Took the MINI to the dealer for a problem with a consistent pull to the left, among other things. Their diagnosis, based on the highly technical "test drive" method, was "yep, pulls left, you need an alignment, that'll be $205 please".
Now, I don't disagree that this may be an alignment issue, but is that the only thing it could be?
Symptoms:
>Pulls to left when tire pressures are equalized. (I'm currently running 3lbs higher in left front to keep it tracking straight for safety reasons).
>Changes direction when hitting a bump. Sometimes left, sometimes right.
>Steering effort higher to turn right vs left. Not a lot, but noticable.
>Steering does not want to self-center.
>On braking (warm) car will twitch to one side or the other. seems random.
>After a recent 500 mile trip, brake dust build-up is visibly greater on the rear wheels. Don't know about side-side, not as visibly noticable.
>Brakes squeal, even after deglazing the rotors (dealer did that).

I know, can o' worms. I guess my question, based on these symptoms, is could the brakes or power steering be the root cause of the leftward migration? It seems to me that the dealer is just trying to make some $$$ off of me, rather than investigate what the actual cause might be.

Your thoughts appreciated.
Gary

 

That's an expensive alignment. Most tire shops will do it for about $70, and it will be done by a technician who aligns lots more wheels than the MINI tech who does lots of other stuff.

You might try switching the front and rear tires on that side to see if it makes a difference. Also, you could have a dragging brake, an imperfect tire, or lots of other things. If you'd said it was always pulling right, I might blame it on road crown, but pulling left has got to be something else.

 

findude, funny you should mention road crown, as that was the dealers first attempt to explain the problem. Not too bright, eh?
Speaking of alignments, I am under the impression that the only thing adjustable on the MINI is toe-in. If that is the case, it doesn't seem that an alignment would correct this problem, as, if anything, it seems more a caster problem?
Personally, I am inclined to favor the dragging brake theory, given the dust build-up and the fact that the car loses speed coasting down an hill

 

Is this something that happend quickly, or over a long period of time? Have you bumped a parking block or chug hole? Anyone else drive this car?
Most pulls are from the tires. You could try rotating tires front to rear on BOTH sides.{not always the tire on the side car pulls}
The car twitching sometimes rt. sometimes left could be a toe problem.
I would check tires first & then do a suspension alignment if not tires.
Good luck & let us know what you find

 

How many miles? My guess is wishbone bushings. I have a set of after market bushings that I will be installing shortly.

 

My guess, based on the slight pull to one side, and the greater effort to turn one way over the other, would be a toe problem - fixed by an alignment.

We charge $85 to set toe, so you may want to look into finding a cheaper price on that than from the dealer.

 

DON"T GO TO THE DEALER!!!!

Find a performance allignment shop. The one I use would charge $240 for front and rear, and stand by the work.

Also, this can be a tire problem. If you want to check it out, go to someone with a road-force alignement machine. It can measure how much each tire pushes one way or the other. Has to do with differences in side wall stiffness.

Anyway, find a good local performance alignment shop, and start creating a relationship with them.

Matt

 

Make that a four wheel alignment. Stability or tracking issues can and do come from the back end as well.

 

Thanks folks. Being the cheap SOB that I am, I'm going to try swapping the tires front to back first, and then probably be heading to the alignment shop.