Okay, I recently had some new suspension goodies installed (FSD, TSW springs, IE adj plates, 19mm rear bar). After having that done, the car could hold a straight line, but still clearly needed an alignment as the low speed feel can best be described as "wrong".

Took it to a local place that seemed to know what they were doing and got the alignment done:

Fr Camber: -1.62 -1.66
Fr Toe: 0.0 0.0
Rr Camber: -1.15 -0.95
Rr Toe: 0.6mm 0.7mm

However, after this the car was pulling to the left!

Took it back and asked them to do it again. Basically he just played a little with the front and rear toe trying to fine-tune it.

Now the car is pulling to the right!

Is this a suspension issue, or have I just found an incompetent technician?

I'm reluctant to take it back to the same shop, yet I'm also reluctant to pay multiple times for the same service.

 

I hope this local place was not a sears or tire kingdom or some equivalent. Those people are useless. Look for mushrooming and take it to a shop that works on minis.

 

When it comes to my Mini, I dont care how much it costs to have my car running and operating correctly. If someone screwed up, like in your case, you did the right thing by taking it back, but it was not fixed. Try taking it somewhere else and see what they think. Also, shouldnt the tech be test driving the car afterwards to make sure his work is done correctly?

 

No, it wasn't one of those places. They were also working on BMW's and Porsche's, so I presumed they had a clue...

As I mentioned, I just had a bunch of suspension work done, including getting rid of the mushrooming and preventing it's return with camber plates and M7 plates.

 

Yes, he should have, and believe me I am kicking myself for not insisting on it!

 

Turn a left corner, does the car now pull left? After that, turn right, the car should pull right. My IE adjustable plates did the same thing when they were new and occationally do it now almost 20,000 miles later. But at this point it is just the sign to re-lube the plates with some spray lube. Afterwards, they are fine for a a couple thousand miles.

So you might try lubing them.

 

I'll give it a try, though I wonder why/how the plates would cause that?

What area specifically needs the lube?

 

In the center of the plate looking down the shock towers there is a small spherical bearing. I spray some silicon spray lube on that for about 5 seconds. It seems to help a lot. However, when the plates were new, they stuck like I described earlier. Lubing at that stage didn't do much. Just head to some twisties and break them in.

It had never bothered me because I never let both hands off of the wheel except to shift.

 

Thanks. That remedy sounds a lot better than another trip to an alignment shop- especially if it works!

 

Did spray lube help out at all?

 

Spray lube + a dose of twisties seems to have fixed it- thanks!

 

Glad to help. Respray them every few thousand miles or when you notice the car pulling again.

You are lucky to have had twisties to break them in with.

 

Yeah, I've got the IE adj plates and they do this to me too, I guess it's "normal"

 

Take into account that they are the least expensive camber plates out there.

 

You need to get an alignment that considers dog-legging and cross thrust. Just because you have camber and toe doesn't mean the car is square. It also doesn't account for your tires and road surfaces, which can cause havok with the straightline feel of the car. Most OEM alignments are such that the car will track straight on a road with a slight crown with OEM tires. Just changing the tires can necessitate a new alignment spec.

 

Have you been moving your tires from side to side & corner to corner?

A tire can have an internal belt seperation that causes a pull to one side...switch the tire...the pull also switches...move it to the back...pulls/pushes differently.

If it is a tire it is unsafe. Many manufacturers warrantee for this type of seperation.

 

I don't have the numbers with me, but this alignment did include thrust and something else as well. It was completely in spec.

Nope, no tire rotation, though they are due...

Thanks for all the input! I am pretty sure it's just a matter having purchased "budget" adj. camber plates that needed some lube and breaking-in before they performed optimally.