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Posted 06 July 2016 - 04:43 PM
I've bought some adjustable bottom arms for my car, to go with the adjustable tie rods and I'm trying to increase the camber. However, because I'm tight I dont really want to go to a garage again as it was only a couple months ago I paid for an alignment after it had a shunt! Also because it is rather low, I'm not sure if they would do it!
Is there a way you can you do your front alignment at home ?
Cheers,
Will
Wish i was in T.O.W.I.E
Posted 06 July 2016 - 04:57 PM
Yes, easily.
Camber can be measured with a bit of string, a weight, and some trigonometry.
Wants a custom member title
Posted 06 July 2016 - 05:01 PM
Yes, easily.
Camber can be measured with a bit of string, a weight, and some trigonometry.
Thats what I like to hear! Is there a guide anywhere?
Also, what about caster and toe in?
One Carb Or Two?
Posted 06 July 2016 - 05:03 PM
I bought a camber/castor gauge and have made two trestles that are the same height as the centres of the wheels. Trestle at each end of the car and have a length of fishing braid fixed at each end of the trestle giving two parallel lines running down each side of the car with which to measure off. I gaped them so there is 50mm between the front wheels and the lines, there'll be a slightly bigger gap at the rears. With this you can check both front and rear toe in relation to one another and you can check and adjust camber at the same time. Place under each wheel two layers of perspex or similar with a smear of oil between the layers to make it easier to move the wheel/tyre about. Once you're done it will probably be worth getting everything checked by a reputable garage to confirm your settings.
Formally know as Smackfiend
Posted 06 July 2016 - 05:09 PM
Because I'm a cheap git, I made a bracket to hold a digital angle finder like this one: http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B0016Z1084 to the centre of the wheel.
After getting the car level using the digital level and thin sheets of wood and plastic (I used 2 sheets of plastic at the front with WD40 between them to make the wheels slide around).
I then set the castor set up by attaching my digital angle finder and zeroing the angle with the wheels turned out at 20 degrees then taking the measurement of the angle with the wheels turned 20 degrees in (40 degree turn in total). I then adjusted the tie rods to suit. There is tons of videos on YouTube on how to set castor, takes a bit of time to sort accurately but when you've done it once its dead easy.
To do the tracking I made two homemade tracking plates out if MDF (like the attachment) and two B&Q tape measures to get the wheels to the correct toe.
modp-1301-04+trackside-wheel-alignment+toe-plates.jpg 85.67K
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One Carb Or Two?
Posted 06 July 2016 - 05:16 PM
One more thing is to maybe think about getting adjustable rear toe/camber brackets as you may find the standard settings on the rear could be out slightly. I adjusted mine using shims which is ok but found it a bit of a drag doing it! I've since bought a set of adjustable ones and will fit them once the clubman has been run in a bit more. Also once you've got everything set perfect then run the car back and forth a few times or better still take her for a wee drive, get back home then set everything up again and check all the settings again, it'll be different from what it was when you left it!
Wants a custom member title
Posted 06 July 2016 - 07:27 PM
Cheers guys! Thats very helpful 
Also found an app for my phone haha. I think I'll get the string out!
Formally know as Smackfiend
Posted 06 July 2016 - 07:47 PM
Crazy About Mini's
Posted 06 July 2016 - 11:11 PM
Don't use adjustable rear camber/toe brackets. There have been a number of cases of these failing, and one popular type is very badly made indeed.
Far safer to measure, calculate how much you need to move it, file the hole, and weld on a thick washer to locate the shaft properly.
To calculate the amount to move the hole centre, find the overall length of the pivoting part of the arm plus thrust washers, i.e. the distance between the inside face of the outer bracket and the inner subframe web. A tape measure or steel rule is accurate enough. I don't have the figure to hand, but it will be the same for all Minis. The number you get in mm should be divided by 57.3, and again you will use that number, once established, on any Mini. Let6 us call it X.
Now supposing that you want the camber to go 2 degrees negative (I don't advocate as much, it is just an example of how to do the calculation)from its current value, and the toe 0.25 degree inwards, on one side, So the hole has to go 2 * X up, and 0.25 * X forwards. That will get you in the right place, consistently, if you can measure the hole position properly.
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Wants a custom member title
Posted 06 July 2016 - 11:21 PM
Up Into Fourth
Posted 07 July 2016 - 02:29 AM
If you are giving it more camber on the front you'll need to wind the tie rod ends (track rod ends) out to correct the toe. Make sure you have enough thread engaged, you can get the longer ones from most mini shops if you need.
http://www.minispare.../C-AJJ1572.aspx
One Carb Or Two?
Posted 07 July 2016 - 06:38 AM
Don't use adjustable rear camber/toe brackets. There have been a number of cases of these failing, and one popular type is very badly made indeed.
Far safer to measure, calculate how much you need to move it, file the hole, and weld on a thick washer to locate the shaft properly.
To calculate the amount to move the hole centre, find the overall length of the pivoting part of the arm plus thrust washers, i.e. the distance between the inside face of the outer bracket and the inner subframe web. A tape measure or steel rule is accurate enough. I don't have the figure to hand, but it will be the same for all Minis. The number you get in mm should be divided by 57.3, and again you will use that number, once established, on any Mini. Let6 us call it X.
Now supposing that you want the camber to go 2 degrees negative (I don't advocate as much, it is just an example of how to do the calculation)from its current value, and the toe 0.25 degree inwards, on one side, So the hole has to go 2 * X up, and 0.25 * X forwards. That will get you in the right place, consistently, if you can measure the hole position properly.
0
Wish I'd known this formula, might've helped save a few hours of my life! Regarding the adjustable brackets I have (minisport ones so there is no locking device on them as such) I'll be fitting them and adjusting to my desired settings then once I'm happy I'll be welding them in position to keep them from moving. I don't think I could trust them to stay in position for more than it takes to get to the end of the street!
Formally know as Smackfiend
Posted 07 July 2016 - 08:23 AM
One Carb Or Two?
Posted 07 July 2016 - 12:32 PM
I looked at those and nearly bought them but a set of unused minisport ones came up for sale so went for them. I knew they would need to be welded in order to have confidence in them so I was happy to use them. With the shimming then everything has to be dismantled and rebuilt every time a shim is installed or removed until a good setting is achieved so I got a little fed up doing this and I'm not 100% happy with the setting I ended up at, even with these basic minisport ones then everything only needs to be assembled once then hopefully moved about to suit. Having a couple of small sheets of perspex with oil between the sheets underneath the tyre will make things a lot easier to move about.
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