Good to know it is sorted out.

thank you for all the help, greatly appreciated and this morning the alignment was corrected...very interesting watching 2 senior engineers fix it by using " old school" techniques....spanners and a tape measure, steering wheel is straight and my mini drives terrific .!

Wow. That's just rude. Don't be an ass.

hey, no need to get pissy or start being a sexist! i don't pretend to be a mechanic so i appreciate all the info and will let the MECHANICS correct the issue! will that satisfy you????

No sense in arguing with a woman. I said 1/16 toe out and she still insists toe in, when asking for help. Let her do what she wants. Then she'll wonder why her front tires are wearing prematurely..

thanks Ian, i will show your suggestion to my mechanic tomorrow.

"...... i just spoke with the shop again and they are going to "toe in" the front so that everything is correct.."

Surprised no one has pointed out that the correct front alignment is toe OUT.....

Probably worth getting the rear checked for correct toe IN as well.

The easiest way to check for correct tracking is to line the car up on a concrete floor, chuck some water in front of the front wheels (just make it wet .. not a puddle) then push the car straight ahead so that both front and rear wheels pass over the wet spot.  The track followed by the front and back wheels will be quite clear.  The rear track is something like 2" narrower than the front so you will want each rear wheel about an inch inside the front wheel track.

Cheers, Ian

thanks for all the info! i just spoke with the shop again and they are going to "toe in" the front so that everything is correct...i appreciate all the help, really! my husband and I moved to Rockford, il. and had to find a new mechanic since ,sadly, our long time one passed away...this shop is experienced with mgs, jags and healeys but not minis so much....in this entire city i think there are maybe 4 classic ones! so mine always causes a stir at car shows... i have owned it for 22 yrs, and its my "baby"....there was a MiniMeet here back in 04' and it was a blast seeing all the classic minis...again, thank you all for your kind help...Safe Motoring!!

+1 to onetim's definition of dog tracking. It may be an illusion if hubby was following in a larger, wider vehicle where he could see the driver's side of the Mini because he was not seated along the centre line of the Mini. To
check it properly, drive it in a straight line on level ground and see if the rear wheels follow the font ones. Bear in mind, the track width of the front may be different from the rear. If there is a difference, that difference should be equal on both sides.
Other possibilities:
 - a dragging rear brake causing the back of the car to slew to one side.
 - bent or misaligned rear swing arm
 -

Agreed. She mentioned just having brakes done. That should not have caused "crabbing" 

I wonder if the shop was not familiar with a mini and on the lift used areas like tie rods or steering arms and bent them. This assumes the problem is new. ( see below)

Patsy
What do you mean "one inch out"? What exactly is one inch out? 
Did your husband ever follow you before? How do you know the car was not like that before?

I am no expert but my understanding of "dog tracking" is seeing the whole car at an angle to the direction it's moving in. You would see a bit of one side of the car more often than the other when following it on a straight road. Usually this is caused by a problem in the rear. On a mini I would think the rear or front cradle is not true to the body either due to rot, or an accident. It may take more than a alignment.

Front - toe out 1/16 which means 1/32 each side.  It's pretty easy to to do a alignment yourself.

thank you for the quick answer....i just had the brakes redone and my husband followed me home and noticed my mini really " dog tracked" and it had never done that before, also, right now there is little wear on the tires...could it be due to the new brakes? thanks for any info.

if it is an inch out you should have some serous tire wear.

No matter what the specs say, I have mine set on zero toe (wheels/tires are parallel to each other) and have no tire wear issues.

Whether that slight difference from spec affects handling I do not know . Seems fine to me

hi, i need some info. my 96' mini needs an alignment and the local shop doesnt have the specs. right now my wheels are 1 inch out.....what is the " toe in" setting, please can someone help? thanks, pat