5 replies to this topic

[JJW]

Hi,

I have a 1990 Mayfair 998 and have removed the wheel arches to replace them.

As this has now exposed the wheels, it is clear to me that the offside rear wheel is approx 12mm further out from the body that the nearside rear wheel. Furthermore, by taking rough measurements from the shell to the rear subframe it looks like the rear subframe is off centre.

How easy is it for the rear subframe to be put on incorrectly? The previous owner took it off to refurb it and I'm wondering if they have put it back on too far to the offside??

Anything else to consider that could cause the wheels to be that far out?

Cheers!!

James

[M J W J]

Check to see if you have a spacer or spacered drum on one side but not the other. Also check that both the wheels are the same. Try swapping them over to see if the wheel is sticking out by 12mm on the same side. It could be a damaged/different wheel on one side.

As fofr misalignment of the sub frame, the holes that the sub frame mounts to are pre determined as they are in the shell. If you remove the subframe from the car check to see if the rear brackets are torqued up properly then adjust the front mounts so they line up with the holes in the heel board.

[miniman24]

Is the wheel 12mm out from the front of the rear wheel to the back (is the entire wheel 12mm out basically), when looking down on it from above? If not, it could be a bent radius arm, mines slightly bent and has the effect of making the right rear wheel look much further out than the left one, its getting replaced tomorrow :S

Edited by miniman24, 02 April 2011 - 08:47 PM.

[Deathrow]

Unless your car is crabbing or driving strangley then don't worry about it.

Mine is similar at the rear, but the car is aligned perfectly (I've measured it soooo many times it isn't even humerous!).

Minis were built on the idea that as long as the front and rear subframe line up and cause the car to go in the right direction the alignment of the body over them is irrelevant. If you find and watch the video of the Mini production line on YouTube you will see what I mean.

[Chris_R]

The body panels are not ideal for taking measurements from, I'm pretty sure that one of my rear panels doesn't cover as much of the wheel as the other side.

[JJW]

To confirm:

The car drives fine.

Both sides have spacer drums.

The wheels are brand new. On a side note - all measurements for selecting the correct width arches were taken from the nearside, which may now mean that the arch doesn't cover the offside tyre properly??

The whole wheel is 12mm out, so don't think it would be a bent radius arm?

I think it probably would cause funny driving issues, but just thinking out loud here - could I replace the offside spacer drum with a non spacer drum and keep the spacer drum on the nearside?

Thanks for all your help.