Alright, so I ordered new springs for my car due to my old ones going and I figured if I was going to do anything to them, I might as well get rid of that nasty wheel gap. Anyone have experience in lowering their Mini and the downside of doing so? Also, how complicated is it to replace them?
Sure it is the springs and not the shocks going? Springs tend to last for quite some time. What springs did you order?
Positive, seeing as several of the springs are corroded, I'd prefer not taking a risk on that end. Shocks are fine however. Thought they were supposed to last 200k+ miles but apparently not. Bought a set of Eibach
Eibach are decent springs, but the stock shocks will not last long with them as they are very picky about ride height and travel. And no the OEM shocks will not last 200K.
I wasn't referring to the shocks but rather the springs, but I don't really know either way. Thanks for the advice BThayer
I can't imagine that the springs on any Mini would "wear out". By most standards these are toy cars, there isn't enough weight there. I have talked with experienced Mini techs who have never even replaced the rear springs/struts in a service situation. They just don't wear out.
^^^ Heh Heh Heh.... My OEM springs wore out at 12,000 miles... I was forced to replace them with Swift Spec-R springs..... These are keepers....
The thing is, mine wore out by non-standard problems. Corrosion. I don't even know how, really. Anyway, got my springs today and in comparison, they put OEM to shame..
I would like to know how to tell the difference between a spring and a strut failing. Not to take from the OP but would be good to know.
Springs slowly just compress, so a lower ride height is the main indicator. As opposed to the OP claims that they have "corroded". I have never seen or heard of anyone's springs corroding to the point that they would fail. Dampers will simply allow more "bouncing" as they wear out. There is also a good chance that you will see some oil residue from the dampers on the damper body and shaft.
No need to justify (except to the wife):wink:. Just say I want new springs. I little corrosion won't kill a spring. The main downside is ground clearance. Being that you don't live in the nice smooth parts of the country you'll need to pay more attention to man hole covers, pot holes, and speed bumps. With my last set of lowered springs my map flaps would scrape on speed bumps, I would scrape on little rises when not on the pavement. Have fun!
Please elaborate. Do you mean that the ride is smoother? I know my biggest issue with mine is that I can feel every bump, every pebble that my wheels roll over.
I did have a spring snap once and you could see where there was a pinhole through the coating and corrosion 1/2 way through the spring. They were hand-turned, custom springs though. My TSW springs did sag after 3+ years and several weekends at the track... they got lower and lower until I decided I needed something adjustable. (woo! upgrade to coil-overs required!)
Why is it that I take offense to your comments? Feels like you don't trust the fact that I have 170k miles on my car and that the springs were almost entirely shot. I can't stress enough that I probably would have seen them snap in another 3 months. Corrosion isn't uncommon, so why is it so hard to believe that living in a harsh state in terms of weather that my springs would eventually just wear out? Pretty much, although scraping is an issue even though they haven't settled quite yet... The only thing I really feel are rail-road tracks, which are horrid to go over here. I'm more cautious than I am to allow pieces of my car to go out. It'd be stupid to have my car sag because I neglected something but I appreciate it, hopefully they settle within the next 300-ish miles.
And I have had similar high mileage cars with no apparent spring corrosion...... As for the ride, remember you went from a sporty linear-rate spring to a progressive-rate one. The ride will be smoother over the smaller bumps.
You know what is going on on your car better than anyone else. There can be "non-normal" conditions. The springs on my GTi were sagging at 100k. The Eibachs are good springs. I had them on my WRX and thought they were a great balance between comfort and performance. Good luck and enjoy
You live in an entirely different state, and not everyone has the same experience as others. Think of it as part failures and recalls on certain models, whilst some never experienced said failures. Also, it's a daily driver, comfort isn't my MAIN priority but it's nice.