12 replies to this topic

[Gortey]

Hi, was fixing my rear drum brakes (thats reliability for you) earlier and noticed that the front of the car was significantly lower on the right side than the left. Think it has to be the rubber cones.
Does anybody know appromately how much is this gonna cost in labor and parts?
Also whilst im at it, should i bother uprating the cones slightly or will it just make the ride more bumpy?
Thanks in advance,

Gortey

[Big_Adam]

i think proper cones are like £40 odd squid. don't by cheap ones either. the kinda......don't work.

don't know about labor costs tho. never done it myself.

[ANDY J]

Hi, was fixing my rear drum brakes (thats reliability for you) earlier and noticed that the front of the car was significantly lower on the right side than the left. Think it has to be the rubber cones.
Does anybody know appromately how much is this gonna cost in labor and parts?
Also whilst im at it, should i bother uprating the cones slightly or will it just make the ride more bumpy?
Thanks in advance,

Gortey

hi it might be that the knuckle joint on the bottom of the cone has worn through the nylon cup it the top arm which will lower the car there's more of a chance its done that rather than the rubber donut giving way and as for the new cones the adjustable ones are pretty much all the same i got a set for £ 20 from a show and there fine the knuckle joints are about £5 each and if you know some one that could do it for you just a drink

[Grayedout]

But if you are going to change the knuckles then you may as well do the rubber cones while you are there!!

Don't bother with adjusta rides.......99% of people never adjust them once they are fitted !!

[murtle]

It is a simple enough job to do yourself although you do get messy or was this just me? While your doing the knuckles and cups u might as well do the cones aswell as it only adds about 5 minutes to the job and your suspension will feel much better for it. There was a vast difference in the shape of my old cones from my new ones as shown and its much more comfortable to drive now, although i would get your tracking checked after doing it as mine was off and i didnt realise until a had a bald patch on one side of my tyre
I have adjusta rides and adjusted them weekly until i found a height i was happy with so

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[Dan]

99% of people never adjust them once they are fitted

Which is exactly the point of them. They are not there to make it simple to keep adjusting the suspension height when you want to but rather to find a height which is comfortable and stay there as Murtle says. It's not simply a matter of turning the nut in order to set the height properly, for every height change it is really required to setup the rest of the suspension to compensate for the change (the tracking will need attention at the very least). Hi Los of course are best of all (being the original type that was poorly copied by everyone else) as they have a specially shaped spring platform to imrpove the way the spring interacts with the strut. This aspect of the design is patented and so the cheaper ones don't do it. It works well.

Oh and one last thing..

THE CONE IS THE NAME FOR THE RUBBER SPRING. THE ALLOY STRUT IS CALLED A TRUMPET.

[minidaves]

i charge inc gen rover cones £130 to replace both front cones

down here in surrey

dave

[Gortey]

Ok, thanks a lot
I thought you needed a special compression tool to replace the cones or am I getting confused there? If i can do the job myself id much rather do that but i dont have any special tools.

Thanks
Gortey

[ANDY J]

Ok, thanks a lot
I thought you needed a special compression tool to replace the cones or am I getting confused there? If i can do the job myself id much rather do that but i dont have any special tools.

Thanks
Gortey

hi mate you can do it without using the special tools ??

[Gortey]

Fair enough, but how?

[taffy1967]

I'd say it's probably far safer to use a proper cone compressor because it's not a job for the faint hearted and you want to know your springs are held tight and safe whilst your using your hand in a confined space to remove the trumpets.

Otherwise if you springs slip and catch your digitz, you'll probably never play the pianoforte or keyboard again!

Anywhoooo I've had Mini Sport Adjusta-Rides fitted to my Mini for the past decade and not had any problems, but I guess my springs are about due for renewing now.

Oh and I've heard lots of warnings about cheap/dodgy springs that have completely collapsed after a few hundred miles or so. The poster claimes to only buy springs that state the patented brands of "Moulton" or "Dunlop" on them, so I guess that means only purchasing ones from either Rover or a good Mini Specialist like Mini Spares.

Edited by taffy1967, 17 September 2006 - 07:42 PM.

[ceejam]

THE CONE IS THE NAME FOR THE RUBBER SPRING

"Spring" is the correct name for the "spring" - Cones are what you pt ice cream in

[Jammy]

But the popular name for the 'spring' is the 'cone'.