Hi

I just had installed the JCW suspension kit. After doing so, they got alignment right but after my wife and I drove home, it pulls to the left. They aligned it with us IN the car and its off by .6 whatevers from right to left making it pull.

Bottom line, I need to buy camber plates to get more camber adjustments. Any suggestions on which ones to buy. I do not go racing, no autocross, etc.

BTW, I know I can just leave it alone, its only a very slight pull and I will need to rotate the tires (where I wasn't going to before)

Thank you very much

 

It's an OEM part installed by the dealer. Tell them to get it right - you shouldn't need aftermarket parts to make the car track straight. That's ridiculous.

 

Camber from the factory is already off, so this should not be a problem

Camber adjustments do not make the car pull at all. What makes the car pull would be wheel alignment itself along with front toe adjustment, and also bad tire pressure. All can be corrected without having camber plates.

So, NO, you do not need camber plates to correct the pulling problem.

 

I have heard that the front lower subframe mounts are slightly slotted, and that a few points of cross camber can be mover around by sliding the subframe from side to side. Of course the dealer should know this!

Wes

 

This is an 04 car and the first suspension the dealer did after MINI released it. Today I went to two independent MINI shops specializing in racing or aftermarket repairs. Both basically said: it might be somethings bent underneath so Toe-in can't correct it and take it back to MINI. Its factory backed, make them fix it.

Furthermore, why should I pay $500+ and installation charges for some aftermarket part to fix "their" problem? Not going to do that.

And so I did insisting why buy JCW parts if you can't fix it. They were VERY nice and accommoding. I went out with the shop foreman and here is the conclusion. They align with 150 pounds in both drive & passenger side and like 28 lbs (or close to that) in the rear. It does track true with equal weight adjustment. But, I aint no 150 pounds so if I drive, I got 140 pounds over the wife easy. This is making pull "slightly" to the left. Sure enough, when the forement drove and I in the passenger seat, not too much weight difference but it was pulling a little bit to the right. Finally, the wife drove and me passenger and it DID pull slightly to the right. The shop foreman believes the new suspension is a lot more sensitive to weight distribution than stock.

On the other hand, the car feels "softer" on the bumps than stock was. Rides lower and much flatter around the corners and worth the costs.

Since its her daily commuter car, I think its fine. Tires won't wear unevenly. Meanwhile, I get to go diet

 

This is dumb, to say the very least.

First, there is absolutely no reason to be sitting in the car for an alignment job, unless you are racing it! Also, there is NO way that body weight distribution should do this to the car. You are getting a huge plate of BS if your dealer is telling you this. Rubbish!

Did the "toe" get checked again??

Get the car aligned again, and stay out of it. If this does not work then you need to take the car to a reputable aligner and get it done right, and also checked out to make sure there in no problem with the suspension.

Don't settle for a car that does this. My suspension setup is much more sensitive then a JCW and I have never and would never accepted such a problem.

 

Twice. left says .09'. right says .09' specified range is .08' - .11'

Total toe .18' specified range .15' - .21'

Camber -27' Left -.46 right cross camber .19

Here is where driving it pulled slightly to left. If we sat in it, they got the toe back to the same but right cross camber was .6' difference. I saw it happen right on their computer.

rear left camber -1 38' right -1 42' Rear total toe 24' Thurst angle -.02

After adjusting in the car, I saw it pull to either the right or the left depending upon the weight in the front seat. With 160+ lb difference. When equal weight (and they said the load left and right w/150 lbs). car track straight as an arrow/

I am at a loss. One explanation I heard was that the JCW springs were progressive being soft (like M7) and then getting harder. So the car settles with weight on one side. That kind of makes sense. Also the spring tensions were specific to the VIN.

 

I have the JCW suspension kit fitted and it does not pull either way,get your dealer to fit it and set it up correctly (mind you i had mine done at JCW in UK )

 

Just picked up my brand new 05 MCS and had the JCW suspension put in. No pull in either direction, no matter if I have a passenger or not.

Make em fix it...

 

I would say that 'weight' can alter how a car tracks and this depends very much on the car in question. Lowering the Mini may not affect camber, but it will affect toe. If enough weight is added to either the driver's seat or the passenger's seat I would expect some pulling. How much weight? Dunno.

A 200 lb difference is enough to cause a pull on a sensitive set-up. If 200lbs is meaningless, why corner weight? Left to right weight bias over a given axle is all we can control with corner weighting without moving ballast around. If corner weighting is important, so is normal load. If your wife drives alone most of the time, (normal load) align the car with her sitting in the driver's seat if you're really picky. Experiment with your alignment if your tech has the time; have he or she align the car. Then, get in the front seat and observe the changes...to toe in particular. I'm not asking how much either of you weigh, but when my 360lb boss rides with me, we have more than tracking problems...

Also, you might want to ask your alignment tech if he 'squared' the alignment. Most experienced alignment folks know they need to play with toe just a hair to ensure a car tracks straight on normally crowned roads. An alignment that is 'squared' will cause a car to pull towards the shoulder of a crowned road. Crowning aids drainage, but also makes it difficult for a car to climb a crown under some loss of control conditions - keeps the guy in the other lane relatively safer.

EDIT; explaination required. My comments about corner weighting and normal load appear to contradict the comment "if you're really picky" The first part is for those of us who are indeed really picky. The question, "if you're really picky" is for those who might not be so picky or do not race...pretty much what someone else above wrote...

 

Thanks for info. Good idea about just her in the car but the dealers tend to be a stickler about following their "rules" 150 lbs on each seat.

The shop foreman and I had gone for a ride and we made sure avoid the crown because cars will lean into the crown.

At the moment, it seems like the more the car is driven, and its actually driven very little ... maybe 60 miles/week, its getting better, if that makes any sense. Its almost like the suspension is "settling down" (if that is a technical phrase). Now, with me driving alone, it pulls just slightly to the left over 1/10 mile. But will follow the crown to the right also. Funny, it seems to be getting better and better.

When she drives, she can't notice it anymore and has forgotten about it!

 

...did you have the tires rotated at the time of the alignment??? This can cause some queer roadability.

 

No. Only 1500 miles on the car. No point.

Today the wife said it was fine with her driving alone. Maybe I need to diet big time

 

I have had the JCW suspension since new, and I noticed a slight pulling to the left a little bit, but it tracks arrow-straight now! I think it has to do with the suspension settling in. It needs a good 1000 miles to really hit its sweet spot.