[Randall Raines]

Quote: Originally Posted by oldnell (original)

Great post, Randall. I was wondering about the rear suspension.

In the summer I replaced my wheels and shortly after had alignment done at a tyre fitters (after phoning round endlessly for someone who at least said they had the required weights to do a MINI). Prior to that, I had the following wear on my tyres

o o x


o x o x

Where o is a tyre and x denotes shoulder wear on that side of the tyre.

I've not noticed abnormal wear since, but I wonder if I should do what you did and get the later rear suspension parts. The rear seems to go wide slightly if I take a rough corner at speed.

Oli

Thanks!.... You don't need to change the complete suspension, you can get adjustable rear bushes for the lower rear arms from MINI performance stores, and if you were thinking of getting the fronts done as well, it could cost you quite a bit, especially if you add on the wheel alignment but it would be worth doing it all at once to save on alignment costs (don't have to do it twice), I only changed mine because I've noticed over the years plenty of MINIs with wear on the rear tyres (due to wheel upgrades, lowering & just not being adjustable), obviously MINI have realised it as well and changed the rear suspension on the later R50s R52s R53s they have changed the rear trailing arms so it's not a simple job to do (requiring changing a few components depending on the year of car), I only changed mine because I was doing a few other jobs (front suspension & tyres, full service etc...), and I had some ( later trailing arms), other wise I would have done the adjustable bushes plus I do all the labour myself (making sure it's done correctly ).

I believe if the alignment is done correctly it's well worth the money and done correctly it can save you money (tyres etc... etc...), done wrong your initial money is down the drain and it can still cost you in tyres (run-flats ain't cheap), whoever does the job needs to know what he is doing as not only does all your suspension components need to be in perfect condition (ball-joints, track-rod ends bushes, wheel bearings etc... etc...), as you say the car should be weighted correctly tyre pressures done etc... etc... (your wheel bearing may be worth checking as it's a common problem on MINIs & can cause tyre wear ).

Now mines done correctly it drives & handles "MINT" (like a go-kart ) and I couldn't have more even wear, the only downside to that is, I change the tyres around, and when they need replacing they all need doing .