Softer Suspension !!

Hi Folks,

Has anyone had any experience of using softer rubber cones ? Or even tweaking the existing mini ones to soften the ride ?

Walle's rear end is very very firm, even with the shocks set at their softest setting. So it looks like the rubber cones need to be softer. I know i can get softer rubber cones, & even the coil-over conversion, (being tested by Mr B) but i'm on a very tight budget.

Was wondering if turning them down a bit, or drilling some holes in would be a cheap alternative ?
A quick squirt with the freeze spray to harden the rubber, then a quick bit of machining (turning or drilling).

Regards,

Neil

I remember Mr Shelley drilled his, which made the back softer but the chassis broke at Stoneleigh when he gave fourrather large women (standing up in th back of his Mk2) a lift back to the camping area so you take yer choice

PS perhaps thats why hydrolastic suspension was used on the Metro.

No easy fix that I can think of,the hard suspension is what made it handle so good,if you wanted soft suspension you bought a "LANDCRAB" (Morris 1800). They did fit Hydroelastic suspension to the Minis in the mid 60's to the early 70's and even later than that on the Riley Elfs and Wolsely Hornet but the Hydroelastic suspension ones had different subframes. I believe there are coil spring conversions available now,as opposed to "coilover" shock absorbers.How soft or hard they would be I wouldn't know.

I originally tried that trick of drilling holes in the rubber cones. However this just made them sag - it didn't seem to alter the spring rate at all, you could still feel every bump in the road. Fortunately, the car still stuck to the road horizontally as well. I've still got a couple somewhere if you'd like to try them.

Mini Magazine covered coil springs briefly last January (Ask the Experts, p.96): the gist of it was that they'll last longer than rubbers but not give the same combination of comfort & roadholding, between which there's a tradeoff anyway. It was also mentioned that post 1988 Rover cones have a very short useful life, and are best replaced with either standard or uprated ones from someone like Minispares.

these springs just replace the rubber cones when using standard hi lo's looks easy to do once you have suitable springs might give it a go once the weather warms up !!! just need to source suitable springs for at least £200 less than the asking price !!!

Ebay Item number: 360313555511


Mini Coil Kit Fast Road Includes Hi Lows Made In Uk
Once Fitted You will Never Go Back To Rubber Cones
Item condition: New
Item location:
P&L MINIS
34 HIGH STREET
THURNSCOE
ROTHERHAM
South Yorkshire
S630SU
United Kingdom
Classified ad price: £228.85

just need to source suitable springs for at least £200 less than the asking price

Keep watching e-Bay and see if any used ones turn up. Of course if they do, it may mean they weren't that good after all.

Hi there its been a while, You dont have to pay £200 for srpring kit! Try what steve has done and get your self the front springs only.

No good going for fast road if you want a softer ride, go for town ride like an 80,s French car. I should be going down this route from Minitastic myself.

Spoke to James (Stanford hall) with regards to the rears being run with extension arms & 13" wheels that seems to open a right can of worms.
Any thought of previous atempts please??

Will let you know how it goes when up and running on mk3 project.
Spoke to Mr B he suggested £70-£80 for the fronts isnt that what x2 new cones would be.

What about just replacing to New quality cones, Your old ones are probably shot anyway?

I can say without a shadow of doubt, the cones i've got must be made from rock instead of rubber.

Of the top of my head, i think the front cones are about £55 each, Minitastic springs are about £90 pair. The only problem with the Minitastic springs are that they're made for use with the Minitastic Hilo's. I've got the minisport cheap Hilo's Which are the cast ally ones. Looking at the Minitastic Hilo's they're CNC turned & look as tho they've been made with more material for the spring face to sit on.

Hopefully next sunday i can start stage 1 of the front suspension mods. Awaiting deliveries from Minisport & Mini Spares this week with the following goodies.

Heavy duty fully adjustable tie rods.
New tie rod bushes.
New knuckle joints (swivel pins).
Fully adjustable bottom arms.
Offset load bottom arm bushes.

This will hopefully help to straighten the suspension geometry up !
I've hung fire on the cones, as i've got a slightly heavier Vauxhall engine up front & i want to check out the loadings on the front to see which type of cone/coil system i will go with.

With the Kangaroo back, i'm looking at something a bit weird/exotic...Imagine the b#st#rd love child of a fully adjustable coilover spring & a Hilo...(Cad station is warming up ready). Just need to get some 6065 ally billet & access to the lathe !.

nhazelwood wrote:I can say without a shadow of doubt, the cones i've got must be made from rock instead of rubber.
................................................................ With the Kangaroo back, i'm looking at something a bit weird/exotic...Imagine the b#st#rd love child of a fully adjustable coilover spring & a Hilo...(Cad station is warming up ready). Just need to get some 6065 ally billet & access to the lathe !.

Just a thought here, I have just replaced the concrete Dunlop cones that were in the front of the MK2 with the Mini Sport 'Smootha Rides' and a very cheap pair of Hi-Lo's. I can't believe how much it has transformed the ride. No more crashing and banging of the front end, just rides smoothly over the bumps.

So I too am now looking at softening the rear up a little and was wondering last night if it would be possible to fit the 'Smootha Ride' front cones in the rear.

One major factor is that they are taller than the standard cone and as I found out yesterday, they are impossible to fit without a cone compressor. Even with the Hi-Lo adjusted right down you simply could not get the top arm back in so the rear trumpet extensions on the Hi-Lo's might have to be shortened slightly.