When I purchased new tires recently, I had the car aligned. The specs on the front for camber are -.09° to -.01°. The closest they could get the right front was -1.0° and suggested I take it to an alignment shop. I took it by there yesterday (reputable, long time shop) and he looked at the numbers and said there would be no way he could align it without a camber plate. Is the -1.0° going to eat the tire? The car seems to track well and has no weird handling characteristics. Also, the right rear toe is spec'd at 0.13° to 0.27°. They could only get that to 0.30°. I would need and adjustable control arm for that I suppose.

Any suggestions for a car that seems to have had a close encounter with a curb or big pothole somewhere in its life? Are camber plates easy to install? The control arms seem pretty straight forward.

 

I think the spec range for front camber is -.1 to -.9 degree rather than -.01 to -.09. In that case the -1.0 is just .1 degree out. That shouldn't produce much of an excessive inner wear problem for most drivers. As long as the other side is also close to -1.0, I'd take the -1.0 over the -.8 that I have. Negative camber only helps in cornering, so you wouldn't want so much if almost all of your driving was straight down the highway.

Unless you can find and replace bent suspension components (do that first), adjustable camber plates and rear control arms are a popular way to get additional adjustment range at each end. Camber plates and rear control arms are not hard to install, but you'll need another alignment afterward.

 

You're correct, it is -0.1 to -0.9. I'd probably be better to just have the left front set to -1.0 also. Right now it's at -.4.

 

Assuming they can get the other side to -1 (or close), that would be okay too. But camber and toe settings are not independent; when the camber setting is changed, the toe setting also changes. Try to keep toe settings within spec range (most apparently prefer it near the lower end of the spec range), for excessive toe will wear the inner side of the tire.

Apparently stock MINIs are sometimes tough to align within specs, and especially to owner preferences/specs (hence the popularity of adjustable camber plates and rear control arms). Many alignment specialists apparently feel successful if they can just get all the alignment measures "in the green." MINIs seem to be built backwards; too little front camber and too much rear camber is available.

 

I'm always curious as to why manufacturers don't put in things like camber plates and adjustable control arms. It couldn't add too much to an already spendy vehicle. If you figure the cost of what's there already and what an aftermarket piece would cost, it just can't be too much.

 

I think it probably is to reduce costs. Adjustable camber plates and rear control arms; then Koni shocks, 19 mm rear sway, etc. would all add up to a significant price increase that only a relatively small minority might need or want. Most MINI owners (including my wife) are probably not sufficiently performance oriented to need or want such upgrades.

 

-1.0 degree camber is not going to wear the tire too fast. However, too much toe (which is adjustable) will wear the tire fast. It is common for the camber to be different from side to side on the Minis due to manufacturing tolerances.
I would not worry about your camber settings. If stock, the car probably has more negative camber in the rear than in the front.

I run -2.0 degrees with adjustable camber plates to improve the handling (less understeer) and the inside edge of the tire does wear first but your -1.0 should not be a problem.

 

quikmini is right on. Toe is much more important for tire wear and I would try to have that as close to 0 as possible up front and a tiny bit of toe-in in the rear. I never bother with OEM specs.

-1.0 camber up front is nothing. I run -1.6 or -1.7 with camber plates and have nice even tire wear with much improved handling. In the rear around -1.5 or a little less is nice.

Front camber is non-adjustable and rear is barely adjustable for 2005 and later cars. Early 2005 are not adjustable in the rear. Toe is adjustable front and rear from the factory.

They should be able to get close to 0 toe...that's important.

- Andrew

 

I ended up putting on adjustable camber plates (Vorschlags) for the same reason as you - couldn't get sides to match. I like the added security of knowing the strut tower mushrooming problem has been solved. My next step will be to replace the drivers side steering knuckle that I suspect is the culprit.

 

I have been running -2 degrees in the front for about 3 years without any adverse tire wear.

BTW, the increase in negative camber will make your car handle better. Just make sure that they can get the same (within .5 degree) on both sides or it will pull to the more positive side.

 

After replacing lower control arm bushings, lower ball joints, left front wheel hub bearing assembly, and installing Ireland Engineering fixed front camber plates, I took the 04 r53 in for a much needed alignment. Here are my settings: caster left +3.60/right +3.45; camber left -1.93/right -1.87. Was told the camber needs to come up 1.50 degrees and that there is no camber adjustment except toe. Have a new set of tires from Tire Rack and want to avoid excessive wear. The shop did not know who made Mini and their computer didn't list Mini. After searching through a booklet, specs were found. I decided against proceeding with an alignment attempt and left without any adjustments being made. Had tried the local Firestone dealer recently and their longtime alignment person had quit the previous day. Not sure if I want to try their new guy who was pulled from tire installation to the alignment machine. There are several alignment shops recommended by Mini owners in Dallas but I am concerned the 3 hour drive will really wear the tires. Advice?

 

I posted on the other board, and what everyone over there said is correct.

Camber is where it should be with those plates (maybe 0.1 or 0.2 higher than expected but not bad). OEM specs suck. Set toe to 0 and enjoy the much better handling. Make sure you get a printout of your results.

- Andrew

 

The camber is OK. I run -2.0 degrees camber in the front. I am surprised that you got -1.9 with just fixed camber plates and your side to side is pretty even. You should be happy. Yes, the OEM specs for front camber is much less but that is not what you want for good handling. You might want a little less camber (such as -1.5 instead of -1.9) depending on your driving style but not -0.5 that the alignment shop suggested.

You need to decide what alignment specs you want and have the car adjusted to those specs not to the OEM specs. With your 2004 MCS the only adjustments are front and rear toe.

The main concern is what the front and rear toe is currently set at because that will wear the tires fast. If you know the toe settings, please post. If you do not know the toe settings, I would not drive three hours to get an alignment because that could wear the tires quite a bit. Find a local tire shop near your home that does alignments.

As Andrew suggested, with the negative camber you want front and rear toe near zero. I run a slight toe-out (better turn-in response) in the front and zero toe in the rear. A little toe-in will provide better straight line stability. The more toe, in or out, the faster the tires wear because the edge of the tire scrapes across the road.

 

Thank you for the good information. Plan to visit local shop tomorrow for alignment.

 

Toe set to zero today. Handles great. Thanks everyone for excellent information!

 

Glad you got the alignment adjusted. Enjoy the ride.
If after driving the car for awhile you decide you want to reduce the understeer you can add a rear 19mm adjustable sway bar.

 

What brand rear sway bar did you install?

 

I have an Alta that I added H-Sport greaseable bushings. I got it because it was on sale for $110. Alta is not the best quality, paint chipping off when new. H-Sport is a good quality bar, I had one on previous Mini.