My car is still at factory ride height and prolly will be for a while but I'm always thinking. My ideal setup is TSW springs on Koni yellows. Now, my question is, after reading all of the stories of needing plates and rear control arms, are they really needed after a slight drop? I know if you really slam it, then, yes. But, the TSW springs are good for what, 7/8 of an inch? Will even a slight drop screw up camber enough to need that stuff of will it be good where it ends up? I also know to really use it to it's full potential, then get plates and control arms but still, am I really gonna push it that hard?

 

With just springs...from what I've read and eperienced is No....you dont need an alignment. Once you run coilovers...then thats a different story. I guess it just all depends how well the car settles.

 

I'm of the opinion that anytime you mess with suspension you should do an alignment.

The tire shop I go to has the latest Hunter alignment machine. For only $70 I have lifetime alignment and can take it back anytime I feel like it.

Best deal in auto service I've ever had.

 

That is a good philosophy. But, on a fairly tight budget and the MINI having little adjustment, it raises some questions like "Do I really need to spend an extra $300-500 just to get it 100% or can I be good at say, 90%?

 

Raising or lowering our cars changes the toe settings. To much toe (in or out) can really chew up tires.

All year MINIs are adjustable for toe in the front and rear.

Get an alignment.

Scott
90SM

 

An alignment is much cheaper than replacing 4 worn out tires. Get it. I guarantee the alignment will be out of spec after changing things.

 

I just had my OM coilovers and new shoes installed last week. My steering wheel is shaking when I'm above 3k RPM now. According the BR Racing (the shop that installed my coilovers) said, let the suspension settle, and then have your wheels re-balanced and do alignment.

 

Yeah....give the coilovers a good 1K miles of good driving. Mine were settling for quite awhile. The shaking is probably caused by an ill-balanced wheel/tire. You running hub rings? BTW, my car is slammed and my steering wheel doesnt shake at all from the coilovers. They actually HELPED with vibrations caused by my tire/wheel balancing issues. And my camber is craaazzzzzy.

 

I installed TSW springs and after having it aligned found that the toe was out (both front & rear) also I was able to bring the rear camber to a reasonable amount. Fortunately I did not have to change the control arms on my 06 and the alignment cost $50 for front & rear.

 

How ironic, I was actually going to wait till I hit 1k miles of driving (3mos worth of driving for me) before I get an alignment/re-balance. I am running hubcentric, you think that may be the reason for steering wheel to shake at 3k RPM? If so, I'll remove the wheels and check if hubs are tightly snug.

 

There should be no need to "re-balance" your wheels. Balance is completely unaffected by suspension settling.

 

I ate up a set of tires when I dropped my car with springs. I recommend adjustable lower rear control arms and alignment.

 

Hey Taz,

So you telling me just wait it out - let the coilovers settle and steering wheel will stop shaking?

 

I forgot about toe. I should remember after doing alignments on Volvos for 6 months. But, what about camber? I know I should get it checked. The problem lies in the fact that my car is an 2003, very little camber adjustment. I guess if I'm going to do it, I should do it right. But the control arms which aren't deathly expensive and maybe check into IE plates.

 

Thanks but that wasnt the issue I was addressing with that comment. It was towards the vibration issue.

 

Lowering the car will noticably increase negative camber in the rear, but not impact camber too much up front. Neither change in camber is enough to impact tire wear. It is the toe change that will do in the tires pretty quickly. IIRC, lowering the car increases toe-in, raising it increases toe-out.

Your car will certainly handle better if you install the camber plates and rear arms so you can set the camber to better specs, but it isn't really necessary.

Scott
90SM

 

Thanks. Thats was pretty much what I was looking for and kinda figured all along but wanted a confirmation. Oh, yeah. And this puts me at a 1,000 posts.