5 replies to this topic

[1984mini25]

Saggy rubber cones:

I’ve recently noticed that the nears side front is sitting slightly lower than then the rest of the car, but I have only just (about 4 months ago) fitted new knuckle joints and hi-lows.

So I’m guessing that it’s now low because of Saggy rubber cones, well I hope so.

I know when I fitted the hi-lows to the rear of the car one side needed a lot more adjustment than the other, so I’ve probably got a saggy cone on the back as well.

But as I am skint (no job) have no spare cash to buy new cones so…

Could I remove the saggy one from the front and replace it with the good one on the rear?

So that would give me two fairly good cones on the front and two slightly saggy ones on the back, with the hi-lows adjusted to give desired ride height.

And,
If I lower the car back to the ground with the rubber cone removed, as I only have one trolley jack would that side drop and sit on the bump stop so I could do the rear one?

Cheers,
karl

[mini-mad-dan]

i would think that the front cones have a slightly different spring rate, as they differ in price for front to rear and obviosly the rear ones have to deal with less weight, so you may still have an uneven mini, my mini is uneven although this is because has a very corroded rear subframe, i hope this helps- in short you could try it, but you will need a cone compressor tool, and a ball joint splitter to complete the swap and it probalby will still result in uneven suspension(i know that was not very short!)

i would think that the front cones have a slightly different spring rate, as they differ in price for front to rear and obviosly the rear ones have to deal with less weight, so you may still have an uneven mini, my mini is uneven although this is because has a very corroded rear subframe, i hope this helps- in short you could try it, but you will need a cone compressor tool, and a ball joint splitter to complete the swap and it probalby will still result in uneven suspension(i know that was not very short!)

[1984mini25]

I've got all the tools needed including the cone compressor tool

Just wanted to know if it was doable so I don't go wasting my time.

I know it might still be slightly uneven but the front hi-lows at the moment are set to....
20mm on the drivers side and just over 50mm on the passenger side, and its still sligtly lower on that side.

[mini-mad-dan]

hmm, does sound like cones so could work and be less noticable, but i would try and replace them with new ones as soon as possible, as i can get cones for around £5 used, depnding if the scrappy has any left!

[Dan]

Oh my god. Right, first of all NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER do work like this on your car with it held up by a trolley jack. Get some axle stands. Jacks are for lifting the car or changing wheels, that's all.

There are no rear bumpstops, if you take the spring out and let the car down it will collapse to the floor and damage many things.

Springs should be swapped in axle sets ideally, even if only one side has worn out you should change both as otherwise the handling will be unpredicatable and could be dangerous. In your case you probably need four new springs. It's not just about ride height, it's about spring rate too.

Four new springs should cost you about £100.00. A set of axle stands will cost you about £30.00. How much is your life and the lives of the people you drive around (and other road users) worth?

Front and rear springs are identical except in the Smooth-a-ride system.

[1984mini25]

Oh my god. Right, first of all NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER do work like this on your car with it held up by a trolley jack. Get some axle stands. Jacks are for lifting the car or changing wheels, that's all.

I do in fact actually have a trolley jack and axle stands , which I do use but have never liked the idea of jacking both the front and rear of the car at the same time, due to it being unstable and possibly falling off the axel stands.
Especially as it’s the font near side and the rear offside that are both worn.

There are no rear bumpstops, if you take the spring out and let the car down it will collapse to the floor and damage many things.

That’s why I was thinking of removing the front one first, lowering the car back to the ground,
Then jacking up the rear removing / replace the cone, and then go and fit the cone from the rear into the front.

Four new springs should cost you about £100.00

s**t better get saving :'(