Guys I need some help... I just had 8.4" Discs put in my mini up front. I have hi-lo's installed and 13" wheels all around.

The fronts now rub on tight turns. I don't think I need to raise the mini any, as I have about 3 fingers of clearance from the tire to the flare (which I read is a decent approximation of clearance).

I have spacers on the rear drums, but I can't find anything for spacers for disc brakes. Anyone know what kind of spacers I can use? And if I need to change the studs?

if it matters this is the kit I ordered and installed:
http://gbcarparts.com/proddetail.asp...%2E4conversion

Thanks in advance!

 

Where do the fronts rub?

 

rub during turns about 2/3 of the way to full lock. They rub on both sides of the fender well, moreso in the back side I think.

The right one seems to rub a bit more (RHD fyi)

 

Where exactly the rub is will tell a lot ...

spacers don't sound like a good answer - many poopoo any sort of spacer as causing extra stress on the wheel bearing due to the increased lever arm (comments physics majors)

disk brake upgrades push the front track out so rear spacers, or the rear drums with spacers built in are needed to even out the track (or so it was with my upgrade to Cooper-S 7.5 inch disks) but I've not seen anyone using spacers up front. Their use would compound the issue in the rear. for reference I run 10x6 on Cooper-S disks with no rubbing issues.

how wide are your wheels? Did they come from a Mini smart seller?

Got pictures? Have you really dug around and found the contact point? Of course I can recognize that this is easier when you can easily put your car into maintenance mode and pop off the fenders . .


as I understand it the more common rub issue with wide tires on larger rims (I run 10") is needing to cut metal to enlarge the wheel well opening under a wide flare or skirt

My wide flares cover my wide wheels, but the small diameter meant there was no need to cut metal

 

Thanks for the info. Looks like I need to cut some metal and get different flares. I was wrong the rubbing is up front... I have 13x6's on the car from a MINI Sport (UK).

What flares should I be looking for? And anyone have pics of cutting away the lower metal as seen in the pics here?

https://picasaweb.google.com/pbhathe...eat=directlink

 

yep

your existing flares are the little cute ones

to run 6 inch wide x 13 diameter wheels you need group 5 flares .... and once located to the body you need to cut away the metal the flares cover if running 13 inch wheels . . .

http://www.minimania.com/web/item/MS128W/InvDetail.cfm

With 10 inch I need the flares to cover the wheels as they stick out ... but the small diameter means they don't hit the existing sheet metal.

 

thanks... it's always something with these little guys. Change one thing and the ripple effect gets $. I should've done my homework

 

^ +1 to the ripple effect.

 

Ideally with 13" wheels you need the Rover 'Sportpack' arches see below, also Minispares in UK also can provide a template download to show the areas to cut away on the front wing/fender.
MS135
http://www.minispares.com/Product.as...d=34402&title=

"This is a set of four original moulded wheel arches as fitted to the Sportspack mini with 13" wheels. This does not include the black rubber seam mouldings DDJ10002 between the front and rear arch on each side. It also does not include the metric nuts to fit which are avaiable as GFK3295 All arches are available as separate replacements."

"the arch templates are available on our website under tech talk using this number followed by the next 3 part numbers . Just download them"
VUR100180
http://www.minispares.com/Product.as...d=33915&title=

 

other than price is there any difference between those and the ones Capn listed from MiniMania?

The Mini Spares ones are 3x more. Just curious what the difference is. Thanks for the info on the templates that will be useful, though not sure if I will need to make all those cuts with the Mini Mania ones?

Thanks, just want to make sure since I placed an order for the other ones this morning... in case I need to cancel

 

flares I referenced were intended as an example of a group 5 - wide - flare. there are several different ones available. Differences include the material they are made from, how they are intended to be mounted, whether they have the cut out for front side marker lights . . . . prices vary

http://www.7ent.com/categories/body-...?sort=featured

 

Sportpack arches are expensive because they are genuine production tooled up hard-rubber moulded parts as fitted to the last production 1997 onwards Rover Minis at the factory, so they tend to be stronger and fit better than most of the aftermarket fibreglass copies.

However, due to the much higher price I guess only worth considering if for any reason you are not happy with the Minimania arches when they arrive.

Minispares also do these much cheaper copies:
http://www.minispares.com/Product.as...d=36597&title=

Description
Set of four very good copies of the original rubber wheel arches as fitted to the sports pack models from 1997 on. Not quite as good as genuine in finish perfection,BUT THE DOWN SIDE is the coating needs proper etch primer for applying paint but the fitability is just as good.Correct 5mm nuts are FN105047 or use substiture GFK3295