9 replies to this topic

[shnevpayne]

Ladies and gentlemen..... 

A question to put to the crowds of the mini world, with a twist...... my new vehicle is a Mini Nomad Foers..... for those

who do not know what this looks like here's a few pics.....

 

 

Anyway, as for those who are sound of mini heart and mind you will very quickly notice that this is somewhat different to any other Foers you may have seen before, the front end is different, the fact its a 2 seater with more checker plate than a Green-lane 4x4 is obvious, some parts are based on a landy, parts from a landy, ......

Yes that is a hydrolic 2 tonne tipper on the rear.....
 
And to say that is good looking..... well, is yet to be desired. But alas, I'll start a new thread with vehicle details elsewhere.....

Anyway I digress to the point of the topic!!! The fact is it'd be an ideal offroader for where I live and what I do, while slightly underpowered from being sat in a garage for near 5 years (though mot'd every year it has done no more than 570 miles in 5 years). Because of its slightly unusual build shape I believe it could house larger wheels, especially on the front, but my concern is the rear.

It still has normal mini subframes, so hence why I ask, would there be an extensive amount of work involved to put larger wheels on the front and rear? I am raising the suspension a fair way on the rear which should in turn drop the rear arms....? yes? the front less so as it won't need to be raised very much, and would be a pig to do anyway due to the position of the cones. I know this will put more pressure on ball joints and all that jazz. I am considering a power steering system to be placed in to help with the heavy load.
 

This isn't my first mini, but it is a bit of a challenging one! So all advice, pointers, questions and such is welcomed and would be very appreciated, even if you think just keep it on 13"s and say "here's a link to some off road tyres that'll fit on them now"....

So has anyone done a larger wheel set up on their mini than the standard 13" maximum? What issues have you encountered? And while we're on the topic, I'm looking at putting on 14" rims

with t&c (off-road) chunky tyres.

Cheers!!!!!

 

[nicklouse]

I think front could cause issues on full lock.

What clearance do you have on full lock to the footwell area.

[Steve G]

Hi, Spotted one of these for sale on ebay the other day. I have been reading a lot about Scamps, Mokes etc recently and found out a few interesting things. 

The biggest problem with the rear suspension will be that even a chunky mud and snow tyre will rub or be close to the trailing arm. To get round this Mokes had extended trailing arms. This basically meant the distance between the trailing arm pivot and the hub was longer. Later Mokes with bigger wheels had specially shaped wheel arches to clear the wheels at the back. Late MK3 Scamps and AMC Cubs have bolt on extensions to make the trailing arms longer.

I found a picture of the ones on the Cub here http://amccub.freefo...ension-t18.html

It also shows the simple but very easy way the suspension height can be altered.

 

You might get enough height on the front with bigger wheels and some hi-lo's although you might need a pair of negative camber bottom arms to stop it eating tyres. Any higher than the suspension can cope with and it might be easier to raise the whole front end off the subframe using some sort of spacers. To do this you will have to move the steering rack and column and anything attached between the engine and chassis, lots of work !

 

I'm doing the opposite with my Scamp and want to make it as low as possible. 

Edited by Steve G, 29 October 2014 - 09:02 PM.

[Guess-Works.com]

Your problem is the distance between the stub axle and the pivot on the radius arm.. what you need to do is get some radius arms off an Australian Moke, they are longer to take the bigger wheel... The alternative is to manufacture an adapter which bolts onto the radius arm with an offset stub axle which will allow for the bigger wheel..

 

As standard you'll get a 13" wheel with a skimpy tyre, but what you want is a 13" wheel with a commercial tyre on it, or a big knobbly Greenlane tyre.

[shnevpayne]

Thanks to all who have responded, a lot of leads point as I thought to the rear arms being to short but with the replacing or adapting of these to get what I want. Where can one get a pair of these Australian arms? Are the high in wongerage? do I have to wait until a set come up on the bay of e, or can I get them new? Cheeeeerrrzzz!!!!  

Edited by shnevpayne, 29 October 2014 - 11:12 PM.

[nicklouse]

Go find the local auto grass race place and have a look at the class 5 (IIRC) they make up their own rear arms from Box section with Rose jointed pivots. Requires coil overs though.

[1984mini25]

Go find the local auto grass race place and have a look at the class 5 (IIRC) they make up their own rear arms from Box section with Rose jointed pivots. Requires coil overs though.

 

Like these? http://www.ebay.co.u...=p2047675.l2557

[nicklouse]

Yep something like that.

[shnevpayne]

And this is exactly why "the mini forum" rules!

I believe I will have clearance on the front as the boxy "wings" are being rebuilt as they were held on with 2 40mm screws and 2 10mm bolts.... yeah.... but otherwise the innerwings are already tight up to make things fit, but I will certainly have a look to see if there would be a clearance issue.

 

[nicklouse]

And this is exactly why "the mini forum" rules!

I believe I will have clearance on the front as the boxy "wings" are being rebuilt as they were held on with 2 40mm screws and 2 10mm bolts.... yeah.... but otherwise the innerwings are already tight up to make things fit, but I will certainly have a look to see if there would be a clearance issue.

 

all I can say is that with my 13"s  which have a 20" diameter but are rather wide have about a finger of clearance to the footwell on full lock. and those are kind of low profile and I don't think you will have any better clearance.