21 replies to this topic

[miniman5]

Yo as i found that nice hole in one ive got to replace the back shocks. i have bidded on a manuel btu ti wont be here by thursday.im guan do it on thursday because i have the day of school YEA!!!! :grin: lol but i jsut wana no how to do it can ya help me plz ??

[philster]

Best thing to do is get some wd40 on the top nuts on both sides now to give it time to penetrate properly as these are usually the difficult ones. The drivers side is straight forward, just undo the top nut (or there may be two which are locked together) remove the washer and rubber then jack the car up, remove the wheel, undo the bottom nut and the shocker will come off. If the top nut is stubborn (which it usually is) soak it in some wd40 and then get some mole grips and clamp the very top part of the shocker (the bit above the thread) and then try to undo the nut with a spanner. Once the nut is moving you've cracked it.
The passenger side is the same process but you have to remove the tank first This is held in by a strap and bolt near the rear light. Undo this bolt, bend the strap out of the way, remove the petrol cap and then pull the back end of the tank across to the passenger side. The fuel pipe is at the front of the tank so just move the back end over and this should give you enough room to get in. Oh and its easier if you do it with an empty tank.
And remember to disconnect the battery first when messing with the tank, we dont want any fires!

Reffiting is the reverse to removal (obviously) i always put some multi purpose grease on all the threads first just to make future removal easier.

Have fun

[miniman5]

Ohh lol well theres no chance in hell thrt im going to drain the tank!! lolim guna go ptu WD40 on em now :grin:

[philster]

you could syphon the tank using a piece on hose, it is possible with fuel in just harder to move.

[miniman5]

ohh good because i aint go tany thing to drain nearly a full tank into LOL! the jerry cans full to. i got plenty of WD40 on those nuts and the one is move able thts the only one ive tried tho :tongue: ive also made my spare wheel look pretty as well have a look

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[dklawson]

I don't mean to be a pain in the a$$ but please spell out real words. I know we share something close to a common language.

You don't have to siphon or drain the tank... depending on how much fuel is in there. As mentioned, disconnect the battery, put a thick cloth or blanket on the boot floor, undo the tank strap, remove the filler cap and push the tank down and wiggle it towards the center of the boot.

The top of the shocks have two nuts jammed together. WD40 or other penetrating oil can help, but if you're lucky you'll find the nuts are thick enough to get two wrenches on there which you turn in oposite directions. Older shocks often had very narrow nuts and you needed a skinny tappet wrench to hold the bottom one while the top one was loosened.

Keep in mind that when the radius arm drops allowing you to remove the bottom shock mount... there's a chance for the knuckle to come out of the suspension trumpets. Pay attention to this when you put the parts back together. Make sure the knuckle is in place along with the trumpet and rubber cone.

[Woody]

Its easy , i must have done it thousands of times , first you start by removing your trainers ( this can be tricky if your laces are tight ) , oh .... hang on ..... the post says shocks not socks !

[miniman5]

ok i will try and spell propperly :grin: this sounds realy complex :sad: i can see my self totaly destroying the rear end of my mini does any one have pictures of how they did it??

[dklawson]

I'm sorry but I don't have pictures of the task. Start by reading the manual, mix its advice with the comments here, and when you start you'll see there isn't much to it. The hardest part can (and usually is) getting the top two jam nuts apart. The fuel tank(s) just add a couple of inconvenient steps. My car was a little more difficult because it has a rear sway bar that uses the lower shock mounts for part of its anchorage.

My advice, read up on the process, get all your tools and materials in advance, and start work early on a Saturday morning. Without complications you'll likely be done by noon.

[Nipplegreaser]

What are shocks ?

[miniman5]

the shock absorbers. open ure boot and look to the back of the boot and on ure far right you will se the top of one or take the wheel and its the wertical kinda pipe.

[miniman5]

i hope i do get it done by noon then we can take her out for a drive :grin:

[dklawson]

In U.K. English, "shocks" = shockers or dampers. As I said, we speak something close to the same language.

[miniman5]

he he sorry :sad: i cant help it

[miniman5]

Hey! the shocks are at motor mainia i owuld have them here but my dad never paid for them :sad: