Does anyone know if Mini has offered an add on for the rear alignment so we can adjust the wheels so the tires don't wear. I understand they have corrected this problem after '06. I mean, I know it is available, but is Mini adding it for free since it is a problem they needed to correct? Thanks

 

Nothing free. 06 had only a little adjustment in the camber links. Buy new hsport rear camber links and you will have all the adjustment you will ever need. 200 bucks or so from Way Motor Works.

 

+1 on H-Sport rear lower adjustable control arms. The TSW arms would also be a good choice.

 

Is your car lowered? On the '04 camber is not adjustable at all. The Mini has a lot of rear camber gain (aka the tires tilt in when the suspension compresses) which could cause your issues if you are lowered. Adjustable rear links would be your only solution there.

If you are not lowered and have excessive wear, I'd get your rear toe checked. This IS adjustable. Excessive toe will eat tires much, much faster than excessive camber. You should get it set to 0 or maybe very slight rear toe in. The OEM tolerance range allows for way too much toe in and still within spec.

 

thanks, I have ordered camber links and my car is not lowered. The toe was adjusted, but I will look at that again.

 

Get a printout if you can of the alignment. Most every alignment shop will just load up the oem tolerance on their computer and adjust until the squares turn green. They won't even look at the numbers. That's why I'm saying you should specifically ask for zero rear toe or at worst the minimum of the OEM spec. If the shop won't do that for you, thank them for their time and go to the next shop. I'm guessing your car is at the high end of the spec for toe in, which is causing your rear wear.

Could you describe the wear you are having? Is it the inside edges, outside edges, or all across the tread? Are the tires "feathered", that is they feel smooth when you run your hand outside to in, but sharp when you slide them inside to out? What tires are they? How many miles are you getting? Here is a good link for reading tire wear patterns. This might help diagnose your problem.

Unless you've had some sort of accident that has bent something and thrown your rear camber way out of whack, those rear camber links aren't going to help anything on a stock height car.

 

It's the inside edges, seem to be chopped, that is the term the alignment guy used. I will take your advice on the toe in.

 

More...the rear struts needed replacing, that was probably the reason for the chop. That has been done. It was noisy and that may have partially been the strut, chop and mis alignment on the front. I didn't seem to get as much wear from the tires as earlier. The first set I got almost 50K, after that somewhat less. They are Bridgestone. Thanks for all the help