17 replies to this topic

[mattbrown]

a few weeks ago i hit a pretty big pothole in my mini, it has the 13 x 7 mini light wheels on it which make the ride rock solid, anyway aftter hitting it i am certain i have broken something.

the mini drivers side wheel has never really looked right since i bought the car about 6 months ago, it doesnt seem to sit in the centre of the wheel arch. at first i put it down to the wide arches on this side not being fitted properly, but now im sure this is not the case.

as it now sitting noticeably lower on the side i hit it and when turning the wheel it now rubs badly, although it did always do this but not to the extent it does it now.

i took it my local garage who now the car reasonably well, and he could not find anything noticebly broken or bent with the suspension etc, but did agree something was not quite right with the car.

now i am worried that in the worst case the subframe may be bent.

any suggestions???????????

here are some photos to show you how low its sitting

Attached Files

•  mini wheel 1.jpg   61.18K   12 downloads
•  mini wheel 2.jpg   52.4K   9 downloads
•  mini wheel 3.jpg   48.61K   9 downloads
•  mini wheel 4.jpg   49.39K   8 downloads

[racingbob]

might need wheel alighnment and CASTER / CAMBER checked

caster looks whey out to me

[bcjames]

Is the tie rod and it's mount still where it should be?

[miniman24]

The tie bar was something else on mine that was bent when I hit a pothole, but it was bent right next to the subframe mount so you had to look carefully to see it - perhaps the garage missed it?

Edit: Ill put a pictue up of my subframe after my incident - notice how the passengers tie bar mounting is much lower than the drivers, thats how I knew straight away that my subby had had it! Me and my Dad think the subby gave up becasue Ive got a fibreglass front with brace bars - perhaps not as strong as the original mounting in an incident where the subby is forced sideways (I hit the pothole whilst on nearly full lock):

Edited by miniman24, 15 January 2012 - 04:18 PM.

[mattbrown]

I haven't been home to check it over throughly myself yet, although this is my first mini and i have no comparison, when you drive it i have often had the sense that something just isn't right with the steering,

i will try and have a good look this evening, perhaps the garage did miss something, its due to go back tomorrow to have the choke sorted AGAIN!!!

he did say he could do wheel alignment etc if i wanted so i will mention about tie rod/tie bar and see what he says.

[mattbrown]

cheers for that miniman24, i can see it's definitely sitting lower on the passenger side. Will check over mine and see if i can find anything similar to yours.
to be honest it really did take a whack, i was doing about 50mph and went through what i thought was a puddle, which obviously turned out to be a massive pothole

[Bungle]

i would guess tie bar or it's mount on the subframe

[AndyMiniMad.]

Possibly the knuckle has burst through the nylon cup...This would make the car lower and put the geometry way out!! You could easily miss this on a quick inspection as everything else would look fine..

[L400RAS]

Possibly the knuckle has burst through the nylon cup...This would make the car lower and put the geometry way out!! You could easily miss this on a quick inspection as everything else would look fine..

this would be my suggestion too.
R

[bmcecosse]

Could be many things - but most likely is the tiebar front mount pulled away from the subby - and then the subby will be distorted too. Could also be broken front subby mounts. I wouldn't drive it anywhere until you find the problem and fix it......

[nickcooper]

Once you find the problem, report it to the council, if its not a private road they are obliged to pay for the repairs.
My mum had a celica gt, hit a pot hole hard! It flated one rim and ripped her front splitter in half! Over 500 quid damage, had to send a few letters but eventully they paid

Good luck

Edited by nickcooper, 15 January 2012 - 08:27 PM.

[icklemini]

see similar a few times:

Bent tie-rod, bent tie-rod mounting, lower arm bushes/ lower arm pin

seen the top arm bend too

occasionally the subframe splits..

its *never* the knuckle bursting through the nylon cup... because on the other side of the nylon cup is the top arm.. so, um its got no-where to burst through too!

alloy trumpets can crack too.. (thus lowering the car and knocking the angles out)

a good going over should spot whats amiss...

[AndyMiniMad.]

see similar a few times:

Bent tie-rod, bent tie-rod mounting, lower arm bushes/ lower arm pin

seen the top arm bend too

occasionally the subframe splits..

its *never* the knuckle bursting through the nylon cup... because on the other side of the nylon cup is the top arm.. so, um its got no-where to burst through too!

alloy trumpets can crack too.. (thus lowering the car and knocking the angles out)

a good going over should spot whats amiss...

I agree that the nylon cup sits in the top arm and once its broken through the cup it cant really go anywhere, but it only kakes a couple of millimeters at the cup to be almost an inch at the wheel. so if it is the nylon cup thats burst then it would lower the car as seen in the picture...Not sure why you would say its Never the nylon cup...Ive had one wear through before and it lowered the car loads...Could just as easily be the tie rod mount on the front subframe though as bmcecosse has suggested. However the garage should have seen that when they took a look..

[Dan]

The maximum the ball can push through when the cup breaks is around 4mm before it hits the steel, the front suspension ratio is 3:1 so that's a maximum drop of around 1/2" from the Nylon cup. Before the ball starts to wear its way through the arm that is, then it can get lower!

[icklemini]

but it only kakes a couple of millimeters at the cup to be almost an inch at the wheel.

um... no....no it doesnt am afraid...

Lets blow a myth apart that people often repeat....

The knuckle is at the end of the suspension 'strut', this strut is the doughnut, trumpet and knuckle.
When assembled its is has certain length, now this sets the height of the car...

If you shorten that strut, then the car will be lower... this is why Hi-Los are fitted.. people can then shorten the strut to lower the car nice and easily..

Now at the front, if you shorten the strut by 1mm, it will lower the height of that car by 3mm....

To lower the car by 1" (24mm approx), the strut will need to be shorter by 8mm.

A knuckle "popping" through the nylon grease cup does not lower it by 8mm.
A knuckle that has ran out of grease and has been grinding away doesnt get 8mm shorter without wearing through the top arm.

Not sure why you would say its Never the nylon cup...

because it isnt! - really in 20+ years, and far to many suspension jobs, I have seen 2 'worn' knuckles.. but the worn knuckles had wrecked the top arm... and the cars werent in 'because they were to low' - it was the constant squeaking of the suspension!!

Point is - the knuckles, dont "wear", unless they have been chewing into the arm... if they have been doing that: you need a new arm. and not just a new knuckle...

The bottom of the nylon cup fits to the bottom of its housing in the top arm.. there is no gap between the bottom of the cup and the arm.. The nylon cup cannot support the weight of that corner of the car!

On the flip side.. the number of collapsed doughnuts and the items listed on my previous post above have been huge...