I have put the H&R coilovers on my Mini and it looks great. I took a spin in it and there are some rattling sounds like something is loose. It only happens when I hit bumps. Any ideas on what I might be? Swaybar endlinks?

 

I would check the rear swaybar and the drop links. When I had the H&R coilovers I had contact with both of these depending on the setting of the bar.

Of course I had *a lot* of fitment issues with my H&R's, not the least of which being the super low ground clearance on the highest setting. more on my H&R saga here

 

As has been recorded, I second DinD's remarks. I bent the Madness bar outwards by 3/4" at each end to give clearance. I'm told by George at MiniMadness the bar is now sent out suitably wider.

That being said, I too have the knocking sound in the rear using the H&Rcoilover!

H&R, of course, says it must be something else. I'm still checking it out.

H&R also claims out of all the cMINI oilovers they have sold only DiD and I reported excess lowering problems and that we must have one of the MINI spring settings they did not test. What BS. My car has a 3/4" spacer added to the front lower spring stop and is all the way to the highest setting and is roadable at 24" wheel well to ground. If I pulled the spacer, it would be 23-1/4", which is too low. Remember, this is the top of the range. It gives 2" ground clearance w/o my spacer(to front spoiler). If I then made use of the adjustment range, I could lower the car another 1-1/2". It would have 1/2" clearance. How the hell can they claim their system is optimized for the MINI?

On the other hand, with my current setup, the handling does feel great.

 

... and this, is why I went with Racing Dynamics coil-overs. Made for RD by Koni and AP Sport, they have plenty of height range. Mine are set so the tops of the tires are just about in line with the wheel wells. The MINI looks great and handles well. It still pushes a bit, something a sway bar or different dampening would probably cure. Be careful buying performance parts from companies that haven't been making things that long and/or don't test their products completely.

 

I know of at least one more MINI here in Denver that has installed H&R coilovers. The owner had the exact same problem with the ride height being too low at the highest setting.

If the implication there is that H&R hasn't been making things long or doesn't have a solid reputation for testing, then I would suggest you read this It's not like this was the first product they ever made. I would also be interested know what gives you confidence that the exact same thing hasn't happened with Racing Dynamics / Koni in some other application.

Sorry, but this time, in this case, with these cars, and that batch of coilovers, some combination of factors ganged up to cause the poor fit. I'm not saying that H&R can do no wrong, but there is a very solid history of high quality products from H&R being installed on street cars and being raced around the world. So no, I don't believe it is fair to level that statement against H&R in this case.

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UPDATE

I took off the H&R's and put them on again. I took another drive and the sounds have diminished. I also raised it up a tad and I took some measurements. All of the settings are a bit wacky so I am going to have to go back and adjust them again.

Stock:
FL: 25.75
FR: 25.75
RL: 26
RR: 25.75

As of now:
FL: 24.25
FR: 23.75
RL: 23.75
RR: 23.5

I am happy with the height and the ride so far. I just need to adjust them a bit more to get the same exact heights on each corner.

 

>>UPDATE
>>
>>I took off the H&R's and put them on again. I took another drive and the sounds have diminished. I also raised it up a tad and I took some measurements. All of the settings are a bit wacky so I am going to have to go back and adjust them again.
>>
>>Stock:
>>FL: 25.75
>>FR: 25.75
>>RL: 26
>>RR: 25.75
>>
>>As of now:
>>FL: 24.25
>>FR: 23.75
>>RL: 23.75
>>RR: 23.5
>>
>>I am happy with the height and the ride so far. I just need to adjust them a bit more to get the same exact heights on each corner.

It sounds like H&R may have taken care of the problem somewhat with the SERIOUS issues they had in the original batch.

I really wonder what they did to cure it though, as I heard some of the ideas they had (like just putting different springs on the front struts to fix the ride height - which obviously isn't the optimum way to fix it).

The rear clunking could be pretty serious if it is in fact the droplinks as DiD mentioned. We had one of the droplinks hit the spring and bend because of the H&Rs. As Dave and jlm said, there were a whole bunch of issues with them.

Right now, I have the LEDAs here and am very happy with the apparent quality and design considerations. I will be testing them the next two weeks and will let everyone know how that turns out.

The Spax are the other set I have my eye on for two reasons - they are a cost miracle in the realm of coilovers, and they are used in the UK for the Cooper series - so they must fit. They are also adjustable, albeit not for both rebound and damping. After the LEDAs are worked out, I plan on doing the testing on the Spax set.

Here are the two sets I'm talking about:



Randy
randy@mini-motorsport.com

 

Randy,

Anything to report on the coilovers? I've got my wheels and am researching the lowering of the vehicle. I realize you have a hundred "projects" going on but your word has become the "all-knowing source" so what's up???

Kevin



_________________
Spicey Chilli & White Bonnets/ Motor On//
Dogs love trucks..er...MINIS!
Rogue/Magnaflow/Magnacore/Konig 18s//

 

try kw variant 2 .... i had been using it for 3 months now and it had no problems at all.

ride is firm & excellent road holding....

 

SMG,

How much drop with that model and what did you pay?

Kevin

 

i think it can drop as much as 2 inches .(don't think you want that low).. it's really up to you...adjustments can be made on soft / hard & height so it's really flexible......i changed my settings at least 6,7 times......and i love the way it is now.

i paid around 1300 installed.

 

katnkevin,

I am truly happy with the LEDA coilovers. I have some new pricing on them too, so they are actually competitive with the other units available, even though they are fully custom (I need the weight of your car to build them).

I am just finalizing the spring rates, and should have them available at the end of this week, when they will go up on the site.

Give me a call if you have any other questions.

Randy
720-841-1002