14 replies to this topic

[CallumAustin11]

My Rear LHS wheel sits far in the arch compared to the other wheel on the other side. It’s even hitting the inside wheel arch panel and rubbing against the shock. Any idea on what it could be?

[mab01uk]

A bent radius arm can cause this or excess wear in the radius arm shaft/bearings. Have you jacked the car up and pulled/pushed on the rear wheel/radius arm to check for sideways movement in/out, which would indicate excess wear if you do detect any play?

 

Minispares do exchange reconditioned radius arms but your old arm for exchange must be in a servicable condition and not be bent....or there is a surcharge.

http://www.minispare...ssic/TRA32.aspx

Edited by mab01uk, 01 May 2023 - 04:10 PM.

[CallumAustin11]

Hi, I’ve jacked the car up and checked for play. There’s a bit of play. Would this really cause the wheel to sit far in the arch? Thought the cause could be bent radius arm

[CallumAustin11]

The wheel is sitting about 1cm further in than the other side. Also just checked the shocks. Can almost fit my hand round the good side (RHS) and not at all on the bad side (LHS)

[Spider]

As mab01uk suggested, could be either or both.

 

Ideally, you'd want to remove the Arm and put it in a jig to check it's alignment.

 

Without a jig given how far yours seems to be out, you can often see it's not right.

[mab01uk]

If you get someone to drive behind you they may also notice your Mini is 'crabbing' when on a straight road....ie. you can see down one side of the car when viewed straight on from behind.

[CallumAustin11]

I did drive a car behind my mini and noticed it was crabbing. This may be the source. I’ll swap mine out with one from minispares and see if it works. Hoping it’s not the subframe

[CallumAustin11]

So changed the radius arm out for a new one from minispares. Problem is still there…. Thinking subframe is bent now. Anyway to check the subframe is bent without removing from car

[gazza82]

So changed the radius arm out for a new one from minispares. Problem is still there…. Thinking subframe is bent now. Anyway to check the subframe is bent without removing from car

Bent or mis-aligned?

I've seen plenty of crabbing Minis over the years

[CallumAustin11]

How could you misalign it?

[sonscar]

Is the wheel vertical?Does it point in at the front or back?It should be very noticeable if it is too close.Steve..

[GraemeC]

Very difficult to see a Mini crabbing by driving behind it.

Given the rear track is narrower than the front they always look like they’re crabbing, even when they’re not.

[gazza82]

Very difficult to see a Mini crabbing by driving behind it.

Given the rear track is narrower than the front they always look like they’re crabbing, even when they’re not.

Not when you could see the panels along one side right to the tio of the front wing ... several degrees out to be that far over!

[Chris1275gt]

As a basic guide wouldn’t the Calvert string method round the tyres tell you if it’s out of alignment. My car is the same 10mm out on the N/S but it doesn’t crab the string alignment is spot on drives straight as a die and the tyre wear is even and corners as if on rails.
I vaguely remember an old thread about this where there was quite a few replies about mk3 bodies being the same and it was presumed they left the factory like this but my memory could be wrong.

[beardylondon]

On my 1990 Cooper I noticed not long after I got it that the rear LHS is 7mm further in, and even posted on here about it and had similar replies about radius arms etc. Even with 165 tyres, didn’t rub. I got two recon radius arms, rebuilt all the rear suspension and it was still the same. After researching similar age cars online, I found multiple cars around the same age are exactly the same, most likely out of the factory. So I bought longer studs and put 7mm spacers on, job done.

Edited by beardylondon, 06 May 2023 - 02:09 PM.