If new springs lower the corners differently, they aren't that good of a spring. After all, the car starts relatively flat, with fixed end links....

I'd take the advice above and go for some camber plates. The neg camber you can get from them (at least for me) allowed me to wear my front tires evenly, even with track work. If you're pushing your car in the corners and are chewing up your outside edge of the tire, then the camber plates will help eliminate that. You'll get much better tire life.... So much so that they may pay for themselves in a few sets of tires.

If you're not eating up the outside edge of your front tires with stock suspension (or even lowering springs), then you really aren't pushing the car that hard and should spend the money on driving school!

The best benefit of adjustable end-links is in corner balencing with adjustable coil overs.

Matt

 

This is true, especially in the front. I don't see any toe change in the rear when doing minor camber changes though.

 

does this mean that since i'm wearing out my front tire outer edges faster than the inners, i don't need to go to driving school?

 

so which is it, are both control arms (lower and upper) required for lowering in the rear. One person says there is enough toe adjustment stock, another says there isn't

Maybe I'll just lower mine, get it aligned and then decide

 

hey, this isn't a thread to write your diary.

 

Way OFF. ... Onasled, see https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...jcw+suspension

One MINI dealer could NOT get it into spec ... had no clue as to what to do and the advice was ... get camber plates or "rotate my tires more".

Wrong answer. I'm not paying for their problems ... what's the point of the warranty?

Went to another dealer. They brought in the MINI regional rep. Got the toe-in perfect front and back and over time, the springs just "settled down". In other words, the more the car was driven, the less problem it became. Now tracks true (except for road camber)

 

Just found this thread...

Having recently had a full alignment and corner-balance, I'll share a few things that were brought-up here...

My MCS, lowered via PSS9's (in the middle of the recommended range), came into the shop with over 3 degrees of neg camber in the rear! I knew that it looked and felt like a lot, but I didn't realize that much. I also have tires with a fairly small rolling diameter (23.3"). This is about 1" less than the stock 16's (24.4"). This delta lowered the car about another .5". So, lowering can make for something extreme, but probably not likely in most cases...

I have the Alta rear control arms, upper and lower. I had the guy utilize the lowers for camber, and the uppers for toe. After some expressed opinions here on NAM, I didn't want the trailing arms messed with to get the desired toe. Once the camber is set, tweaking the toe does indeed impact the camber, and vice versa. I witnessed this several times as he worked both arms simultaneously, and the LED display reflected the changing measurements as he wrenched...

This was a relatively simple process on my MCS, but for most others, I'm guessing that it won't be; and maybe the trailing arms might be a better route to adjust toe. Gaining access to the nuts on the upper arms can be quite difficult (limited space). I however have a stratight exhaust system (battery box gone), and with that there is plenty of room for this procedure...

I'm actually installing my Alta end-links tomorrow. I have no desire to pre-load them. As explained to me though, my goal will be to adjust them so that the front and rear sway bar ends are parallel to the ground. With the stock end-links, being fixed, they are not at this time. I'm not totally sure of the best way to do this at this time, but I'll find-out soon enough...

 

Take off both the original end links on one end. Put one on with lose lock-nuts. Twist the shaft till it's the way you want it. Lock it down. Go to the other side, and set the length to mount up with no "load" on the arm.

The hard part is getting access with the wheels on, and remember to put enough weight in the front seat to simulate your skinny little body! (and I don't mean this as an isult. Tony is significantly lighter than I am!)

Matt

 

Matt, thank you. You confirmed the difficult part here, and that's doing this swap with the wheels/tires in place, supporting the car's weight; including my 140 lbs in the driver's seat (I think my wife and the cat will be close ).

Seriously, reaching through the wheels to do this will be a pain, I think. And if the wheels do need to come-off, I'll need to be really careful how I do this or I might end-up with a very unpredictable (and undesirable) suspension response .

Well, I've got a couple of hours before we leave to run some errands today. I'll report back. If anyone else has any novel ideas, please share...

 

I've done some strange things. You can rest the lower ball joints on some wood to get it weighted without a wheel. Not the prettiest, but it will load the suspension, and get you very, very close. Then you can do your ramp trick to get in underneath to confirm there's no pre-load when the wheels are on. Or go by the guy who corner balenced after your done for a quick drive onto his rack. If you're just checking the driveway work, should be all of 15 min to check on the rack.

Matt

ps, if you need more cats, I have three!

 

Matt, that actually sounds familiar. I'm guessing that I've done something like that b4. Alta simply says to put her up on jack stands and to make the links the same length as stock...

I think I can do the rears with the wheels on, the fronts, esp with my larger rotors, I just don't see it happening... And I'm out of time today to dork around with this... not something I want to rush...

My dog (Akita) passed away a little while ago, and he was exactly my weight. Man, I miss that big guy!

 

even though 05's com with adjustable rear lowew control arm.i put a pair of h-sport on the rear and love them.

 

Alta's directions are only if you have the stock ride height.

Sorry about your dog, that sucks.

Have good Holidays, and call me if you need anything.

Matt

 

I would venture to guess that 90+% of those who replace their end-links don't have stock ride height. Oh well...

Matt, the dog left me over 2 years ago now, so don't feel too bad... As always, thanks for the offer to help-out! Happy Holidays everyone!

 

Hey Tony where did you get your alignment work done? I’ll be doing some suspension work soon and will be in need of a good alignment shop.

Happy holidays to you and all fellow NAMers.

 

I go to Custom Alignment in Mt View. It's near San Antonio and 101. They do excellent work, and will talk to you about how you want the car to behave and handle and then set it up. They do lots of fancy and race cars as well. The place Tony went to slips my mind, I'm sure they do excellent work as well. http://www.customalignment.com/

FWIW, CA will have an open house on the 14th of Jan (http://www.norcal-saac.org/main.htm). The Nor-Cal Shelby club is very welcoming, so come on by even if you're not a member!

Matt

 

I actually had the Tire Rack send my new tires straight to Custom as that was my intent... However, I had an appointment at East Bay MINI for a nagging leak at the valve cover that was finally diagnosed properly... so, being up that way, I decided to go with Roger Krause Racing.

kmickey (a local track rat, and good guy) highly recommended them, and they do have experience with our MINI's. Brandon (son of Roger) is the man there, and he will let you watch while he works his magic. He is a seasoned racer, and his attention to detail will make you feel good...

I didn't exactly shop-around for the best price on something like this, but they were less than Custom if I recall correctly. You won't go wrong either way...

 

I marked their site. I work close by so it would be very convenient to go there. If I can I’ll stop by on the 14th.