I searched for this and came up empty. Has anyone found a garage which they would recommend for work on a Mini in the Triangle? Specifically, I've run out of tools to throw at installing my Alta springs and am ready to pay someone to do it. There must be someone out there...

Thanks,
Scott

 

Hi Scott, springs are a pretty straight forward proposition to install. Any competent garage will be able to handle the job. Check with whichever garage you normally deal with.

If I might ask, where are you running into problems?

 

Thanks Moorlockx. I can't get the driver-side front strut to release from the hub carrier. I can get it within 1/2" or so but no further. This corner is known to be a problem. The Bentley/factory procedure has you pop off the ball joint and tie-rod end using special tools.

I'm amazed that none of the independent shops in the area I have called, including some good BMW shops I've used in the past, is interested in doing this work for me...

 

Strange. When Eric up at Helix did mine he didn't have to pop the ball joint loose. You might want to contact him and see what the "secret" is.

 

Check with Audioman. He just did all 4 of his at Smokey's pulley party.

 

Yeah, that Front Driver's side is a pain. Didn't have to anything special like pop off the ball joint, though.
Keep the top 3 nuts on the strut tower tight to hold the whole assembly up.
It was a 2 person effort, one person lifting up on the shock body, and the other pulling down on the hub assembly. Kinda wiggling it free.
We did try to compress the spring with some clamps, but I don't know how much that helped, they didn't seem to compress that much.

Persistence is key, we tried and tries... said a few choice words, and tried again until it finally came free.

We did the the other 3 corners in the same amount of time as it took the driver's corner.
The new springs go on much easier.

hope this helps,
Keith

 

check out www.motorsport-connections.com about 1.5 hours away