Suspension for standard Mini 1000

[Roadster25]

All,

A couple of winters ago I spent a few very unpleasant Sundays replacing the cones, knuckle joints and shock absorbers on my 25. Initially I was very pleased with the result: the car rode at the proper height again, stopped creaking, ride was improved.

Not long after the front n/s sagged, and now the front o/s has followed. The cones fitted were bought as genuine parts from Min-Its.

I suspect that even though they were new to me they had probably been stored for years and the rubber perished. How can I buy some new cones which will last longer? I suspect some other solution would be more reliable.

I don't want to change the character of the car, and I don't want to "improve" the handling. It is 28 years old, totally standard and only 38bhp on a good day.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Roadster25

[guru_1071]

there are so many 'cheap' cones floating about its best to buy the genuine ones (which now have 'valley rubber' cast into them)

all cones degrade over a period of years, but if they are failing in less than, say, five years id say that they where cheapo ones.


ive just swopped the cones in front of my mk one, a horrid job, but it transformed how the car handled - it went from a rock hard crock to been quite plesant to drive

[Roadster25]

So so stick with the proper set up then, just the job.

I was under the impression the cones I fitted were legit genuine items. They had Dunlop logos on them, if I remember correctly, and came from a reputable supplier.

Where can I get reliably good quality cones from?

Looks like Min will be put into daily service this summer, so want it to be sorted.

Thanks for the advice.

[Extra 300 Driver]

I have minitastic springs fitted to mine, front and rear. It's the best mod I have ever done. I have the fast road springs and although there is more body roll the smooth ride more than makes up for it.

[Cooperman]

'guru1071' will supply the best cone springs from Mini Spares (North) in Harrogate.

[JC T ONE]

Are you shure its not the cone knuckle joint, thats collapsed ?

They wear through the nylon cup, and the suspension goes WAY down.

[Roadster25]

JC T ONE said:

Are you shure its not the cone knuckle joint, thats collapsed ?

They wear through the nylon cup, and the suspension goes WAY down.

Good thought, the car still feels like it has suspension, it just sits lower. I did renew these at the same time, but I've had them fail fairly quickly on other cars. As the car has been driven very little of late I thought it may be age related, not use related. Got to be worth checking though.

Now to find the spring compressor...

[Roadster25]

Never did ge the spring compressor out, been a bit busy...

However, Min has been at Southam Mini for about 3 weeks now, being fettled for another year, and is to be collected tomorrow. They couldn't see anything obviously wrong either, so a set of Hi-Los have been fitted to at least correct the symptoms.

Getting quite excited about driving it, it has been parked up since September.