Does anybody know how to get more suspension travel from first gen Mini's for a rally or exploration vehicle build? I've seen the 1 & 2" lift kits around for sale but those seem pretty useless considering you still have about an inch of suspension travel, I'm more concerned with travel than height.

I found a build thread of a guy who put factory Subaru STi struts into his R50 (https://www.specialstage.com/forums/...lly-Mini-build), seems like a decent option but STi's still only have 2.3" of bump travel which really isn't THAT much better than our cars. Anybody have any ideas on how I can accomplish this without spending $10k on a custom built rally suspension? I just wanna go mountain biking and hiking in the boonies without having to buy a damn Subaru!

Thanks ya'll

Stoney

 

Sorry but the lift kits won't increase shock travel as they are just spacers between the body and the shock to increase ride height.

You will have to build something custom with different shocks to get more travel. Even the coilover kits will all lower the car.

 

 

i might buy some sti gravel spec coil overs just for giggles to see if i can stuff em in there

 

You should definitely check on the inner diameter of the part of the upright/spindle/knuckle/whateveryoucallit that accepts the strut before buying anything.

If the Subaru strut is a larger diameter you'll have to modify the knuckle. If the Subaru shock body is smaller than the MINI's upright, then you might be able to get a fabricator to make a spacer/adapter out of a piece of tubing that would sleeve over the bottom of the strut.

Very interested in this, let us know how things work out. Don't give up, you're in uncharted territory (to my knowledge) at the moment!