I lost my sheet that I give to my alignment guy. I have a decently aggressive alignment spec sheet that allows me to not trash my street tires but still does decent at the track without making adjustments. (yes, I know it would behoove me to used track only settings at the track but I don’t want to be messing with it on and off.

So, who has some good alignment specs I can steal for my track day next weekend? I’ll be installing adjustable lower control arms in the rear and need to redo my alignment.

Thanks,

Mark

 

These are the specs for the JCW suspension:

John Cooper Works wheel alignment, sport suspension
MINI One (R56)
MINI Cooper (R56)
MINI Cooper S (R56)

Front axle:
Total toe 0° 12' +/- 10'
Camber -35' +/- 25'
Toe offset angle -1° 16' +/- 30'
Caster 4° 16' +/- 30'
Max. steering lock angle at inside of wheel 36° 2'

Rear axle:
Total toe 0° 24' +/- 8'
Camber 2° 05' +/- 20'
Geometric axial difference 0° +/- 10'

 

Mark

check nm's website,I ran nm spiited alignment with my bc's.

on the rear run 1.75 to 2.0

 

pw4,

run 2 deg front neg camber, 1-1.3 deg rear neg camber, 0 toe all round (or maybe a little toe-in at the rear, like 1-2mm each side). Good compromise

 

I run the same thing neg ~2 in the front neg ~1.5 rear 0 toe all around. although adding a little in the rear might be a really good idea. long drives on the highway can be tedious with 0 toe all around.

 

I raise my car up for winter and drop it down in the spring. Is it absolutely necessary to get my car aligned each time?

 

The camber will change. Its probably not necessary.

Just leave it low. I don't have problems staying low year round in Rochester.

 

camber and toe change with height, you definitely need an alignment.

Having a little of toe-in at the rear increases stability at speed

 

I don't really have a choice, we can get well over an inch an hour overnight. I woke up a few times last year with almost 15" of snow in the streets before the plows went through. There's no way I could drive around all winter 2.5-3" off the ground.

The problem is when I'm lowered, there is literally no shop around here that can get me up on their alignment machine. The ramps are too short and steep and they're too afraid to use wooden planks to make ramps. I was planning on getting an alignment now while I'm raised up and then just dropping it down in the spring without worrying about it.

 

Dunno, guess maybe the snow removal is better here.

If you feel like it I know of at least three shops here in Rochester who will get you up for an alignment.

 

A set of Longacre toe plates will cost you $65. A SmartCamber gauge/frame will cost you $220. Just roll your car back and forth between adjustments. Even if you don't do it perfectly (and there's really no reason you can't), not perfectly is better than not at all.

 

I have a spc fastrax gage for setting camber and caster. I setup a string 'box' around the car and set toe with a scale. It is probably not as accurate as the $129 alignment, but you can set toe within 1 mm and angles within .5 degree. When I crewed on a 911, this is how we setup the car. I agree it is critical to roll the car between adjustments.

Mike

 

$129 alignment... what a crock. Last year I took my car to a “race” shop to have it aligned. They gave me a bill of $180 bucks... what a freakin’ crock of crap.

I gave them the specs, how the hell do they justify charging that much money for an alignment.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a race setup or not, it’s still a matter of turning wrenches to set the correct specs.

It doesn’t take any more time to set an alignment for a race setup or a stock setup. (okay, maybe a little bit longer) Paying that kind of money is ridiculous.

My shop uses only one place for our customer’s alignments. Since I’m supplying the specs, I can have them set the specs I want for 45 bucks.

Mark

 

A "race" setup should include minmizing bumpsteer and corner weighting along with correct ride height/rake for a given track in addition the "normal" adjustments. On less than a "real" racecar, this often involves a lot of "tail chasing" because one setting affects another. $180 is so cheap for this that I doubt it included much more than a typical "street" alignment.

DOC

 

My point exactly, so why pay $180 bucks for an alignment?

Mark

 

Mark,

What specs did you end up going with? I'm finally getting an alignment on Tuesday and I want a somewhat aggressive street setup.

I'm one of the stupid ones that's about to pay $129...ugh... Since every shop around here has told me my car needs a "specialty" alignment that costs around $120, I figured I might as well just go to the dealer.

Drew

 

Drew,

I didn’t go with the negative 2 degrees camber. It’s good for the track but too much for me on the street.

It’s only at −1.2 or 1.3.

Still worked at the track though...


Mark