11 replies to this topic

[ROBBIE 1]

whats the most chamber i can run on a mini using off the shelf components ??? and what will i need to buy ?? front and rear wheels ,i have standard mini setup at the moment with adjustable hi los ! ??? thankyou for your help !

[GraemeC]

I presume you mean camber?

It is not a case of having as much camber as possible, rather having the right amount for the suspension set-up and desired handling.

With 'off the shelf' adjustable bottom arms for the front and adjustable radius arm brackets for the back you can run more camber then you would need.

[Sherlock]

One of my friends is a twice Mini Miglia Champion, he recommended 1.5 degrees negative on the front & about 0.5 degrees on the back if you are using good quality competition dampers such as Konis. It is also advisable to have adjustable tie-rods, as adjusting the camber affects the castor angle as well. I tried all this on my Mini & the results are unbelievably good, I don't wear the outside edges off the tyres any more either. A point to bear in mind, that after any change of camber or castor angles, you need to re-check & adjust your tracking. Talking of tracking, if you're thinking of going ahead with these mods, which I totally recommend, I would advise purchasing combined camber & tracking brackets for the rear radius arms, you'd be surprised how much out of track the back of a Mini can be. Makes all the difference when everything is working together with the right settings.

[rick.spi]

have a look at that picture and tell me thats 1.5 on the front lol... thats a hell of a lot more!

look to the pictures lower down on the page

http://images.google...l=h...=off&um=1

Edited by rick.spi, 07 September 2009 - 08:13 AM.

[rosco454]

He didnt say thats what a miglia runs though,he said thats what his miglia driver friend recommends (presumably for a road going car).

[roberts]

It is not a case of having as much camber as possible, rather having the right amount for the suspension set-up and desired handling.

Big camber is also pointless unless you are running mega power, like 400BHP +. When you accelerate or brake (under immense loads like you can't achieve in a Mini) your wheels buckle out (positively cambering) so big power track cars use it to balance things out

It's also an advantage used for smooth race-tracks, wouldn't have thought camber was going to be much of an advantage on a bumpy A road.

You want as much of your tyre touching the road as possible if things are bumpy... by cambering your wheels your removing rubber from one side of the car through a bend, works flat out through bends on a smooth tarmac circuit but surly it's not going to work on a bumpy road?

Hence why you never see road cars with camber.

(Ignore me if you are setting a racecar up, but you didn't say you where)

[Sherlock]

He didnt say thats what a miglia runs though,he said thats what his miglia driver friend recommends (presumably for a road going car).

That Miglia does appear to have more negative, my friend's racer never looked anything like that & he was advising for road use, my apologies if you're preparing a Miglia or similar. All is explained in my next post.

Edited by Sherlock, 07 September 2009 - 11:18 PM.

[Sherlock]

have a look at that picture and tell me thats 1.5 on the front lol... thats a hell of a lot more!

look to the pictures lower down on the page

http://images.google...l=h...=off&um=1

I've just been for a pint with my Miglia Championship winning mate, we have discussed this matter more fully, the pics you refer to of Steve Whiteley's racer were taken immediately after the car was assembled, if you look at pics of it racing, there is much less negative camber & although some drivers do use more than 1.5 degrees, they don't have 2 championships to their name. Excessive negative will make your car handle like a pig, will overload wheel bearings, wear the inside edges of your tyres & from a safety angle, if you increase the effective length of your bottom arms by an inch, you will have to adjust your tracking which will mean about a third of an inch less thread in your track rod ends. Also you must have adjustable tie rods, or the castor angle will be excessive, making the car very difficult to drive fast, & it also means your driveshaft inner joints are running nearer to the outer end of the 'pot' placing more load on your diff output flanges. I got all my stuff from Huddersfield Mini Spares, adjustable bottom arms & tie-rods & rear radius arm camber brackets. Believe me at 1.5 degrees neg, the results are stupendous, the turn in on corners is very positive, & it's not causing any harm to your suspension or shafts.

[rick.spi]

have a look at that picture and tell me thats 1.5 on the front lol... thats a hell of a lot more!

look to the pictures lower down on the page

http://images.google...l=h...=off&um=1

I've just been for a pint with my Miglia Championship winning mate, we have discussed this matter more fully, the pics you refer to of Steve Whiteley's racer were taken immediately after the car was assembled, if you look at pics of it racing, there is much less negative camber & although some drivers do use more than 1.5 degrees, they don't have 2 championships to their name. Excessive negative will make your car handle like a pig, will overload wheel bearings, wear the inside edges of your tyres & from a safety angle, if you increase the effective length of your bottom arms by an inch, you will have to adjust your tracking which will mean about a third of an inch less thread in your track rod ends. Also you must have adjustable tie rods, or the castor angle will be excessive, making the car very difficult to drive fast, & it also means your driveshaft inner joints are running nearer to the outer end of the 'pot' placing more load on your diff output flanges. I got all my stuff from Huddersfield Mini Spares, adjustable bottom arms & tie-rods & rear radius arm camber brackets. Believe me at 1.5 degrees neg, the results are stupendous, the turn in on corners is very positive, & it's not causing any harm to your suspension or shafts.

ah ok

ive got 1.5ish on the front and 0.5 on the back, does make a lot of difference.

[Ethel]

Your tyre & wheel choice also makes a difference 1.5 degs might prove a bit much with lower profile rubber

[CobraV8]

I have not had my car on a wheel alignment machine yet - but the amount of camber is obvious in this photo - and it grips like mad!

[CobraV8]

Your tyre & wheel choice also makes a difference 1.5 degs might prove a bit much with lower profile rubber

and... this is with 13x7s and 175/50s