1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Rear tires wearing on inside edge

One of the things that makes MINIs so much more fun on the twisties is the way they are set up. There is negative camber built in to the rear suspension. What you are seeing is normal. The way to mitigate uneven wear on a set of tires is to rotate them regularly. Most of those that do, do so around 5K miles. If you are concerned, have an alignment shop check the setup on all 4 corners, they should do that for a pittance. I'll bet you will find everything as it should be. Also, if you are running high performance tires, they will wear faster than others too. Get all that checked out before you spend bucks on something you may not need. Or spend it on something just because you want to. MINIs are quirky and invite you-a-fication.

 

X2 on Toe.... Most every MINI I've checked has way too much rear toe in, along with funky wear on the inside edge. Adjusting the rear to about 1/16" total toe in seems to be a great street/performance alignment setting that is easy on the tires, even when running a healthy amount of negative camber.


Jason

 

The dealer is not going to give you a good alignment. There is too much slop in their specs. Find a place that can do a custom alignment to your spec's.

I'd side with the tire company. Your dealer is giving you a sloppy alignment.

 

^ This.

The "specs" for MINI factory alignment suck, quite frankly.

Pretty much true of all standard alignments, because the manufacturers spec in a significant amount of understeer because they consider that safer than the possibility of "snap" understeer (rear end coming around).

So then we all go out and get stiffer swaybars, to add more understeer and make the car more neutral. If you're really serious about it, you add camber plates up front to really make the car neutral.

There's nothing sacred about the factory-spec rear camber or toe. In truth, most MINIs have too much rear negative camber, too little front negative camber, and too much toe all around.

 

A proper alignment will also correct the issue.

 

The stock suspension set up is designed in such a way so as to enhance the car's handling through negative camber. It will and/or can be set more-so if the lower arms are adjustable. I agree the alignment should be checked for overall piece of mind. Just be sure the technician knows 4-wheel alignment well enough so as not to take away from the designed handling ability.

 

Are you running runflat tires? If so, are you sure you have always had them fully inflated? How often do you check your air pressure?

Runflats tend to "look" like they're not under inflated, even when they are.
If they're driven under inflated, the stiff sidewalls + negative camber causes the inside edge to wear out FAST. This may not be your problem... But I've seen it before.

 

I have never had any issues with the inside wearing out faster than any other portion of my tires. On my 2008 Clubman or on my current 2012 Cooper S. I also have as much negative camber in the alignment as is possible without modifying the suspension so that I can stay in the "Stock" Class for autocross events.

I'm gong to stick to suggesting having those bushings reviewed by a reputable shop.

 

I'm assuming that 2003 mini is driving a 2003 MINI. There is no camber adjustment front or rear on a 2003. That changed in 2005 when I believe you could get maybe 1/2 degree camber out of the rear. So the only way to get camber out of the rear would be a set of adjustable lower arms.

Not seeing what the tires look like it is hard to say what is causing the wear problem. Camber yes that could be part or all of it. Could be the rear toe is not correct & that would also cause an odd wear pattern on the rear tires. A picture of your rear tires would help 2003 mini.

 

Toe or inflation are most likely culprits. Toe could be just in need of alignment, or could be caused by depleted bushings in either trailing arm joint or the control arms. While REALLY worn out bushings can result in ability to wiggle the wheel when lifted, that's not always the case.

 

How frequently have you been rotating the tires? I had not been good about this in the past (did not have time) until I got my Mini. Now I make time, and tires last considerably longer.

 

Are you suspension bushing in good order?

 

From what I have read in numerous places, the problem you are experiencing is worn out bushings in your suspension. There's a couple of things you can have popped in there, OEM bushings, which will last between 40k and 50k miles or aftermarket bushings that I understand are good for the life of the car and provide a tighter feel in the steering by having less squishiness to them.

I understand that the parts and installation costs are very similar regardless of whether you go with OEM or aftermarket. If it was me, I would go aftermarket.

 

After market rear control arms with an alignment should fix the negative camber.

 

Does the car have lowering springs installed?

 

:cornut: There is a small amount of adjustment in the factory rear end. The MINI new comes with negative camber in the rear standard.

Jason