Hello all, I have a 2003 MCS. I put Tein springs on this weekend. Can the toe in the rear be adjusted and or aligned without changing the rear links?

thanks for the help

 

Toe can be adjusted, but not camber. It's the camber that has taken the big change here with the lowering springs. Toe has not changed much, if any.

 

There are two other threads related to alignment (easy search using that word on this forum.) I believe that pre-05 cars have front toe, of course, but little adjustment on the rear without adjustable control arms. I heard that the trailing arm mount is adjustable, but requires a special tool and is difficult for even an alignment shop to do, so it's probably moot.
I found on my 05 with OEM adjustable lower control arm that toe and camber are adjustable, but it's a compromise--the suspension is a 3-point system (connected to the chassis at the trailing link, the upper control arm and the lower control arm. While you *could* adjust every parameter (toe, camber, etc.) with such a system, it pretty much requires every attachment to be adjustable. I suppose that's why racing cars have the suspensions they do...

cheers,
philip

 

Thanks Guys, There are so many threads to look through. Do any of you have the ajustable ones?

 

Well, I'd guess that onasled has the whole shebang...but I have the stock 05 *adjustable* rear lower control arms, and I saw the alignment mechanic adjust them--but he said it was for toe-out (about 1/4 degree total). I'd guess from looking that the camber is still what it was before the adjustment (and now reads -2 deg.) It's pretty noticable but doesn't affect the handling adversely. It just will wear the inside of the tires faster. I would like more front negative camber but those camber plates seem expensive and controversial (re: which ones to get.)

cheers,
philip

 

From my experience, the rear lower arms ONLY influence camber, not toe. To adjust toe with control arms, you need upper adjustable arms.

 

like onasled said, rear toe is adjustable with the stock suspension. i dont know the name of the piece, but in front of the rear wheels up under each side is a suspension piece with three bolts in the end facing toward the front. adjustment of toe is done after loosening those bolts.

 

So, Vader, are you saying that the mechanic at the best alignment shop in Albuquerque lied to me? It's possible, I realize, that he's a complete idiot--but what he said to me was that he used the OEM lower control arms on my 05 MCS to adjust toe-in/out and that camber was not adjustable.
Why can't we get a definitive answer on this?? Ive read every thread on alignment and still hear conflicting stories.

cheers,

 

I don't know if your guy is an idiot or not. Here's what I do know.
Rear toe can be adjusted by the front mounting points of the rear trailing arms and it ain't easy. Camber can/is adjusted by the lower control arm. A rear camber change has little if any affect on toe. Sometime in 05, MINI added a small amount of camber adjustment to the lower control arm. If you want to adjust rear toe without using the trailing arm mounts, you must have upper and lower adjustable control arms (this ain't easy either depending on the design of the adjustable control arm).
I have adjustable upper and lower rear control arms and my guy uses the uppers and the trailing arm mounts to adjust rear toe then uses the lower adjustable control arm to set camber.