Tie bar fork to lower suspension arm spacer needed, help!

[davidwarren]

Hi Jonathon, what type of garage would I go to to check all this out?

[davidwarren]

Where can I find what the measurements should be?

[bmcecosse]

Very few places will be able to measure (or even know what it is) the caster angle. I suggest you just bolt it all together, and then track the wheels to 1/16" toe IN. As long as it runs 'hands off' on a flat road it will be fine.

[winger300]

I've got the same problem, here in Stockport Manchester i'm finding it hard to find somewhere that will even do the simple tracking... if its not listed on the computer, they cant do anything with it!

[Dominic]

Winger, I took mine into Cleveleys Kwik Fit, (not a million miles from you!) where the older mechanics know about Minors & Minis. I told them the toe in required (2.5mm), they then set it up very effectively. The car is now a delight to drive.

[jonathon]

Try a local crash repair shop or friendly classic bodyshop. They should have the tools and equipment required . You can find the measurements /settings in the workshop manual, if not I'll post them tommorow from work. We use a 4 wheel alignment system normally found in crash repair or race car shops. Hope fully we'll be getting a set of corner weight plates soon to set up our fully modified cars.
You can 'just bolt it back together' but this rather sells short the gains of a well set up car. After all the correct settings are there for a reason.
If this set up is a genuinely widespread problem then maybe we could arrange a weekend workshop to do as many as possible, although it would mean a good traveling distance for some.

[Roni]

In my manual the settings are listed as :
Camber = 1°
Castor = 3°
Toe In = 2.5mm
These settings were for crossply tyres though. Back when I worked in a vehicle shop that had alignment facilities, some vehicles then had radials as optional extras. The settings for each were a bit different. From a patchy memory the differences were, for radials, less toe-in and slightly more neg camber, if possible. I can't remember the castor differences.
What would be the "best" settings for a minor on radials? The reason I ask is when I had my alignment done some time ago, after having both chassis legs replaced, it showed up some things that could need correcting. Castor was one of these (1.8°) and the other was camber (0.6° Positive RHS, 0.6° negative LHS). Yes, it does turn better one way than the other!
One other thing, and back to the original question - when I was re-bushing the front suspension I found that there was only one spacer fitted to the car. On the other side the forked bolt had been built up, with weld, to the same thickness as the bolt and washer would have been. It was done well and could not be easily seen until comparing its dimensions with the other side. Might be something to check.

[bmcecosse]

I would certainly do something about the side with the +ve camber!

[Roni]

The car is sitting outside the back door awaiting that. All I need is the motivation to get out there and do it.

[dunketh]

You've all got me thinking now. I can't remember if I had spacers or not... I changed all the trunnions over a month back but wasn't really paying attention to stuff like this.
I just tend to unbolt things then bolt em back on again after.

[bmcecosse]

My view is - it's likely to be better for 'sporty' driving without these spacers although the steering may be slightly heavier - but then it's finger-tip light as standard! Modern cars have LOTS of caster - and power steering to cope. Just look at a modern car sitting with full lock on - the outside wheel has loads of negative camber, which is the effect of the large caster angle.