34 replies to this topic

[FlyingScot]

Sorry wouldn't buy anything from Minisport, when the cars were current I did and never had any trouble, but today the service has been carp and their stuff made from toffee. Ball joints either NOS or minispares, likewise front wheel bearings timken or minispares own (which I have used twice with no issue).
Trackrod ends I bought QH a few years ago and the shank taper and thread wrong. I have a bix of old bits from the 80s and to be honest the used rubber parts in it (removed at the time) are in better nick than newer stuff.

FS

Edited by FlyingScot, 11 June 2017 - 08:55 PM.

[AeroNotix]

 

What can I do if I torque up the dome nut with no shims + grease and the tapered bolt still doesn't move? Will lapping improve things?

I'm sorry, but right here is why so many people have issues with them failing!

 

 

The car isn't running because of this issue. I asked here because I didn't understand and now I do. I thought the shims *increased* the tightness, not reduce. I was wrong.

[AeroNotix]

 

I bought a pre-made swivel hub from minisport a couple of months ago. The one that comes prefitted with ball joints and apparently shimmed properly.

 

This past weekend I went to replace my tie bars (they had a slight S kink to them), obviously being a mini one of the bolts was rusted on so I removed the lower suspension arm along with the tie bar and hammered it out. When I went to replace everything, needing to refit the lower ball joint I found that the threads were completely ruined. Bare in mind this is a new ball joint, installed once and removed once both times the fitting and removal went very smoothly without needing to overly hammer/bash the ball joint to get it out.

 

Simply put, the ball joint's tapered shank bolt is utter and complete garbage. It has less than 2000km on it and has been treat well when serviced. I just don't understand. The grade of material used seems also quite suspect. It does not seem to have been hardened and is easily scuffed, bent and marred.

 

I have several genuine ball joint kits that can use and replace that bolt with. The difference in quality is ridiculous. The bolt is hardened, for example.  

the nuts were not stainless were they?

 

I'll see if I can find the old bolt but it didn't seem like stainless steel, it just seemed like very cheap cheese-grade steel.

[MIGLIACARS]

I did a ball joint last week,

New item but not sure were it was from as it was in the draw, still in the wrapper.. used all the shims and still knotchy and tight. messed with it for ages, in the lather polishing it, and still I wasnt happy.... its now in the bin...

 

I got another one out my race car spares box and hey presto it went straight on no issues 10 mins...

 

 

Ive dont the same with wheel bearings.....

[gazza82]

went in the bin - annoyingly I couldn't find the seller - bought 6 months earlier

 

That's a common trick on ebay .. sell off the junk and change your name/details. Happened to me with some Peugeot parts, but they weren't as clever as they though as they had a very unusual address ... so found them eventually and reported to ebay. Took a while but got my money back. It's not just Minis that suffer with rubber part issues .. the ball-jont rubbers on these Pug droplinks lasted less than two days!!

[AeroNotix]

Anyway, trying to ask a better question than I did originally. Is the tapered shank in the ball joint supposed to be hardened metal?

[nicklouse]

nope only the ball surfaces are case hardened.

[AeroNotix]

nope only the ball surfaces are case hardened.

And the threads not? The genuine kit I got to replace the one that came with the swivel hub kit appears the entire bolt is hardened.

[grizzler73]

It's not necessary as it in not a bearing surface. but the metal has to be a decent spec in the first place!

[tiger99]

I would suggest that it should not be hardened throughout as it could be brittle, which would be extremely dangerous. The proper part will seem a lot harder than one made of Chinese cheese, but should remain ductile in the region of the narrow neck in particular.

It would be interesting to know exactly what material grade and heat treatment were used for the originals, as the process needs to be replicated exactly in the interests of safety.

[Spider]

 

nope only the ball surfaces are case hardened.

And the threads not? The genuine kit I got to replace the one that came with the swivel hub kit appears the entire bolt is hardened.

 

 

The pin and thread won't be 'soft' and they sure won't be 'hardened' either.

 

Only the surface to a small depth of the ball should be hardened.

[AeroNotix]

I would suggest that it should not be hardened throughout as it could be brittle, which would be extremely dangerous. The proper part will seem a lot harder than one made of Chinese cheese, but should remain ductile in the region of the narrow neck in particular.

It would be interesting to know exactly what material grade and heat treatment were used for the originals, as the process needs to be replicated exactly in the interests of safety.

 

 

 

 

nope only the ball surfaces are case hardened.

And the threads not? The genuine kit I got to replace the one that came with the swivel hub kit appears the entire bolt is hardened.

 

 

The pin and thread won't be 'soft' and they sure won't be 'hardened' either.

 

Only the surface to a small depth of the ball should be hardened.

 

 

The threaded part of the bolt was extremely soft. As I mentioned in the original post. The only "work" these bolts have done is to be tightened up once, to torque spec and untightened once. The threads were *completely* ruined necessitating a disassembly of the ball joint to replace the bolt. Just seems to me that the bolt itself is very soft and prone to being ruined even when taking care. 

 

I contacted Minisport through twitter to request further information about this but they are yet to reply.

[Spider]

The rubbish you've been sold through Mini Sport could be anything.

They only claim to sell Mini parts, but my experience is they sell something else.

 

I hope they come to the party for you, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.

[AeroNotix]

The rubbish you've been sold through Mini Sport could be anything.

They only claim to sell Mini parts, but my experience is they sell something else.

 

I hope they come to the party for you, but I wouldn't hold out much hope.

 

I just feel let down a bit by Minisport. Are they really that bad? Most of the parts I've bought pass the sniff test but I'm a new to minis and new to repairing minis, learning as I go. Used minisport simply because I found their website easier to navigate! 

In future I'll be using minispares.

[tiger99]

If the thread is soft, the part is made from the wrong kind of steel, and, as you will appreciate, downright dangerous. Mini Sport are yet again playing with people's lives. Even if no-one is hurt, it will end very badly for them. I strongly recommend that ALL recipients of such trash report them to Trading Standards, because that is the only way that this situation will come to a safe conclusion. If no-one who is in a position to act does so, how will you feel when someone is killed, and your report to Trading Standards ciuld have prevented it?

In the better regulated industries. bogus parts are NEVER returned to the supplier because they would just go back into stock, ready to be sold to the next mug.

It really is high time that a concerted effort was made by all to get the proper authorities involved and stamp out the cowboys.