17 replies to this topic

[Mrstars11]

Hi all,

 

Bit confused with this, I had some new wheels yesterday the new ones are the same size as my old ones, I know they are as I had the tyres taken from my old ones and put onto my new ones.

the first 3 wheels swapped over fine, then the fourth wheel went in, and its hitting the arch at the front.

almost as if the wheel itself is sitting an inch more forward so the wheel hits the arch.

I cant really describe how I mean, the passenger side wheel sits in the arch with the same gap equal round the wheel to the arch, the drivers side sits off, and hits the arch.

 

could this be down to the hi lo being set different on each side? or the arch being put on in a different place, or something more sinister? bent frame or something.

 

ive jacked it up and had a look and all the arms, and stuff look straight.

 

ive included a picture to show what I mean. 

 

top one is the passenger side front wheel, bottom is the drivers side front. can you see how the arch hits the tyre?

 

 image (1).jpeg   54.69K   72 downloads

 

 

if anyone thinks they may know why please shed some light.

 

dom.

 

 

[Dr s]

Bent tie rod on that side at the front. You jacked it on the tie rod cup and as the suspension drops the rod bent over the jack.

 

Drop the tie rod and straighten it or replace it.

[Mrstars11]

well,

 

I first noticed it was out at the tyre yard, where they fitted the wheels, I then went home and looked myself, and when id jacked it up nothing was bent, also had a pal with knowledge round to look too, and we both said nothing was bent. checked all bars and rods.

 

so if it was a case of the jack bending it on the fitting of the wheel it would have been bent when I jacked it up the second time at home....right??

[Lsurt95]

Might have something to do with hitting a curb. You may have damaged the subframe slightly due to this.

 

Liam

[Mrstars11]

yeah that was my thinking, when I hit the curb last week something has twisted a bit.

 

my issues with this thought are...

 

why didn't it effect the old wheels as they were on a week after I hit the curb, and these wheels are the same size...

also I hit the curb on the side that fits, its the opposite side to the one that hit the curb that's out.

[Dr s]

Well this is my thinking

 

Assuming it was all in the same place with the old wheels and tyres then it must have happened when the wheels were swapped over?

Having bent a tie rod like this myself I reckoned on that being the case. Its not actually very easy to see a bent one on the car in my experience.

 

The wheel has moved forwards in the arch. Normally if you hit something hard I'd reckon on it moving back in the arch, the tie rod goes from the front subbie to the bottom of the hub near the ball joint. If you make it shorter (by adjusting it, or indeed bending it..) then the wheel moves forward in the arch.

 

Assuming you have the tools and know how, you could undo the tie rod and see if it drops back to a better position. Don't drive it like that tho, it'll be lethal.

 

Adjusting the HiLo would change the gap at the top above the wheel but not radically change the rest of the position.

I'm struggling to think what else you could bend in the suspension to move the wheel forward. Unless the wing has bent back but you'd see that?!?

[Dr s]

If the subbies moved then the front floors will be bent up where the feet come in, in all likelihood. You could pull up the carpets for a look?

[Mrstars11]

Well this is my thinking

 

Assuming it was all in the same place with the old wheels and tyres then it must have happened when the wheels were swapped over?

Having bent a tie rod like this myself I reckoned on that being the case. Its not actually very easy to see a bent one on the car in my experience.

 

The wheel has moved forwards in the arch. Normally if you hit something hard I'd reckon on it moving back in the arch, the tie rod goes from the front subbie to the bottom of the hub near the ball joint. If you make it shorter (by adjusting it, or indeed bending it..) then the wheel moves forward in the arch.

 

Assuming you have the tools and know how, you could undo the tie rod and see if it drops back to a better position. Don't drive it like that tho, it'll be lethal.

 

Adjusting the HiLo would change the gap at the top above the wheel but not radically change the rest of the position.

I'm struggling to think what else you could bend in the suspension to move the wheel forward. Unless the wing has bent back but you'd see that?!?

 

 

 

yeah, ive decided to book it into the garage to see if he can come to any conclusions, as I don't have the knowhow or tools to check, but youre right, its weird that its moved forward, opposed to up.

from the way you have described it id say this rod is probably the culprit.

 

thanks for the help.

Edited by Mrstars11, 04 September 2014 - 01:34 PM.

[Dr s]

Good plan, hope its what we think and its a cheap fix. Those Star mags look great

[Mrstars11]

Good plan, hope its what we think and its a cheap fix. Those Star mags look great

 

yeah i hope so too, 

ive had a fair few issues with it in the 3 months ive owned it, and just when everything was going sweet, and id started saving for my rust treatment and re spray i went and smashed a wheel. 

 

these starmags do look sweet in this size in my arches though...well 3 do..

 

 image (9).jpeg   55.55K   22 downloads

[Mrstars11]

Turns out that the wheel sits forward in the arch because ive twisted my sub frame when I hit the curb.

Mwah mwah mwaaahhhhhh.

[Lsurt95]

ahhh its a shame. Thought that may have been the cause.

 

Liam

[Mrstars11]

ahhh its a shame. Thought that may have been the cause.
 
Liam

As did i. I was just hoping not.
Due to funds i think im going to use some adjustable tie bar rods to get the wheel back into the right place, the twist in the subframe is very minor, maybe 1cm max, but the further away from the point of the twist the more accentuated the bend, so by the time it's at the wheel hub it's about an inch out.
Hoping i can cheap fix it with the tie bars for now, while I scour eBay for a front subframe for my car close enough to collect.

[lsto]

I feel for you dude. My first mini got written off because a merc hit it up the bum. The merc was fine, on first inspection my car looked ok, just a damaged bumper and boot, when we got it in the air due to some magic it had creased the floor onessside underneath and the car was crabbing. I didn't have the funds to fix so it had to go...

[mab01uk]

Is the offset on the wheels different?

 

Your previous wheels may have been the same diameter but had less offset.

 

The front bodywork /front arches were closer on one side than the other on later Mini's due to worn tooling at the factory........Rover inserted spacer shims behind the front panel on one side to try to correct the errror and gain enough clearance as they did not want to invest money in an old design. Sometimes it shows up when you fit larger wheels or those with more offset than factory standard.

 

Minispares inhouse magazine 'Mini Tech News' highlighted the problem back in the 1990's, I have a copy somewhere I can dig out if required.

Edited by mab01uk, 09 September 2014 - 10:42 PM.