you'd give up the excuse to tell the wife why your car needs camber plates!

Actually, it's a pretty good idea..... But for a lot of owners, the fact that the plates can be put on the top is nice, don't have to drop the struts...

Matt

 

Granted the IE fixed camber plates are a bit more expensive than stock at $160 I think I paid, but they are basically stock type mounts made with 1/8in steel. They have a huge rubber bushing that is much thicker than stock. They are a beefed up stock mounts with a little added neg camber.

Sorry, too lazy to search through this forum for this info... but here it is on another one...pics of IE fixed plates.

http://www.lonestarminiclub.com/foru...read.php?t=361

 

More or less, that is what the IE fixed plates are: A heavier top plate with an apparently stronger OE-style rubber mount tack-welded onto it.

Some have special-ordered plates from IE at the stock camber settings. I suppose if enough demand is shown, IE may start offering them as a "Heavy Duty" upgrade. They do raise the front end slightly, but IMHO it's barely noticable on a car with stock springs (already a bit high).

That said, unless the majority of your driving is on the highway, the added negative camber is a nice upgrade even for street driving.

edit: ACWa beat me to the punch...

 

Okay, job done, I am fully informed on the shock tower problem, no one had before (at least on the threads I read) mentioned the underside bit bending as well, NOW I understand and can appreciate what is happening, I kept thinking, Hmmm, flat plate making a bow in the top of the strut tower, how is this happening? but now I see the whole assembly is failing, I also see how bloody easy it would be to make a retrofit bit for MINI to put in the cars to fix the problem. But they would have to admit to a problem and thus pay out for damages.

peter

 

yeah! Good jub with the susinct reveiw...

Matt

 

What about those of us that do a lot of highway driving? What do we use?

 

really, I know this sounds patronizing, but get some books on setting up cars, both suspension and engine modification.

Cars have been around for a very, very long time, and almost all this stuff isn't new (even if it's new to you). I think that you'll do much better to get a book for $20-$40 dollars on how suspensions work, thoughts behind the trade offs, and find these things out at your own pace without having to wade through all the mis-information that is prevelant on the internet. Many of the posts (yes, even here) are from well meaning people who are themselves just climbing the learning curve. Even if the information is from someone who has been around the block a few times, so to speak, thier voices are diluted by those that are learning, or are just wrong.

(Flame suit on, so now I'm ready!)

Matt

 

Great thread, guys. Good read. I'm learning a lot. Thanks for spending the time to explain the whole problem.

 

From pictures, the Dinan camber plates are more like camber brackets that fit over the OEM strut mount. They probably will not help with mushrooming.

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so they say. Here's two thousand:

The IE top plate is thicker than the OEM plate.

The IE rubber mount looks like it's OEM for an E46 (3 series, a heavier car). It's a good thing the MINI has BMW bloodlines, because to custom fabricate the rubber mount at such low volumes would probably raise the price to adjustable camber plate levels.

Should have done this sooner. The grip through sweepers and tight turns is far better than stock. And the beefier parts should reduce the chance of mushrooming.

There, my contribution to the noise level.

 

Okay ...you have all sufficiently scared me and I just ordered a set of Craven plates in red. Hopefully they'll do more them just look really cool.

Dean.

 

Same here, I bought the black

 

Does anyone have the part number for the strut nuts that secure the strut mount to the vehicle? I believe I might have over torqued one of the nuts and stipped it. I'm nut sute if the threated stud is also stripped on the strut mount. It appears that the nuts are softer material than the studs.

I want to try and replace the nuts first and if that doesn't work I guess I'll have to purchase a new strut top mount.

I've tried looking online for the nuts but can't seem to find them anywhere.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

Go to www.realoem.com and enter your car info.

You will need to enter your specific trim and build date.

(For example: see this.)

 

Thanks Ofioliti. From the diagrams I checked it appears the studs are actually replaceable as are the nuts, however I can't seem to find the studs. It appears I might have to order a new strut mount and go through that process. Has anyone have to do this as a result of stripped nuts or bolts on the strut mount? Curious to know.
Thanks

 

I've got Cravens installed and haven't noticed anything suspicious. Make me feel better, in any event.

I am interested in the camber plates, but don't want to induce uneven tire wear. I spend much much more time commuting than playing with Betsy. Even though I'd love a bigger sway bar and as much cornering performance as possible, I spend most of my time driving straight roads slightly bent.

If I don't go for a special IE order of stock camber plates, what kind of tire wear should I expect from the next least camber?

 

You would not really notice any uneven tire wear with the fixed camber plates, in fact you might get a more even wear on them because you won't be abusing the outer shoulders as much when cornering.

I run 2.0 degrees negative camber and my tires have very little difference in tire wear across the tread.

 

Thanks. What is the range of camber plates? I take it 2% is a small amount of camber, yet perceptable during driving.

Is there some place I can learn about this camber business?

 

Look at your tires next time you get in the car. If the outside of the tire is even slightly more worn than the middle or inside, then the IE fixed plates will probably only even it out. They made my tire wear much more even. I still have a bit of excess wear on the outside of the tire. The IE plates add -1.5 degrees of camber. It is not a lot, but definitely more than stock. If you add this amount of camber, you will likely only notice a little less oversteer. There won't be any other noticeable changes. I would say that 75% of the miles on my tires were highway, and I have no problems with inner tire wear. It is no more worn than the middle.

 

You mean less understeer.

 

I have decided to take the plates off my Mini. I'm not very comfortable with the fact that the nuts are not fully threaded in the bolts from the strut mount. In other words there is space in the the nuts which is not fully utilized which does not really give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Anyone else feel the same way? Now as far as protection I feel that adding more support underneath the strut tower should be the way to go. This should really be provided by the factory with say urethane plates that assist with absorbing some of the energy.

 

Exactly. Thanks for the correction!

 

I wish I had the equipment to test this, but I think that the majority of the problem lies within the design of the strut mount. It receives the grunt of the impacts and would be the first thing to deform. I think that the mount deforming is causing uneven forces to the tower causing it to deform. The mount will deform along with the tower! If this is the case, then simply getting a better mount would solve the problem completely.

Does anyone know of anyone with fixed plates or any kind of camber plate that is thick metal, who has had additional mushrooming after install?

 

I noticed that when I put mine on but I decided they were OK. I think it's better to have them, even if a few threads are still visible in the nuts when they are tightened to the right torque.

Just a guess though.

 

AliceCooper and ResMini, you must be talking about M7 plates. I've got Cravens and the bolt adapters fully engage all of the threads that protrude above the top of the tower, and the retaining nuts lock an inch below the tops of the adapters, so they're fully engaged.

BREAK

Understeer means the front end doesn't want to turn or that the back end wants to break loose? Like tight orloose in NASCAR?

 

[quote=rrcaniglia;2323197]AliceCooper and ResMini, you must be talking about M7 plates. I've got Cravens and the bolt adapters fully engage all of the threads that protrude above the top of the tower, and the retaining nuts lock an inch below the tops of the adapters, so they're fully engaged.
[quote]

Yep, mine are M7s.