Suspension Brakes 1st Gen Most liked posts in thread: Rear toe

Zero toe has zero benefit; why do you want something like that?

If the rear control arms are used to adjust toe, they must be lengthened or shortened top & bottom together, and that affects the distance between tires. The range of motion for the trailing arm within its bushing will be reduced if track is altered drastically; the early model bushing/arm is slightly more forgiving than the later model, BTW. For this reason I recommend setting the upper arm to stock length if it is aftermarket adjustable, and don't mess with it. Either the top or bottom control arm can be used to adjust camber, they are not designated top for toe, bottom for camber; the lower arm is just easier to access.

Only move the trailing arm bushing bracket to adjust toe.

 

I can't speak for Dawgscj7, but for me zero toe seems to be a great benefit over the massive rear toe in that most MINI's get from the factory. It frees up the rear end and dramatically improves tire wear. Zero rear toe is usually my compromise autox/daily street setup.

Jason

 

Take it to a professional with the proper equipment and ask them to set your rear toe to zero. If they try and set it with the control arms go somewhere else... 2cents

 

IMHO, you should not attempt to set the rear toe yourself. If I remember correctly, the R53 is done with a couple bolts (on each side) that attach the subframe. You absolutely need to have a professional do this for you. Mine is at 0-toe and 1.5-camber. The car is great at this setting as it goes to 1.8 loaded. Extra tire wear is noted but unimportant as I do like the effect of the settings.

Good luck! :beer

 

Bracket #6 is where the toe is adjusted, if it isn't obvious to all those interested in this....

 

More front negative camber, less rear negative camber and a tic of rear toe in, so as not to be chasing it down the straights, works good for me and my suspension components...

That said, as Ben alluded to, your over all set up and your own driving style and needs have to be considered... Not a one size fits all proposition... 2cents

 

Step on the brake and zero toe at the rear becomes toe out as the rear of the car lifts, causing the rear to hunt. For more control "at the limit", a little more toe in the rear than front. Oversteer on a MINI with stock front sway bar and stiff springs, not likely, loss of rear traction from too stiff rear sway bar and springs, yes.

 

Do you have any suspension mods? If so..what?

 

^^^ +1

 

The rear toe is adjusted by sliding the Trailing Arm in sloted holes. There are three bolts that are loosened, the arm moved, and the bolts tightened. There is a special BMW tool for doing the adjustment but it can be done by trial and error without the tool. Measure, loosen, adjust, tighten, measure, and repeat.

Many alignment shops will not adjust the rear toe because they say it requires a special tool. The alignment shop that I go to does it without the tool but said it was a pain in the butt the first time the tech did the rear toe adjustment (took him about an hour but I have a GP which makes it harder to access the bolts). When the bolts are tightened the toe tends to change a little making it a little guess at where to adjust before tightening. After doing the rear toe a few time, the tech is much faster.

If you install aftermarket adjustable rear control arms, the toe can be adjusted using the control arms instead of the trailing arm bolts.

 

The upper arms can adjust the toe, the lower will adjust camber.

 

^^^ This.

 

Even if one does have adjustable control arms, I feel that adjusting with the slotted holes on the trailing arm bracket is still the right way to do it, as opposed to changing the length of the control arms. I find that it helps to trace the outline of the bracket onto the body with a paint marker before making an adjustment; then you can see how far you have moved the bracket, and it makes it easy to find your original setting just in case things get really screwed up.

Jason

 

+1 on what Jason stated about zero toe.

 

Me and some others like a *little* toe in on the rear - like 1/8" total. Helps settle the rear a bit. But to each his/her own.

When I got my last alignment, The toe adjustment was maxed out to get to 1/8" with -1.5 deg of camber. I wanted less camber, but couldn't get it without screwing up toe (even with adjustable lower arms). Not sure why, because I've been able to get it before with the rear even a bit lower than it is now.

I'm gonna swap to adjustable plates up front so I can add more camber there, so -1.5 will be fine in the rear... but a bit perplexing.

Hmmmmm.

 

and a little toe goes a long way - I once asked mine to be set at 1/8" total, but the mechanic set it to 1/8" per side for 1/4" total (rear toe in). It totally killed the car. Felt really stiff and not fun to drive. Sure went straight on the highway though. Anyway, backed it off to 1/8" and all was good. I've been curious to try less toe, but afraid it will be too nervous on the highway and it's not cheap or convenient enough to experiment with..

 

I've run mine at both - zero all around, and 1/8"in on the rear. Both feel good, not a crazy amount of difference. But with a lot of highway driving the 1/8" in is a good balance for me, and doesn't slow me down in the twisties.

 

0.00 Rear Toe, which is something I like, is rather twitchy, then again. I like that.

Mr Chad was able to get me real close. -0.02 Left - +0.01 Right. Coupled with a -2.00 Camber on each side in the rear and some stickish summer tires. It's as if it's on rails. But twitchy...Just like "I" like the setup.

Please Note that I don't use the car for a daily driver.

 

You run -2.00 degrees of camber in the rear, why?

 

I too like the zero toe and mine is a DD.....