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My '06 MCS has almost 55,000 miles on her now; has been driven from Georgia to Texas twice, to Miami, FL, twice, to Langley, VA, and Charleston, SC countless times. No mushrooming. I have the stock 17" MINI Lites.
I attribute this to installing my M7 Strut tower Reinforcement Plates and Stiffening Bar early in ownership and the fact I ditched the run flats for conventional tires at 20,000 miles. Conventional tires are much more forgiving that the run flats, this is why they make for a better ride. The rock hard siewalls of the run flats cause the vibrations to move to the rest of the car-namely to the shocks and strut towers.
No mystery here, just physics. I would add the following options to your survey:
No Mushrooming-installed Strut Tower Plates early in ownership.
No Mushrooming-installed Strut Tower Plates and replaced Run Flat Tires with conventional tires.
I have the m7 tuning strut brace but one of the strut tops is still pushed up/cracked. Can it still push up more and break even with the strut brace on?
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06 BRG MCS: black stripes&roof, black&tan leather, all blacked out, stubby antenna, S-Lites, LSD, Alta CAI, BavAuto lowering springs, M7 strut brace, One ball mod.
For anyone thinking about getting some protection. We just got a special from Craven and are passing the savings on to YOU. This week you can get a set of Craven Strut Tower Defenders for only $115.
Based on your comment I am going to assume that you have never been nor seen a road racing track. On the vast majority of road courses there are structures commonly called a FIA curbs at the inside of most turns . They are usually made of cement or concrete with ribs or " rumble strips " which are put there to discourage anyone from cutting the corner . When driving at speed it becomes necessary to sometimes clip or even go completely over these curbs to make the turn . These curbs taken at a high rate of speed will cause as much stress or more than any pot hole. This short video should explain more clearly.
Yes, I am aware of those. They never caused me to bottom out----although I just have stock suspension.
My point was that the road conditions/potholes in many cities have greater potential for causing mushrooming than a track, wouldn't you agree?
Both have their issues . I was just pointing out that a track has its own share of areas of concern.How many times have you seen photos of cars with there inside wheel or even both completely in the air do to a FIA curb ? We have some terrible cracks and hazards on our own Fwy systems out here in L.A and our weather is better than most of the country. There is no real way to hide from these type of situations other than driving slow and what fun is that ?
Both have their issues . I was just pointing out that a track has its own share of areas of concern.How many times have you seen photos of cars with there inside wheel or even both completely in the air do to a FIA curb ? We have some terrible cracks and hazards on our own Fwy systems out here in L.A and our weather is better than most of the country. There is no real way to hide from these type of situations other than driving slow and what fun is that ?
Randy
M7 Tuning
I agree!
__________________ '04 MCS "Blue Meanie" / WMW 15% pulley / one-ball exhaust / DDM intake / H-Sport 19 mm anti-sway bar / JCW plugs / Kingsborne wires / magnetic drain plugs / Speedy wheels / Hawk pads + ATI rotors / Craven ST defenders / Whalen shift knob / Scan Gauge II / Gominigo 3rd brake light / Powerflex LCA bushings / WMW street tune / TSW jack points / Ian Cull v. 7 auto-up switch
I've spent the last week reading through this thread. I'd just about scared myself into believing my strut towers were mushroomed (Do they look mushroomed to you? They do to me. You? No? Right here, maybe?). Then I was looking for torn rubber (never good), broken struts. My car is an '02 S, with S-lites, and 60k on the odo. Runflats went bye-bye at 25k miles. Ordered the M7 brace. I was originally shopping for a brace, but convinced myself what I really needed was the strut tower reinforcement, and the brace would be a benefit. It showed up on Monday, so I went out to the garage, popped the hood, and both plates dropped down flush onto the mounting nuts on both sides. The studs are centered in the mounting holes, and everything looks good (actual installation is being saved for Friday). Even though my car appears to be in the group most likely to suffer from mushrooming, I've lived a charmed life? Now, will the hood close?
FWIW, I live in the Seattle area, which has plenty of lumpy pavement, but not really a lot of potholes. We suffer most from patched pavement resulting from upgrades to sewer/water, cabling, etc.
I am undecided between the Cravens and M7. The M7 are cheaper and cover the whole area, but the Cravens come with bolt extenders.
Later edit: well, ended up going with a set of M7.
Thanks Way Motor Works!
So here is my update/information regarding this thread.
2006 MCS, 16in rims with the standard run-flats.
65500 miles, no evidence of mushrooming. I bought the M7 reinforcement plates for peace of mind.
I don't know who posted that the Mini-Madness strut-tower plates are $99 each, but that is complete BS - they are $99 for the PAIR.
BTW, any rational engineer would tell you that they will work better than strut-top plates, since the problem is caused by deformation of the bushing mounting plates.
Get IE Fixed or M-M under-tower plates if you want to do the job right. Get the tower-toppers if you want bling.
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"You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time." - Abraham Lincoln
I don't know who posted that the Mini-Madness strut-tower plates are $99 each, but that is complete BS - they are $99 for the PAIR.
BTW, any rational engineer would tell you that they will work better than strut-top plates, since the problem is caused by deformation of the bushing mounting plates.
Get IE Fixed or M-M under-tower plates if you want to do the job right. Get the tower-toppers if you want bling.
Seeing how the plates are not sold individually, but in pairs, common sense would dictate that he meant $99 for each pair.
Let's try and be a little civil here, no wonder so many are leaving NAM.
The Strut Tower Defenders are more expensive than the UTI's but easier to install and avoid adding to the ride height. More importantly, they and have never once failed anyone. So, despite the musings of rational engineers, empirical evidence would have some precedence in this case. Following the link above will get you to both parts if you are interested in either.
Just installed my M7 plates. after only owning the car for a few months the terrible holes on a local highways did some pretty heavy damage. everything straightened ok and the car drives like a dream now!
THANK YOU M7! another highly satisfied customer!
__________________ 06 MCS, BRG/BRG, Panther black leather, LSD, Aux driving lights, Navigation, Cold Weather, Premium, Sport, and Convenience Packages. Auto up circuit, rear fog light and full switch panel, ASA AR1s and Aux stereo input. Project WRC
I just bought a 2004 MCS. Had 17" Slites non-runflats. The front passenger rim was bent pretty bad. As expected, the strut-tower was mushroomed. Went to install m7STD and couldn't get it to level on.
Took a peice of wood, layed it where the tower was deformed, took a hammer and gave it a good series of whacks. Problem solved. M7 plates lay down as they should now
Perhaps the pole should include a "No mushrooming, no cracking" catagory. I have 90+K on Daisy - lots of really bad roads in Mexico & US. 16" run flats - no sign of mushroomeing or cracking.
'04 MCS
I don't have any mushrooming I can see yet, but I've got some pretty severe bending of the strut mount - thankfully no cracking yet.
I'm looking to replace the mounts soon (and hopefully get rid of the rattling of the towers).
My questions: If I just get the OEM strut mount http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...rut_mount.html
(i'm on a starving college student budget)
does that include the rubber bits in the second listing under the link?
or is that something else I might need to also replace?
also, if anyone is in the Monterey Bay area and wants to act as the Good Samaritan and lend me some tools/a hand please drop me a PM!
^^^ bending is shrooming. if the mounts are bent in any way that is the beginning of shrooming. I will be willing to bet that almost all R53 and most R50 MINIs (in the United States) that have hit a number of potholes have some form of mushrooming. I have looked at used MINIs country wide and not yet found one that with any normal amount of miles did not have mushrooming (or signs of repair from shrooms) unless they had plates on. I know this is a very bold statement however most people dont even realize that mushrooming has occurred. the only way to tell for sure is to put plates on top without the bolts and see if they touch all the way around. I have some pictures of mounts that look almost perfect but then you look at them closely and you can tell that they have been repaired.
I know that people are going to flame me for this statement however it is my personal experience that I have seen with my own eyes. I have looked at hundreds of MINIs.
ThisFlynn where are you located? you will need to straighten the mounts in order for the new plates to seat properly. have you checked the ball joints? I would check them as well if you are getting "rattling"
__________________ 06 MCS, BRG/BRG, Panther black leather, LSD, Aux driving lights, Navigation, Cold Weather, Premium, Sport, and Convenience Packages. Auto up circuit, rear fog light and full switch panel, ASA AR1s and Aux stereo input. Project WRC
I'm currently going to school at Cal State Uni, Monterey Bay - just north of Monterey.
I only make a distinction between mushrooming and bending because I can't see much if any bowing of the 'frame' or what the strut mounts are mounted on.
I'm fairly certain the ball joints are ok - I believe the rattling is from the top of the struts moving around withing the strut mounts.
thats cool. I would say you probably have some sort of distortion. It is rather hard to notice most of the time.
are you noticing any unusual wandering in the steering? have you checked the sway bar links? If you had a strut mount rattling I am almost certain you would have some pretty heavy steering feedback.
If no steering feedback I would be looking at things that do not affect suspension geometry. That is why I suggested the sway bar links. that design is notorious for a distinct rattling sound sometimes.
__________________ 06 MCS, BRG/BRG, Panther black leather, LSD, Aux driving lights, Navigation, Cold Weather, Premium, Sport, and Convenience Packages. Auto up circuit, rear fog light and full switch panel, ASA AR1s and Aux stereo input. Project WRC
Thank heavens for this board. I just picked up an 03 MCS and I'm sorting through the various quirks and vulnerabilities. Ordering IE fixed camber plates and Craven STDs at next paycheck...
Bought an 02 MCS a couple months ago w/ 17" non-run flats. Didn't notice the mushooming until I started reading this thread. Had slight mushooming on both sides, Have fixed the mushooming and made strut tower top plates to reinforce the strut tower (based on a design I found on the internet) and incorporated a strut tower brace that bolts to the reinforcement plates. Looks good and seems to work well so far.
Just got strut tower reinforcement plates from VIP Custom Parts last week.
I got their plates and strut-brace bar set, but the bar's on back-order, since it's a *brand new* product. Luckily it's a modular system, so when the bars are made and mine is shipped, I can just bolt it on....
When installing the plates, after my passenger-side strut tower's nuts got to "finger tight", I could feel it pulling the sheetmetal straight as I tightened the nuts. There was tension on the nut when turning, but each took a couple turns to finally come up to torque. The strut had a *barely visible* arch before I started. The driver's side went on perfectly. Now the slight jog to the right on hard acceleration shifts from first to second gear is gone.... I now feel a lot less worried about the poor quality of some of the roads here.
I'm really happy with the plates, and can't wait for the bar to arrive. It's nice to throw business to a local guy who's a friend of our local MINI club here, too....
C ya,
Dutch
__________________ Oh, let me have just a little bit of peril? Mods list: Blue Sharpie Mod and many others....
06 MCS, BRG/BRG, Panther black leather, LSD, Aux driving lights, Navigation, Cold Weather, Premium, Sport, and Convenience Packages. Auto up circuit, rear fog light and full switch panel, ASA AR1s and Aux stereo input. Project WRC
