Today I was driving, and car acted like I had a flat tire, sounded like a flat so I pulled over, rear tire was starting to fold up under the car. I saw the lower wishbone was split into 2 pieces, and the one on the passenger side was also cut, but not in 2 pieces yet. Just ordered 2 new wishbones, but need to work on monday = ):

 

What!?

Was this after you jumped it over the Grand Canyon?

Glad you we're able to maintain control...

Pictures?

 

I have heard of only one other case of a rear control arm snapping and he was not so lucky as you were. He was on the track and there was significant damage. It was a R53, and the pics were posted on NAM about three years ago.

I would think this is not too common.

 

There was a thread I saw recently about this though I can't be sure it was a recent topic. One of mine was pretty rusty and I got a set from ebay that will suit my needs perfectly. It has a rubber grease boot the keep out the weather and keep in the grease and with a sale, paypal bucks, credit card bucks it was more affordable than the more common brand name ones. You can't go wrong buying a set of H-sports which are cheaper than stock probably and there are other options that are cheaper too.

I just spent a bunch on brakes and needed tires, so I had to blaze my own trail. They seem really well made, the boots seal them very solidly and I anticipate many years of service out of them. The old one I replaced was pretty rusty, though still solid. They can catch debris in them due to their shape, though the other side was clean.

These with the boots are what I got.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ate/1303448278

 

I just drive normal, but I don't park on pavement. I park in the grass, and when I back up to get back on the road its a bump. Not sure if thats what made them wear out or not. Every now and then I would lose control of the car, and thought it was my tire that was bulging, replaced that tire, had no issues until today when the wishbone snapped.

Thanks HRM for that info. I ordered replacements already, but will cancel if I can cause those bars look much stronger. I was actually looking around for thick metal around the house to rig it up. My supervisor at work had this happen to his Acura, and he took rope he had, and rigged it up until he got home.

What causes the wishbones to break? I can show pics then. Got them on my phone, but will have to use my camera to get better pics.

 

corrosion, trauma, or least likely IMHO a manufacturing defect...

the picture would be most helpful

to repeat, thank goodness this did not turn into a far greater horror story!

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Couldn't get my photos on this forum cause they are too big.

The photos are here: http://minicoopermods.xanga.com/

Why couldn't mini come up with something that won't break? Why not use a 5" or bigger round steel or 5" thick steel to replace this crap? 5" thick or round would probably outlast the car.

 

Mini is cost cutting when they use bent steel to create those control arms. Does not look corroded to me from this distance.

I think h-sport makes a high quality control arm that does not squeak. They are a little expensive but I personally have torture tested them at open track and they are great so far. And I have seen supposedly higlh quality stuff such as end links etc, break. Alex at extension 294 at www.tirerack.com does carry them and his customer service is fantastic.

 

Yeah thats what I thought when I saw that. Do car companies want people to die? Oh lets put some cheap thin metal on a part that matters a lot, and have accidents happen. Stop being cheap, and prevent accidents using thicker metal.

 

I had the right rear one go on mine 3 years ago, and it had less then 30K on it. the dealer at time time told me it was common, I did not know a lot about it that time, but they wanted to change both and i said no, other side has been fine and I have out 70k on it since, I was lucky it broke as i was pulling into my driveway

 

Oh that's just a little scratch. Don't be a baby, duct tape it up...lol

Yea, I think that one has had it.

Well lighter is better, cheaper is better...so the engineers say it works in computer simulation and away we go... It just is good enough so most folks won't have an issue, then there are the rest of us who seem to bring out the weakness in car parts.

 

HRM, sorry to disagree with you. In my opinion, I think 2003 should be able to discuss his problems and what he thinks. He is being quite responsible.

I know you only want to have happy thoughts and discussions in this forum but with a Mini and some aftermarket vendors, sometimes we do not have much of a choice.

BTW, this is a potential major safety issue and not a bumper scratch.

 

I rather thought HRM's comments were tongue in cheek, if not outright sarcasm. That's obviously a frightening failure on a critical component.

Perhaps my own odd sense of humor makes me quicker to detect others?

Kind regards,

Charlie

 

Has the car ever been flatbed towed? My local dealer mentioned the wishbones could be weakened if used as tie down points.

 

Charlie, oh I may have missed the cheekiness in don't be a baby. My bad.

 

This seems to be an ongoing issue with 1st Gen cars.
Have now heard or seen at least 12 owners having this same problem.
From the photos that I have seen it appears that the wishbones are shearing in the middle of the wishbones.
The shearing affect is very strange from a metalurigist point of view because it is happening in a area that should be stressed on the longitude axis, the breaks are occuring on the width axis.
I would advise all 1st Gen owners to inspect their wishbones.

 

HRM was definately being sarcastic. I just bought a set of 4 round bars instead of the wishbones. Hopefully that lasts longer. I haven't towed anything or wrapped anything around the wishbones. The wishbones must have been messed up since I bought the car, cause it handles so much nicer now. Unless its the aftermarket round thick steel that makes it handle better.

That was more work then I antisipated in, but glad I don't have to pay that garage bill. Didn't know mufflers weighed as much as they do or I was getting weak from loostening the bolts, nuts, ect. I don't know much about cars cause I work in construction, and on electronics, but I see something in my way, and remove it. Spare tire, muffler, ect.

I didn't even know that the part I needed was called a wishbone until I did more research. If I see a mini cooper in a parking lot with the owner I will try to help them with info. to help prevent accidents.

 

I took these lower control bars to the ultimate test. 80mph on a back road with pot holes, bumps, ect all over the road. Car handled good, and the lower control arms are still straight. I wouldn't advice doing this, but I wanted to test the bars out.

 

How many miles does the car have.....maybe 141k?!!!!!

 

151k, but the car was driven normally. I did lots of tests with the aftermarket rear lower control arms I put on. I took the car off road on some big rocks where all around me was 4x4 trucks, but I didn't get stuck, and didn't have any issues. People where laughing cause a mini was in a 4x4 zone.