4 replies to this topic

[darkcat]

Heloooo !

Right well i was standing behind my mini in a car park the other day, and it suddenly occured to me that my rear tracking looks a little different left to right..
like the left wheel is toeing-in slightly more.
I am running 13x 7's so they stick out from the body quite a way. If i look directly from behind and align the front edge and back edge of the rim, then look towards the front, the line apears to meet the front of the car at a slightly different point, suggesting differing toe.


Anyway.
Im "Owed" a tracking job by my local garage (we run a bit of a "you scratch my laptop, i'll scratck your car" system :-D)
The question i have is HOW do i/we alter the rear toe setting? i assume there is some sort of accentric washer in the pivot for the swing arms?
And does this alter camber at the same time? (which, thinking about it, also looks a bit off)


This could well explain why my car is constantly pulling left!

Edited by darkcat, 11 March 2011 - 11:30 AM.

[Cooperman]

You need to use shims, between the subframe and radius arm brackets. IIRC Spares sell 'em.

Yes, use the shims as supplied by MS to reduce the toe-in. If it's toeing-out, you file the hole in the bracket into an elongated slot and weld a large washer in place when you get the toeing correct and equal both sides.
I had one where I had to shim one side and file a slot the other to get it correctly in geometry.
The toe-in should be 1 mm to 2 mm.
Also, you should check the camber. On the rears the best setting seems to be zero to -0.5 degrees, although with the 13" wheels you don't want much in the way of negativfe, either on the back or the front.

[darkcat]

Thanks guys, next question:

What do i need to take off to do this? is it a matter of loosening a few bolts and shimming, or do i need to take off the wheel/arm/shock etc to get in there??
I only ask because its an area ive not looked at in detail on this car, and its got about 1/2" of waxoyl covering it too!!!

is it likely to be in the Haynes manual?

Edited by darkcat, 11 March 2011 - 11:23 AM.

[Cooperman]

If the toe is different at either side using a shim at one side, will correct the issue.............................

Do you find that the 'pattern' sub-frames are really por in terms of accuracy of manufacture?
I looked at a 1995 car recently which had a pattern replacement rear frame. The toe-in was just about right, but the rear wheels were not in line with the fronts. I had to add quite a bit of shimming to the LH side and elongate the hole/weld on a large wassher on the RH side to get it all parallel and toeing-in by 1 mm.
The 'genuine' ones seem better, but some have said that even they are not that good. I haven't fitted a new genuine rear frame for a while so I can't comment.

[bmcecosse]

Simple DIY check - get a 6' length of straight 4 X 2 timber and hold it against each rear wheel in turn, at hub height and pointing forwards. Will soon show you if there is a problem. Can be caused by hitting a kerb/pothole - or rot in the subby or even in the heel board on the shell.