Suspension Brakes Most liked posts in thread: Lowered my car half a foot.

  1. FERNO

    FERNO New Member

    May 24, 2009
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    Why'd you stop lowering? I can clearly see daylight from the sides. :D
     
  2. old81

    old81 Club Coordinator
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    On big air pillows? Does it jump? :arf: :p

    Looks extreme, but that was the goal. Looking great. :)
     
  3. drPhilGandini

    drPhilGandini MINI of the Month May 2009

    May 4, 2009
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    It's cool, but it reminds me of the cars I see in Espanola, just 90 minutes up the road from Albuquerque. Too extreme for me, but if it's what you like, kudos.
     
  4. Nitrominis

    Nitrominis Banned

    May 9, 2009
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    That look soo Kool! :Thumbsup:
     
  5. roach13

    roach13 New Member

    May 14, 2009
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    -6 degrees? Handling must not be your thing.
     
  6. Rally

    Rally New Member
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    Yup, Air. No jumping though....that's usually more common with hydraulics rather than air.

    I'm assuming that means you're referring to lowriders or do you get a bunch of mini truckers out there? I'm not nearly as low as them:lol: but i do love the lowrider and mini truck cultures/communities. This height is more in line with the ride heights found in the euro and JDM scenes right now. You just don't see it very often in the more conservative MINI community.

    Yah, handling's not really my thing.

    Thankfully we were blessed with multi-link rear suspension and I've got a non-static ride height. Pop the switch and the rear camber is nowhere near as aggressive. The car had no problem running the dragon with all the coilover'd cars, but it won't be setting any track records any time soon:lol:
     
  7. Tüls

    Tüls New Member

    Apr 3, 2009
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    damn ricers... ;)

    Nice work man
     
  8. Ryephile

    Ryephile New Member

    Apr 9, 2009
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    O


    M


    G


    ! :cornut:


    How'd you even get it that low!? Did you section the struts and rear dampers? You lowered the car 1.5" more than the stock MINI has total suspension stroke! LOL
     
  9. Rally

    Rally New Member
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    Rear struts are shortened a few inches, but the great thing is that they still have 3.7" of stroke :cornut:

    Up front, I had some custom upper plates machined to cut down on the overall stack height from the original bushing/bearing/plate combo. The spherical bearing is relocated up above the plate and the bag mounts directly to the plate. Then the perch is on a thrust bearing so the bag can stay in that position while the strut turns. Overall it cut down the stack height by 1.7" which allowed me to keep a reasonable amount of travel up front and drop it all the way down.

    There's actually a bunch of room to go lower up front, I just need to do a little work. The struts still have 2 or 3 inches of thread left :idea: The rears would go down another inch if I just removed the upper control arm bumpstops(which are bottomed out on the body) , but I don't want to lower the rear more until I know I can get the front down.
     
  10. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    May 4, 2009
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    Slammin and Jammin, baby.

    Awesome.
     
  11. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    May 4, 2009
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    :yikes:

    ummmm ok
     
  12. Ryephile

    Ryephile New Member

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    That's awesome Rally, glad to hear you found a solution for both the front and rear setups! I'm not sure how much more you can lower it though, maybe another few tenths? What happens if you park on grass...or a slight hill? :devil:
     
  13. MINI Fireman

    MINI Fireman New Member

    May 4, 2009
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    Props on the success you've had in this project so far. The work you've done to get to this point is fantastic.
     
  14. k-huevo

    k-huevo Club Coordinator

    May 6, 2009
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    After extreme lowering like that you could use a control arm with extra adjustability like one from Eibach’s rear alignment kit; the arms look great too. SPC manufactures these and I’ve had their set for more than 40k miles; looks and function are still great. Let me know if I can help. [email protected]
     
  15. Rally

    Rally New Member
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    Hahahah awesome.

    Oh, there's room to go lower. I just want to tuck the fronts a little more. I'm flipping the bags over and running the airlines through the engine bay. That will allow me to spin the perches down flush with the tire shoulders without any issues.

    Curse the MINI designers for making the front arches so much larger than the rears :devil:

    I haven't tried to park in grass, but I know that if I leave the rears up and lower the front first, it smashes the front lip on the ground:lol:

    Thanks for the offer, but the camber is entirely intentional :Thumbsup: . I know about the options for alignment adjustment, but the camber is such that it allows the perfect flush stance with my current wheels. Adjusting the camber so that it's less negative will result in more rubbing and a weaker stance. If anything, I'll be installing some new control arms to add a little more negative camber if/when I move to wider lips so I can tuck the 9's or 9.5's.
     
  16. loud9266

    loud9266 New Member

    May 21, 2009
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    :Dthat is really awesome

    you my friend do not live in michigan.
     
  17. Rally

    Rally New Member
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    Close ...I'm up in northern Ohio:lol: Unfortunately we suffer from the same salt cratered roads. :sad:
     
  18. MINI Fireman

    MINI Fireman New Member

    May 4, 2009
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    Close enough. He's in northern Ohio up near the lake. Since it's an air suspension he can raise and lower it at will anyway.
     
  19. loud9266

    loud9266 New Member

    May 21, 2009
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    they are a joy :smilewinkgrin:
    is that air ride simular to what they put on lincolns mark viii?
     
  20. Rally

    Rally New Member
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    I'm not familiar with lincoln's so I'm not sure. It's used on things like Touraegs, and some of the Mercedes sedans. I'd imagine that you're probably thinking of the same thing.

    It's basically spring rate and ride height adjustments at the flick of a switch. I can set it soft and low for comfortable highway cruising, or stiff for twisties, or high for potholes/driveways....then put the car on the ground when it's time to park:cool: