8 replies to this topic

[Auscar]

Hi all,

 

Looking into suspension set ups for my 85 Mayfair.

 

As I'm not going to be taking it over rough terrain aside from good old British roads wondering what the best adjustable suspension is?

 

i'm likely to be changing the height at least twice a year for the sake of passengers and shows in the summer.

 

looking on mini spares there a few options, had a quick glance over the suspension section of this forum which didn't really satisfy my question and due to the suspension being more about style for me i thought this would be the best place to post.

 

noticed suspension is really cheap for minis as opposed to coilovers for vw etc

 

likely to be running 12" low profile dished superlites or dished steels - unsure yet currently running cosmos which im not a fan of.

 

looking for ride height settings and suspension brands and experience working with them, can anyone shed some light on this?

 

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Edited by Auscar, 20 December 2014 - 01:25 PM.

[Cooperman]

With 165/60 x 12 tyres on 12" wheels the optimum suspension seems to be as follows. The same setting are good for 10" wheels:

 

Original specification rubber cones (Mini Spares ones are the best IMHO).

1.5 degree negative bottom arms

Adjustable front tie-bars

Adjustable rear radius arm brackets.

Hi-Low suspension trumpets front & back

 

Set-up for the road as follows:

 

Front:  Standard ride height

1.5 degree neg camber (you can use the Mini Spares offset lower arm bushes to get this very accurate)

3 to 3.5 degs caster

1 mm to 2 mm toe-out

 

Rear:  Standard ride height

zero to 0.5 degrees negative camber

1 mm to 1.5 mm toe-in

 

Use adjustable dampers like GAZ or SPAX to achieve damper settings which suit your driving style and the car's use, but don't set it too hard to enable the suspension to do its work over the full available travel.

[Auscar]

thanks cooperman, all that's left to do is tally up the total cost of the shopping list and find a man with alignment tools that will do the job for cheap, in my experience gaz don't make quality items so probably gonna go with spax.

 

do you run this setup and if so does it improve ride comfort much?

 

cant drive my mini for more than an hour and a half due to back pain and im only 20, my old man wont even drive it down to the local tesco as he says its too uncomfortable lol

[Cooperman]

That is almost exactly what I run on my rally Mini(s), but with the ride height raised about 1.5 cm from standard. That gives a bit more suspension travel.

 

I use SPAX on my 'S', but I replaced the SPAX on a rally Rover 214Si with GAZ because I broke the SPAX quite quickly, first of all due to leaking fluid, then after stronger valves were fitted the stub axles bent (McPherson struts).

 

Generally and having driven a very large number of different Minis over many years, I find standard ride height to be the best for a road Mini as it gives best overall suspension results on British roads. Of course, if track work is going to be a factor, then lowering will improve lap times a bit, but it will not be so nice on the road. It's all compromises with classic cars of all types.

[adam_93rio]

Best set up for height adjustable suspension (like you asked for) is to just get hi-lo's and if it's going to be staying low most of the time then the lowered adjustable spax. It will need to be stiffer if you go pretty low to stop it scrubbing the wheels on bad bumps and hard cornering

[doormatt]

Best set up for height adjustable suspension (like you asked for) is to just get hi-lo's and if it's going to be staying low most of the time then the lowered adjustable spax. It will need to be stiffer if you go pretty low to stop it scrubbing the wheels on bad bumps and hard cornering

Agree with that

Edited by doormatt, 26 December 2014 - 12:36 PM.

[Auscar]

thanks for the help guys wasn't sure if the lowered spax are too low though for modern day car parks?

[adam_93rio]

thanks for the help guys wasn't sure if the lowered spax are too low though for modern day car parks?

Not sure I fully understand what you mean by this. Dampers don't affect the height of your suspension

[nicklouse]

As above dampers just dampen the wheel movement. Ride height is set by the spring system. So high-Lows or some copy of their design.

Your spring rate stays the same what ever ride height you have so no real benefit in playing around with changing the height and the resetting of the tracking and camber that is required.

Just fit it set it and use it.