14 replies to this topic

[olly33]

In the not to distant future I need my suspension and geometry setup,but I need to know,do I have to get the ride height how I want it before any camber,castor rear tracking brackets needs adjustments?
I ask as,if I was to change the ride height slightly afterwards,will all the hard work setting up the geometry be changed,I still have a bit of rubbing on the arch even tho a fair bit has been chopped off the front arches.

Cheers,guess a Q for the more experience modifiers?

Edited by olly33, 11 March 2016 - 10:19 PM.

[Shifty]

I'd say yes, I also note you're probably from the Telford area!!

 

Hansons Garage in Shawbury do 4 wheel, plus castor and camber alignment 

[Cooperman]

The rear suspension is true parallel trailing arm, so once set a change in ride height will not alter either the toe or camber settings.

However, a change in ride height at the front will effect camber, track and will have a small effect on the caster angle once set for a specific height.

For road use standard ride height gives the best overall results in terms of both road-holding and handling once all set-up accurately.

[olly33]

I'd say yes, I also note you're probably from the Telford area!!
 
Hansons Garage in Shawbury do 4 wheel, plus castor and camber alignment

Shifty,no I am from Halesowen area of Brum.

The rear suspension is true parallel trailing arm, so once set a change in ride height will not alter either the toe or camber settings.
However, a change in ride height at the front will effect camber, track and will have a small effect on the caster angle once set for a specific height.
For road use standard ride height gives the best overall results in terms of both road-holding and handling once all set-up accurately.

Do you know the front standard height,and where best to measure from?

[MRA]

Have you got adjustable or standard suspension ?

[olly33]

I'm back to this question 6 months on as it's going to be setup this week,at Chemix in stourbridge as recommend to me by minispares up on the wolverhampton rd as they have had numerous race cars setup here.
Bit late MRA,but it's all adjustable.

Any settings for toe/camber I should ask for to use on the rd as a weekend car,or just let them decide. Have rear adjustable brackets so just wondering.
Cheers

[nicklouse]

Wheel/tyre size?
Rubber/polly/rose joints?

[Batmini]

I'm back to this question 6 months on as it's going to be setup this week,at Chemix in stourbridge as recommend to me by minispares up on the wolverhampton rd as they have had numerous race cars setup here.
Bit late MRA,but it's all adjustable.
Any settings for toe/camber I should ask for to use on the rd as a weekend car,or just let them decide. Have rear adjustable brackets so just wondering.
Cheers

That's where i had mine done. Just ask for a fast road setting, the guy there knows what he's doing. Here's what they set mine to (i'm on 10s)

Attached Files

•  20150621_111257.jpg   45.21K   82 downloads

[olly33]

Wheel/tyre size?
Rubber/polly/rose joints?

On 12"wheels 165-45 I think tyres. Polybush all round except front tie bar has 1 of each for safety reason apparently. Normal joints

[olly33]

I'm back to this question 6 months on as it's going to be setup this week,at Chemix in stourbridge as recommend to me by minispares up on the wolverhampton rd as they have had numerous race cars setup here.
Bit late MRA,but it's all adjustable.
Any settings for toe/camber I should ask for to use on the rd as a weekend car,or just let them decide. Have rear adjustable brackets so just wondering.
Cheers

That's where i had mine done. Just ask for a fast road setting, the guy there knows what he's doing. Here's what they set mine to (i'm on 10s)

Cheers although the figures mean not much to me!

[Cooperman]

On a 12" wheel tyre size should be either 145/70 x 12 or 165/60 x 12


I have previously posted optimum suspension settings for road use so just do a search on here.

[Shooter63]

The first area to look at before tackling any of these modifications is the front subframe when the car is post 1976 (rubber mounted subframe type). Replace the front subframe tower mountings with any of the solid types available if not already done.

The front teardrop mountings should also be changed for solid type which might increase road noise but when this is not a consideration for performance use change all rubber mountings to solid types. Quite often the tower rubber mountings are not correctly lined up but by removing the tower bolts you can see visually whether they are in line or not. Then check that the wheel centres on each side of the car are the same distance apart or modifications will have to be made.

Secondly, make sure the car is the correct height you require, and that the two rear corners and two front corners are equal side to side, (fit Hilos if required) remember lowering height increases castor and negative camber with the opposite happening when you increase height at the front only.

Thirdly, sort out the castor angles as castor adjustment also alters camber (and vice versa)

Ideally the front castor angles should be set at 3 to 3.5 degrees with the later usually being ideal to allow for clearances on wheel arches.

Tracking on a mini is ultra important as it suffers badly from bump steer. You should have toe out at the front, of 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch. And toe in at the rear of at least 1/16 of an inch. “Toe in” means that the leading edge of a pair of wheels is narrower than the trailing edge, “Toe out” is obviously the reverse (Toe out at the rear is dangerous) Lastly, set the Negative Camber angles and the following are road suggestions,

on 10” wheels Front 1.5 to-2.00 degrees ----- Rear 0.75 to 1 degree
on 12” wheels Front 1 to 1.5 degrees ----------Rear 0 to 0.50 degrees
on 13” wheels Front 0.5 to 0.75 degrees ------Rear Zero

All you need to know courtesy of the man himself Mr Keith Dodd/minispares. I hope he doesn't mind me copying this from his site.

Shooter

[tiger99]

Please disregard incorrect advice. If changing subframe mounts they MUST all be solid (recommended) or all standard rubber. This is fairly well known. All other combinations will cause fatigue cracking in the shell, either in the inner wings, a nuisance to repair, or in the underside of the bulkhead cross member, altogether more dangerous and much harder to repair. In general terms, nothing should ever be mounted on some rigid mounts and others that can flex, or something will break sooner or later.

None of the available poly mounts have any engineering credibility whatsoever, and both the toeboard and teardrops are just plain wrong and incapable of providing the necessary safe location of the subframe.

If you do go for solid mounts, you will need strengthening plates on the toeboard as the later mounts don't go at the strong point where the original Issigonis solid mounts went.

Edited by tiger99, 07 September 2016 - 03:24 PM.

[olly33]

Took it in today with current setup of poly rubbers all round...are they really that unsafe to use if minispares and the like sell them? They were already fitted to the car when purchased,so for now there staying.
It was done to a bit of a hybrid setting due to only 1.5 negative camber brackets fitted on the front. Suggested the fully adjustable ones would give me more flexibility on front setup.
Minispares camber brackets on the rear are a bit ****,as the guy had to modify the brackets to get more adjustment out of them too.
Attached a pic of end result.

[tiger99]

A lot of products are sold which may be ok for limited mmileage track use but will fail during high mileage road use. And, a lot of products are sold which are just plain unsafe, copper brake pipe for instance, when there are far better alternatives.

Aftermarket parts don't as yet go through any form of type approval process and many of them are clearly amateurish designs. Caveat emptor.