I've got cupping wear on the inside of both my rear tires. My mechanic told me it's likely the rear shocks and quoted me an insane price to replace them.

I'm wondering if there's a "go to" set of replacement rear shocks for the GP, and how hard are they to replace? I'm comfortable around a wrench, but most of what I've done has been on motorcycles. Is it possible for a guy to do this in his garage? Do I need special tools for the alignment?

Anyone else dealt with rear suspension wearing out? The car has 94k on it, mostly commuting.

 

I think this is kind of a common problem for Mini's or at least I was told this because mine did the same thing. I think its the way the cars kind of squat and even more so when lowered a bit as mine were also. Keeping up on tire rotations might help some as well.

 

The rear camber goes more negative as the suspension compresses. So if you have passengers a lot or carry things in your trunk I suppose it's possible to wear out your rear tires faster.

I would bet that there is nothing wrong with your shocks and the car just needs an alignment. Try to dial in less negative camber in the rear and zero to a slight toe in. You can do the alignment yourself without any super special tools but it'll take you quite a while. Probably 4-5 hours if you're aligning the whole car by yourself. Especially the first time. For $60 I would just take it to an alignment shop. Make sure they know the 3 bolts at the front of the rear trailing arm are loosened to adjust toe or they'll be there forever trying to figure it out.

If you want to replace the shocks Konis are a very popular option and there are lots of threads on them floating around. Shock replacement isn't particularly difficult. Research getting the top strut nut off as that's what typically gives people the most trouble. You'll need a spring compressor or a big friend. A spring compressor you can "rent" from Advance/Autozone/etc. through their tool rental program. It doesn't cost you anything. A big friend may be harder to come by

 

I also agree that the rear tire wear is probably caused by negative camber and toe. The rear camber is slightly adjustable on the GP. However, it can probably only be adjusted to around -1.5 degrees but that will help if it is much more negative right now. I agree with the suggestion of adjusting the rear toe to zero. Rotating the tires also helps.

Since you do a lot of commuting miles you could think about installing aftermarket adjustable rear lower control arms so that more of the negative camber can be adjusted out to get to around -1.0 degree. But they are $240.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/h-sport...ber-links.html

I would have a four wheel alignment done at a shop (about $100) that will adjust the rear toe. Adjusting the rear toe is a little bit of a pain because of loosening the trailing arm bolts, moving the trailing arm, tightening the bolts, and seeing the toe moved slightly when the bolts were tightened and then trying again. It is also a pain to get to the bolts on the GP because of the Aero Kit panels.

Koni FSDs and Koni Yellows are popular. Probably FSDs would better match your usage. The GP does need a spacer on the rear shock due to the aluminum trailing arm. You might be able to get shocks for the R56 that will fit the R53 GP without the spacers.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-rea...k-spacers.html

If replacing the rear shocks you will also want to replace the front shocks. As mentioned you will need a spring compressor. You will also need a way to tighten the front top strut bolt will holding the strut rod from turning (allen wrench). I use a spark plug socket with a hex pattern on the socket. I put an allen wrench through the hole (where ratchet would normally attach) to hold the rod and use a wrench on the hex portion to tighten the nut. There is special tool that you can purchase. I use a air impact socket to remove the nut. I do not use the air impact to install the nut because of no torque control.