we shall see.

Judging by the report they gave me, they have the MINI specs in their computer. Mine states MINI, 2005, Cooper S, R53 17" wheels. So the block in between the "initial" readings and the "final" readings has the min. and max. tolerances. For example, the tow in min. is 0.10 degrees and the max. is 0.20 degrees, so my final reading says 0.15 degrees. Way better than the 0.60 degrees the car had when I first went in.

 

Yeah the toe setting is the most important for tire wear. If you drive it hard enough you may not have trouble with the rear camber, but it does sem like a lot.

 

Let me ask you this. Is it just me, or do you notice that a stock MINI seems to have wayyyy more negative camber in the rear than in the front? They just look funny stock because the rear wheels are sitting so far in and the fronts are almost straight up and down.

So far, up until getting the alignment today, the rear tires still seem to be holding their tread well. -2.9 and -2.5 degrees does seem extreme, but the initial settings were -3.1 and -2.7 degrees. Thanks for the information.

 

I think the OEM settings are 0.5/1.5 F/R. Maybe 1.0 rear... I forget.

 

-.5F/ -1.5R is correct.

 

Chuckt, I have the figures the alignment shop gave me...just need to find them first.

 

yikes, total toe-in of 1.10 wow....

 

Yup !! Now the total tow in is 0.30 degrees.

 

that's still kinda on the agressive side, imho. but that's fine if you do
a lot of launches to get that stability.

 

i am in SoCal. Any recommendations on shops for alignment?

 

That a good question about alignment shops in SoCal. Most say that they know minis but I am very skeptical. There is a reputable alignment shop in Garden Grove by the name of Andersons frame and alignment. I enquired about their ability to do minis as I am gong to be installing FSDs w/IE fixed camber plates. Will let you know how it goes.

 

Try the regional forums. I know of one in Vista but that is a hike for you. Also check bimmerforums or the miata forum. I've received some good recommendations on alignments from those 2.

 

I have 20,000 miles and need new tires...
I use to get aligment when I got new tires. Should I get a alignment at the dealer or some shop. I live in San Diego.

I own 2006 jcw with 17" Toyo R1

Rick

 

Go with an independent shop. The dealer will charge you overkill. I thought I'd get my tires rotated while my old 2003 Cooper was in for service a few years back. $69 is what they charged me !!! What a rip off.

 

Yeah, same here on the rotation.

They wanted to charge me $65 and the car was already going to be on the lift for my first "scheduled maintenance". Scheduled maintenance always included tire rotation on the other new cars I've owned.

What i don't get is how my mom can spend $160 on some new Kelly's for her Escort at Tire Discounters and get free rotation for the life of the tire, I spend ~$32K on my MINI and have to pay $65 for the dealership to rotate mine

 

Does anyone know a good an independent shop in san diego???

 

Well at least they told you the price first. I didn't think to ask because quite frankly I assumed it wouldn't be that much. Boy was I surprised.

There is a Kelly tire store down here that offers the rotation for life. You can also pay for an alignment for life. Back to the nitty gritty, I agree with you. the car is already up on the lift, so why the expense? I'm guessing they are trying to make a few bucks since the actual service is free.

 

The toe measurements are probably in degrees and minutes. 0 degrees and 30 minutes (total toe). That is equal to .5 degrees total.