hey guys is it neccisary to get an alignment after changing out suspension parts? i understand if your dropping the car to an extreme you need to and ive read on here that people have gotten re aligned after just changing the sway bar. i plan on swapping the front and rears out and also replacing the sway bar links, and putting on nm engineering springs eventually konis will come to, will i need to get an alignment after any of these changes? i have never had to with other cars or is the mini different? any information would be great!

 

You should -- If you do not you are just gambling with your tire life. It very easy to mess-up toe and scrub thru a set of tires very quickly.

 

When you swap out the springs, you will definately need it, but drive in a around a little to settle the springs first.

Generally, with the rear sway, it may not be necessary to get an alignment.

When you drive the car, notice how it tracks. That will tell you if you need an alignment.

 

I sorta of agree with Slinger, the exception being you can mess up toe quite a bit and not feel it. Just had a friend who is a good driver, who installed camber plates go thru a set of tires pretty fast before he took it in to an alignment shop and discover the toe was way off.

 

You are correct here, with camber plates, you will need an alignment.

 

But you may want to as to get the old sway bar out and the new one in you will need to drop part of the suspension and unless you can find a way of getting it bolted back in EXACTLY the same place there is the distinct possibility of the alignment being off.

 

The entire rear suspension sub frame comes down in one piece, so generally it is possible to return it to its position because there is much less play but should be no change to the individual corners. Perhaps the thrush line may be a little off ... I would venture to guess that it would be hard to tell the difference under normal driving.

Compare this to removing springs and struts or putting on camber plates ...