Rear wheel alignment
Discussion
My 998 is scrubbing a rear tyre. When I changed the rear subframe last summer I noticed the OSR wheel was visibly towing in by approx 8mm. I thought the radius arm was bent as I previously had a sideways moment. Result was no difference so I made some shims and put in as many as I could. The tow in is now not visible and using a peice of wood it is about the same each side when measuring the gap between the wood and wheel when the plank is placed against the body work.
Thats a long winded way of saying whats the reccomended tow in and camber settings for the rear wheels? I will get a pair of proper adjusters from mini spares to have it set up. Thanks.
Thats a long winded way of saying whats the reccomended tow in and camber settings for the rear wheels? I will get a pair of proper adjusters from mini spares to have it set up. Thanks.
The rear setting should be 1.5 mm to 3 mm toe-in and zero to -0.5 degree negative camber.
It's actually very easy to do the setting-up yourself if you have acess to a MIG welder.
Get two straight planks of wood about 5ft long and place one on each side of the wheels supported at wheel centre height (I rest the wood on a ouple of milk rates with a bit of extra wood to get the height right. The wood should be hard up against the tyre walls and should stick out the back of the ar by about 2' to 3'.
Now, make 2 marks along the wood on each side 12" apart, behind the car and equal distance from the wheel centre on both sides. The distance across between the inner faces of the wood at these marks should be greater by between 1.5 and 3 mm at the furthest set of points. If it is, then the toe-in is within limits. If not you either add packing shims behind the radius arm brackets or file the slot in the brackets, depending on whether it's toeing-in too much or too little.
To check the camber, get an accurately retangular piece of plywood about 20" x 24" and, with the car sitting on a flat smooth surface, put the wood panel vertically against the tyre wall with the wood going aross the entre line of the wheel. Now measure from the wood edge to tyhe lowest point of the rim and the highest point of the rim using a steel rule. The distance at the top should be the same or slightly greater than at the bottom. File the slot upwards to achieve the correct camber.
Now weld a big 'penny' washer onto the bracket to maintain the correct settings.
I hope that is all clear, if not I apologise.
At the same time as you are checking the toe-in, you should check that the wheels are also equally aligned with the car and the front wheels. This requires a bit of judgement, but remember the rear track is 2" narrower than the front.
It's actually very easy to do the setting-up yourself if you have acess to a MIG welder.
Get two straight planks of wood about 5ft long and place one on each side of the wheels supported at wheel centre height (I rest the wood on a ouple of milk rates with a bit of extra wood to get the height right. The wood should be hard up against the tyre walls and should stick out the back of the ar by about 2' to 3'.
Now, make 2 marks along the wood on each side 12" apart, behind the car and equal distance from the wheel centre on both sides. The distance across between the inner faces of the wood at these marks should be greater by between 1.5 and 3 mm at the furthest set of points. If it is, then the toe-in is within limits. If not you either add packing shims behind the radius arm brackets or file the slot in the brackets, depending on whether it's toeing-in too much or too little.
To check the camber, get an accurately retangular piece of plywood about 20" x 24" and, with the car sitting on a flat smooth surface, put the wood panel vertically against the tyre wall with the wood going aross the entre line of the wheel. Now measure from the wood edge to tyhe lowest point of the rim and the highest point of the rim using a steel rule. The distance at the top should be the same or slightly greater than at the bottom. File the slot upwards to achieve the correct camber.
Now weld a big 'penny' washer onto the bracket to maintain the correct settings.
I hope that is all clear, if not I apologise.
At the same time as you are checking the toe-in, you should check that the wheels are also equally aligned with the car and the front wheels. This requires a bit of judgement, but remember the rear track is 2" narrower than the front.
Gassing Station | Classic Minis | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff