suspension problems

[mk1morris]

My suspension is all wrong. At a stand still the passenger side seems to be as it should but the drivers side is rock hard. If i move the car forward and backward slightly something seem to click then the suspension acts as it should for a small period of bouncing the car but then seems to go rock hard and fails to suspend. this only happens on the drivers side i jacked the car up removed the shock as i thought this maybe at fault and lifted the hub but i could not move it up or down it was rock solid

Could this be that the rubber cone on the drivers side is so badly worn that the trumpet is bouncing out of the cone when hitting lumps etc? I suspect my cones to be at fault due to the fact the previous owner fitted hi lows. Would i be mistaken in saying people fitted these to obtain a good ride height when cones become worn

Do you think replacing the cones with spring coils is a good upgrade as these seem available at not much more expense then a genuine set of cones?

I have read though the haynes manual and it all seems a bit daunting removing inspecting and re-fitting of the cones etc. If anyone has done this before and could offer some assistance i would be very grateful.

One good thing has come of reading through the haynes manual and that i always wondered what that long metal bar thingy was laying in my boot. it would seem its a cone compressing tool. ;D ;D

[MiniGT5]

Feb 15, 2010 23:45:26 GMT mk1morris said:

Would i be mistaken in saying people fitted these to obtain a good ride height when cones become worn

Some people do... but most fit them just for lowering as you have to take the suspension appart to fit hi-low you might as well fit new rubber dounuts at the same time. if it is old the best bet is to replace everthing.

I have heard mixed reports about coil spring replacments... I think I would stick to standard (Genuine Dunlop / Moultion) rubber doughnuts.

N.

[katentel]

martin its nat as difficult as you think .. i have done katys on her new subframe and it wasnt that bad,i know the sub is out of the car so you obviously have more room but even in the car i cant see it being too much of a prob. personally id steer clear of springs

[monkeyjim]

I would be looking into whether or not the top suspension arm pivot pin was seized or not .

Disconnect the hub then compress the rubber suspension cone with the spring compressor . Should allow enough slack in the subframe tower located componants to allow you to pull the top arm up and down . If it wont go up or down you have your answer . Top arm rebuild kits are cheap . May be down to years of neglect before you got the car and the suspension not getting greased via the nipples on the car .

As for the springs , think the general concensuss in the Mini fraternity is keep to the standard stuff . Keith Calver the tech Guru suggests standard genuine springs ( do-nuts) only last a few years before they 'go off ' however he does recommend the uprated Minispares ones made by a company involved with formula 1 .
If you want new ones but with a softer ride the Moulton Smooth a ride kit is what you are after .
There are cheap copies of standard rubber donuts out there which apparantly have collapsed . So like anything you get what you pay for .
Personally ........ I re-built my mark 1 with all new suspension including a set of genuine standard donuts . The drive was amazing despite being lowered with adjustable stiffer than standard shocks . Quite a contrast to the Studio 2 running on 13's with 15 year old donuts on it . Which was a lot harsher and in fact felt harder to .

The H reg project will have a set of uprated Minispares donuts as mentioned above.

look at calvers corner for loads of tech info by logging onto minispares.com and clicking the calvers corner link.

[mk1morris]

hmm thanks for that im going to have a look at my top arms asap
and after having a look at calvers corner and your info i think ill replace the rubbers anyway manly for pice off mind and if the ride is much inproved its a small price to pay

[monkeyjim]

worth checking lower arm movement , obviously the arm cannot rust to the bush but the arm can rust , swell up and movement gets restricted that way .

Minispares Calver stuff is worth reading , points you in the right direction with most things saves you buying crap and saves you money as you buy the right thing once instead of paying for something that is no good then having to buy the right thing as a result . Money wasted .

[mk1morris]

thanks you were right years of neglect i had a good look over it today an found bottom arm bushes perished tie bar bushes perished one tie bar bent and one top arm difficult to move when cone is compressed as you said and the rubber cones don't look to good either so I'm just going to rebuild the whole lot with new gear

[monkeyjim]

Minispares bush kits and suspension parts. Offset lower arm bush set is the latest thing , you will see what they are all about on the website . Dean has recently bought all Minispares stuff like I have .

[mk1morris]

rebuilt the suspension with all standard parts shocks etc
all but keep ed the high lows and used Polly bushes
the jobs a gooden rides a lot nicer with standard shocks etc

[katentel]

well done martin!!