4 wheel lazer alignment

1633 Views 19 Replies 10 Participants Last post by scraggles, Sep 13, 2008

GTT 280

Discussion Starter · Mar 6, 2005

Hi.

Can you tell me, with the MCS, is it possible to benefit from a full 4-wheel lazer alignment by adjusting both the front and rear toe-in, camber etc.

I do not know if the rear is adjustable or not.

I am getting fully adjustable suspension fitted and would like to know if I would benefit from fitting adjustable arms , sway bars or what ever the collective term for them is...

more details on this, and/or links to threads already posted would be of great use, I'd search myself, but i don't know what to look for....

Thanks.

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vagt6

· #2 · Mar 7, 2005

If you're having the suspension redone, you'll have to have the car completely realigned. The shop who performs the mods should be able to do a proper alignment. If they can't, I'd assume they will suggest someone.

If all else fails, ask the shop that's doing your suspension work.

GTT 280

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 7, 2005

vagt6 said:
If you're having the suspension redone, you'll have to have the car completely realigned. The shop who performs the mods should be able to do a proper alignment. If they can't, I'd assume they will suggest someone.

If all else fails, ask the shop that's doing your suspension work.

That's all well and good - but I live 200 miles away from the suspension manufacturer/fitter.
If I arrive and they are unable to obtain the best alignment because the rear suspension does not have full adjustability, I would like to know if i can prepare for this by purchasing adjutable arms, rods or whatever they are called, in advance.

I do not know if the rear wheels are fully adjustable.

I am aware that when the suspension is replaced, the car requires full realignment. I just need to know if I can improve on what the stock setup can offer/achive.

Thanks.

pocketrocketowner

· #4 · Mar 8, 2005

Yes you can achive better handling at the cost of ride quality and faster tyre wear.
Alignment, lazer or not must be done properly. Your basic stock set up is very good and in fact unbeatable for the street and daily driver.
If you're gonna go off and do something silly

like race, track or autocross

the sucker, then you will have to learn how to align the car yourself as I am guessing you will not be able to drive to the nearest shop to get an alignment while at a meet.
Alignement at that level is a matter of personal choice and comfort zone. I can tell you that if you want a quick car you want to toe it out on both axles (its gonna steer kind of funny and brake even funnier but it will turn like stink), you want more camber both ends, you want a bigger sway bar and in general softer shock settings in the front than in the rear. Don't come crying over your tire bill though....

Hope this helps.....
PS your new suspension on stock settings will be great!

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GTT 280

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 8, 2005

pocketrocketowner said:
PS your new suspension on stock settings will be great!

OK - so i'll just leave the rear alignment as it should be, and base the front alignment on this.

I'm going for 250lbs on all four coil-overs, although 325lbs has been mentioned for the front to prevent excesive dipping.

SCB

· #6 · Mar 11, 2005

People in the know...

Cooper S Works said:
Can you tell me, with the MCS, is it possible to benefit from a full 4-wheel lazer alignment by adjusting both the front and rear toe-in, camber etc...

I can't, but I know a man who can, and that is ED Jackson at AmD Technik in Bicester, contactable on 01869-323205 the provide a 4 Wheel Alignment assessment and adjustment see the details on their website

I believe that the assessment is about £60 and then it is all subject to the amount of adjustment required.

I just had a full Milltek exhaust system fitted and they are a very professional team of dedicated specialists.

Give them a call, you have nothing to loose...
StevieB

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Mike Edwards

· #7 · Mar 11, 2005

Oh - and ask for "Laser" alignment...

Fishtail

· #8 · Mar 11, 2005

kwik fit quoted me £23 for laser alighnment

Bajanmini

· #9 · Sep 9, 2008

Found this thread in a search and is pretty much what i'm looking for so sorry for digging up such an old thread.Ok Mini cooper 2002 non S,am looking for the stock figures or a suggestion as to a good starting point for my car with FSD's on stock springs,adj camber plates and a 19mm rear sway bar on 205 45 17 tyres.Its a spirited daily driver,the Hanes manual has nothing on figures but do say to put weight 68kg in each front seat and 14kg in the boot on top of a full tank of gas,i have also read in threads of doing it with me in the drivers seat and no mention of weights.To make a long story short i'm looking for some alighnment numbers to start at and whats the score with weight in the car at alighnment.Thanks Peter

[email protected]

· #10 · Sep 9, 2008

the weights you listed are correct the mini should ideally be done with those weights using a hunter alignment machine

Bajanmini

· #11 · Sep 9, 2008 (Edited)

Thanks those were figures out of the manual,i've read on NAM like two tuners recomending the driver be in the car as it affects the rear camber no mention of using the weights any takes on that,and i'd like to get my hands on the actual figures for the car to ensure it's being alighned to spec,the installer would recomend camber settings etc to sweeten it up as he works on some serious race cars,but i dont think he knows what the original spec is on this car,should i ask BMW.
p.s my common sense is telling me i need to know the original spec in order to tweak it otherwise you are guessing,and i'll end up doing two alighnments,i'm not a buff on this so feel free to correct me.

[email protected]

· #12 · Sep 9, 2008

hes talking about dedicated track set up i.e one driver no passengers the bmw specs take account for the fact that sometimes we have passengers / shopping etc

Bajanmini

· #13 · Sep 9, 2008

Ok good i clearly understand what you are saying,i dont want a track setup,so in an ideal world i'd be looking at stock setup with recomended weight and induce a bit of neg camber with the plates is that correct? and has anyone out there got the stock numbers for this car.Thanks James

[email protected]

· #14 · Sep 9, 2008

ask over on northamericanmotoring.com in the R53 suspension as i dont have the numbers to hand

Bajanmini

· #15 · Sep 9, 2008

Yea James i've been surfing over there as well and found these figures but i dont know if they are stock or for an S,i cant refer to the post but did write them down as i was searching extensively.Its claimed that the stock car has little or no camber so it looks like this is a track or some other setup. Front
Left Right
camber -1.79 -1.83
Cross Camber 0.04
Caster 4.12 3.62
Cross Caster 0.50
SAI - - - -
Included angle - - - -
Toe 0.15 0.15
Total toe 0.30
Set back 0.08
Turning angle diff - - - -
Rear
Left Right
Camber-1.50 -1.12
Toe0.19 0.20
Total toe 0.40 which should be 39 but says 40
Thrust Angle -0.01

Bajanmini

· #16 · Sep 9, 2008

A vendor on NAM is telling me to go for -1.7 camber in front and 1.2 in the rear,with 0 toe in front and slight toe in the rear,swaybar on softest to start.Rotate tyres at oil changes and thats a good street setup,anyone with the know in dissagreement

Bajanmini

· #17 · Sep 10, 2008

I clearly understand what camber is doing and am told -1.8 is stock for the rear so whatever the camber reads at alighnment with stock lower armsi shall have in the front IE adj plates.However some say toe 0 in front and slight (toe in)rear and then others the opposite.So can somewone explain the effects of toe settings on either end of the car.If you dont like something after alighnment you need to know what it's doing in order to correct for your preference.I am beginning to see that these settings are for personal preference of driving style and road conditions,thats why nobody comes up with similar #.But i must admit the toe has me stumped

john 123

· #18 · Sep 12, 2008

mini one 2001 (51) had tracking done and its stil pulling to the left? can anyone help

Bajanmini

· #19 · Sep 13, 2008

Well John i dont really think you should take my word as i'm not a mechanic,but maybe somewone in the know will tune in,i restarted this thread to learn about it as i;m doing stuff to my car.Nevertheless i would start with condition of tyres then air pressure then have them balanced and if those options fail,then take it back to who alighned the car and speak of your problem.When i was at the end of my old tyres things wer'nt great but with new rubber it's like a whole new car.

scraggles

· #20 · Sep 13, 2008

john 123 said:
mini one 2001 (51) had tracking done and its stil pulling to the left? can anyone help

john 123, it's exactly as MINIAC said in the other thread steering left

MINIAC said:
MINIs built prior to March 2002 required replacing the front struts to fix the "pull left" problem. If your MINI was built prior to this date, you'll need to check with a dealer to see if the fix was done.

Sounds very much like the answer to your problem..

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