10 replies to this topic

[Readers14]

I'll be looking to fitting some rear adjustable camber/toe brackets sometime over the winter.
Just been looking at various brackets on offer - Minispares, Mini Sport & KAD.

Minispares are £46ish
Mini Sport are £54ish
KAD are £130ish

Are there any alternatives?
I always look for good quality items that are going to last, but are the KAD items really worth paying £130?

[59 Speed]

I have these:

https://www.minispar...69.aspx|Back to

Really well made.

As with any of your choices, they will need to be set up. I did this at home with a digital level to set the camber and a couple of home made tracking plates and a couple of tape measures to set up the toe.

Hope this helps.

Ian

[nicklouse]

Well the Minisport ones don't fit or work.

The others appear to do so.

But why not just modify your existing ones.

[Steve220]

KAD or nothing. I've had all 3 of the options you've got in your OP and only the KAD came close to what I would describe as a proper, build for purpose, product.

[tiger99]

There have been a number of cases of the Minisport items failing. On safety grounds they should never be used. The problem may be due to hydrogen embrittlement because they appear to be plated.

[Magneto]

There have been a number of cases of the Minisport items failing. On safety grounds they should never be used. The problem may be due to hydrogen embrittlement because they appear to be plated.

Have you seen any of the failed parts? I'd like to know exactly how they fail as they're pretty much a copy of the KAD design, with the serrated plates - not much to go wrong there if properly installed. I ran a set on my car for over 3 years and 20K miles with no issues.....I'm curious here, not asking you to defend your statement as much as give more info.

Same with Nicklouse, why do you say they don't work?

I'm not real keen on the MiniSpares design, but as long as they work......

Edited by Magneto, 08 October 2016 - 07:25 PM.

[59 Speed]

I'm not real keen on the MiniSpares design, but as long as they work......

Mini spares recently improved the deign of their brackets so I'm unsure if your talking of the new or the old ones.

Each to their own though, if I wasn't tweaking my suspension settings every five minutes I would have probably saved a few quid and enlarged the mounting holes and then welded the washers to the original brackets.

[tiger99]

Magneto, sorry I did not see the failed parts but if you search the forum you may find some. Several were reported here and on another forum that I no longer visit. But the design is full of stress raisers which, together with embrittlement, is not good.

I think there is a better way of making them, with eccentric bushes, one inside the other, which can be rotated independently and then locked. I am surprised that no-one has done so.

[nicklouse]

I think there is a better way of making them, with eccentric bushes, one inside the other, which can be rotated independently and then locked. I am surprised that no-one has done so.

We did something similar on the metro. But on the inboard side. Using different square insets.

Mine uses shims on the inside to add toe and a threaded adjuster on the outside to change camber.

It all comes down to total cost.

But for a road mini you really can't beat a file.

[Broomer]

The old mini spares brackets were terrible. The little welds on the adjuster broke from the torque applied whilst fitting them. Once they were rewelded and refitted they did not offer the range of adjustment required and had to be removed again and the slots opened up etc.

The time spent doing the above repairs and the time wasted at the 4 wheel alignment would of paid for the KAD items.

[skoughi]

I set mine by opening up the hole on the bracket and welding on a thick washer, however the time spent adding and removing washers to get the settings close to what I wanted nearly drove me to drink. Well it actually did. The settings it at now is close to what I was wanting but not exactly so I bought a set of minisport brackets with the intention of fitting, adjusting to the setting which I think will be a lot easier than the shims then welding them to keep them there. However with what's been said on here I don't think I'll bother! She actually drives very well and is quite steady with virtually no wandering, she's on 13's and we have a lot of chipped dressing surfaces on our roads which can make a car with wide tyres wander. Maybe a case of if it's working then leave it well alone?!!