Brakes Wheels 2nd Gen Tires Most liked posts in thread: Wheel Alignment Concerns!

Systemlord, cupping like that is probably a toe problem, camber tends to wear evenly on the inside.

I found that the only real cure is to rotate frequently, if you're in spec. on the alignment.

BTW, to get the degree symbol, just go to the character map.....


As to getting "ripped off" by the dealer.....really? A good alignment from pretty much any tire store around here is at least $100 - getting it done right the first time by your dealer for only $40 more hardly seems like a rip off, especially given what you paid for the Michy's, mounted and balanced. You get what you pay for......

 

Does no one read what I write?

Systemlord, I teach steering and suspension at college, and I've been working on cars for over 30 years.

What you have is not a camber problem, it's a toe problem. If you want to play with camber to experiment with handling by all means, please do - but your wear isn't coming from that as I and a couple others wrote.

 

My rear toe is zero....


Bruhahahahahaha..... I'm toeless.... I have no toe...

 

I'd also look into the toe-in setting. Too much toe in (even if it's "within spec") sure can cause wear issues on the rear. Zero rear toe or maybe 1/16" total toe-in goes a long way to improving rear tire wear, even with a bunch of negative camber.

Jason

 

I'm thinking cupping is more of a not rotating the tires issue or a rear toe issue. Negative camber wears the inside edges of the tires.

 

Slime fix-a-flat.... Your best traveling companion.... Don't need to use the oem jack... Less than $20.00, from a Walmart near you...

MINI also sells their "Mobility Kit", similar to the Slime.... Except you also get a pair of gloves....

Amazon.com: Genuine MINI Cooper Tire Mobility Kit: Automotive

 

Take all of the following as friendly advice - not here to preach... just share some experiences.

IMO, MINIs are spec'd with WAY too much rear camber. It's done to prevent oversteer "at all costs"... which is ridiculous in these cars, because oversteer is a feature when they're setup right. All mainstream manufacturers configure their cars for understeer, so they "push" when going "too fast" into a corner, which makes you instinctively slow down. I guess that's OK for teenagers and people who put on their makeup and text while driving... but for the rest of us, it's just an impediment.

The run flats are notorious for wearing in weird and unpredictable ways. Especially on the rear. With that much rear camber, the inside half of the tire carries almost all the load on a properly inflated run-flat. When under inflated, the inner sidewall and edge carry almost all the load. And unless you're diligent about checking pressures with an actual gauge, you're likely to drive around on under inflated run flats, because you can't tell they're low by looking at them or putting your thumb in the sidewall.

FWIW, I run -2.1 front / -1.0 rear camber. Not a setup I recommend for everyone, and not even possible with the factory hardware. But it makes a MINI handle the way they all should, IMO.

As for jacks... wheel chocks are your friends. I've used screw/scissor jacks a zillion times with no problem, as long as the wheels were chocked / car was immobilized. No jack is safe without these steps. Buy a pair of cheap wheel chocks and keep them with the jack.

 

No cupping and seem to get good wear..... I had Chad at Detroit Tuned do mine.... Very happy with the results...

 

Yeah that happens when the alignment shops say they are within "spec". I would find a better shop because if your car is set up right that should not happen.

FYI rotate your tires every 5k mikes.

 

Here's the setup per the JCW Suspension Instructions.

Just a screenshot of the PDF. If you want the whole PDF, PM me your email address.

I hope this is helpful to you.

 

Too loud....

 

You said decibels not decimals . :lol:

 

My rears are set at -1.85 degrees...

 

There is a range & while the alignment may fall in that range it is not optimum. There is not a lot of camber adjustment in our cars. On my 2006 it was about 1/2 degree of adjustment available.

Find a good alignment shop. Check with the local SCCA guys & ask who they use. You may have to go with a set of adjustable lower arms to get that camber where you want it. I'm happily using H-Sport arms.

 

Got there with adjustable H-Sport lower camber arms....