Give us the info.. I hear rumors of hanging string and using squares...

I'm mainly concerned about the toe on the front...

Also .. tips on finding the centre of the Rack.

GO GO GO!

A Basic front end alignment can be simply measurement.

With the front wheels straight, measure between the inside rear of the front wheels (pick a spot the same on each side). Then repeat this with the inside front of the front wheels and the difference will give the tow in or out.

Basic I know but unless some work has been done the only adjustable part is the tow anyway.

_________________
Mister White Keys
"He who has the most toys, Wins"

1963 Austin Countryman Woody
1964 Morris 850 Van
1967 Austin Countryman
1975 Range Rover 2 Door
2004 Subaru Forester XT
2015 Potts Teardrop Camper
RIP 1990 Citroen BX 16Valve

oh right... so it's a simple one then?

would the best bet be to make it 0 degrees... and then take it the the wheel aligners if i want anything speccy...


and i do have adjustable bottom arms...

The standard mini set up is 1/16" of toe out and 3 degrees of caster angle.

I am assuming when you say lower arms, you mean adjustable caster arms as these are more common and are a bolt on accessory.

an accurate toe set up should be quite adequate but if you don't feel confident any wheel centre can set it up for you

_________________
Mister White Keys
"He who has the most toys, Wins"

1963 Austin Countryman Woody
1964 Morris 850 Van
1967 Austin Countryman
1975 Range Rover 2 Door
2004 Subaru Forester XT
2015 Potts Teardrop Camper
RIP 1990 Citroen BX 16Valve

oh god... imperial..



bottom = camber..



and

Cush just for you mate 3mm toe out and then get thee to a wheel aligner to set camber and caster and then reset the toe

Jon

_________________
Roundies and Clubbies(except vans) are both ugly that is why I have Midas and a van
1293 Mini Midas Bronze,1275 Clubman van

where would we be without the elder statesmen of ausmini..



thanks

I've fooled around with my rear with laser levelers which can be bought from any hardware store. It works good, and accurate and looks professional. You measure out and mark a line (with chalk for example) along your tyre, through the centre of the wheel parallel to the ground. Then you get someone to hold still or duct tape or wateva good idea you have, the laser to the wheel, and set your wheel up how you want, and mark where the laser is, go to the other side do the same, but pre-mark where you want it to be (the same as the other side but mirrored) and adjust till it's the same as the other side. If you got a really nice laser leveller which costs more, you can zero the laser device and when you move left and right or up and down it tells you how many degrees! Which is easiest, so go get a good one!

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

It is funny how the workshops use laser/computer allignment machines but most race teams use string and tape measures.

I always do the string method, I've been to the local Bill Julie twice and both times they made it so the steering wheel was off. They told me it was cause the rear was out or some other BS.

I set the string using a couple of chairs or whatever and find roughly the middle of the rack, then make sure that when I stick steering wheel on it is straight, otherwise I move the rack slightly till it is (no more than 1/2 a spline, got it!!).

Measure and adjust so the 2 strings are parallel to each other (in front of car width and behind car width) and equal from axle centres front & rear, either side. Make sure I don't trip over string then measure the wheel distance from string front/rear on each wheel. Reset strings after I trip over them cause I'm not watching and do again.

Then I compare the numbers from the measurements. I might have from string on front wheels RHF 110 RHR 112, LHF126 LHR128. This equates to 4mm toe in, not good, so I adjust track rods to get correct number. I do the same on rear and presto, straight steering wheel...

Sounds laborious, but by the time you set-up and do it you would otherwise still be waiting at the local bill julie for the guy to finish changing over the wheel clamps cause "your wheels are too small sir, this is going to take longer so we'll charge you the 4x4 rate".

My tires have been on 9 years and show no signs of incorrect toe, they also pick up more rubber on track than they wear off too.....

Daniel

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Videos - Turbocharged A-Series on Dyno & at Wakefield
Mafs waz not my strong subgeckt at skkol

Thanks Daniel, you saved me trying to explain it!

so how do you know when the wheels are straight in line with th body?

they may be parallel but pointing off into space..

When the centre hub to string distance is equal on either side, ie both fronts are equal to each other, say 50mm, and both rears equal each other say 56mm. When these are right and the strings are the same distance apart then it is parallel to car centreline.

It sounds hard and takes a few goes but it's still a pretty quick routine.

Race cars usually have a bolt-on alu bar front and rear with the string positions marked to make it quicker each time. They often do this at race meetings etc to confirm settings or check after touching kerbs/cars/walls etc.

Daniel

_________________
Videos - Turbocharged A-Series on Dyno & at Wakefield
Mafs waz not my strong subgeckt at skkol

All these string method's sound good and all but still don't seem as easy as strapping a laser leveller on the wheel and marking onto something where it hits, the measuring that. And once they are both straight, then by using the 'zero' function you can get perfect to a tenth of a degree movements from there eg. for toe in tow out or camber. I understand how this all works but I still go by the laser method. It's not that expensive I don't think, I wouldn't have bought one if it were too expensive. ( I bought it for marking heights when putting on steel beams on a shed)

_________________
1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T