16 replies to this topic

[meetthespeakers]

I am after how wide coilovers are on a Mini, front and rear. In the front I am more after how wide the top brackets are. I have not been able to find any measurements anywhere. I saw some coilovers use 1.9" ID coils and others 2.5" perhaps. I am hoping to fit rought 3.75- closer to 4" wide diameter in one of those top brackets..... if I can buy it off the shelf I rather do that than fabricate my own top mounts to accommodate. Cheers.

 

[meetthespeakers]

Anyone?

[Vipernoir]

As far as I remember, coilovers generally use the standard brackets - though that may have changed since I last played with them.

[meetthespeakers]

The above picture is what I have seen standard for the front coilovers on Mini's. Moves coilover to center of bracket, and the little bracket sits above the top arm instead. I was hoping someone knew the width of the top bracket. I am trying to fit something 4.5-5" wide in there. If it is that wide I will just buy those brackets instead of fabricating my own. Cheers.

[Ethel]

Uprated brackets for the front that locate above the arm. The Mini specific kits use 1.9 springs, but there were 2.5's on my plaggy car when I got it. Doubt they'd fit with my 13x6 rims though.
Doubt you'd fit springs that big in, the holes will be spaced to replace the originals so you could get an idea from that.

[benjy_18]

Mine measure 82mm between centres, let me know if you need anymore dimensions

[meetthespeakers]

Damn that is about 3.2 inches. Guess I will have to make up some custom brackets then. Thanks guys.

[M J W J]

Mine are 2.25" diameter coil overs.

 

Inside bracket width is 3" and the centre of the pivot is 1.75" from the inner wing.

 

My coil overs are GAZ adjustable.

[Ethel]

 "the pivot is 1.75" from the inner wing."

 

 

That's a very good point, if you incline whatever you are fitting, assuming you can even get enough clearance by the lower mounting, it's going to have a significant effect on the effective spring rate.

[meetthespeakers]

I need a 4" min to leave 1/8" clearance side to side, might fab 4.25" just to have a little room side to side. Pivot point would need to be at 2-2 1/8". So nothing too extreme... Rear is a whole different deal. Gonna turret rear, and tub arch. Atleast that is the plan. Possibly raise subframe if that doesn't get me where I want. Thanks guys. Gonna go ahead and order 1 side of sleeves to mock up in a few weeks and go from there.

[Ethel]

Are we allowed to ask what it's for?

 

I'd be more worried about offsetting the rear, that'd be a fair old leverage on the stub axle pin if the "spring" isn't near perpendicular to it.

[meetthespeakers]

I am going to try and not offset the rear. I am fabricating a air suspension for the Mini since all my other toy cars I have are bagged. It's the last car to be bagged.... the Trabant will stay static with a 7" drop, currently has a 4" drop on it. Mini is as far as I want to go with it static wise. And I rather have the adjustability when I take the family out in it. Not new to fabricating air suspension, all the off the shelf kits I have seen I am not happy with there design mainly. Haven't really seen Mini's taken that direction before. Hopefully be the first bagged Estate. 

 

Did they not make a uprated stub axle for the rear? Can't seem to dig up one anywhere...

[Ethel]

There is one with a larger diameter pin available from some tuning specialists, might be worth speaking to KAD or Force Racing, both make trick radius arms. I think it has been done before and I do recall one converted to Citroen pneumatic suspension, via the usual knuckle joint locations (at least at the front end).

[Guess-Works.com]

Surely the best option for putting in air bags would be to replace the cone as this is the suspension of the mini and not the damper. This is the main problem with coil over conversions, you need to strengthen the areas the damper is connected to convert to coil over, otherwise you run the risk of suspension collapse.

 

I looked at putting an airbag system into the rear subframe for my van so it automatically adjusted when load carrying,

[Guess-Works.com]

There's not a vast difference between a Citroen's hydropneumatic suspension and good old hydrolastic or the later hydrogas used in the Metro... The difference is the Citroen has a pump maintaining high pressure fluid through accumulators and into the nitrogen filled spheres which maintain the suspension height, where as the mini and metro systems were just pumped up and left.