I’ve replaced all the ball joints and bushings in the front, and all four shocks on the 2004 Cooper S.

While putting the rear shock on, the Koni had a paper that said to torque the lower bolt only with the vehicle weight on the tire. Not sure how I’ll do that, but… are there any other suspension components or bolts that need to be tightened with the vehicle on the ground and not on jack stands?

Thanks a bunch, folks!

 

Most of suspension pivot bolts should be tightened with the vehicle weight on them. Read, anything with rubber (or urethane or a rod end) in it.

 

You can use a variety of methods. Least expensive is to cut up short sections of 2x12 boards. Jack up the vehicle and put a couple under each tire. That should give you enough clearance. (Be sure to set your hand brake!) I also have a set of short Race Ramps that do nicely. Of course, you could always drive to your local service station or alignment shop and put it on their drive-on lift.

 

I used a jack stand under the control arm and then lowered the car down till it stopped moving the suspension, tightened everything and then jacked it back up, so far, no issues.

 

That’ll work!
What do I torque, the four ball joint center bolts? There is no bushing bolt I’m aware of, except the center subframe bolts.

 

Outers are 41 ft-lbs; inners are 59 ft-lbs.

 

FWIW, I tightened some suspension bolts years ago with the car in the air. Big mistake. The control arm bushing twisted and sheared and I had to replace the bushings.

Peter

 

Which bolts do you tighten with the car in the ground, and which with the car in the air?

 

In the front, there aren’t any bolts that need to be tightened with the vehicle weight in them.

In the rear, if all you did was replace the shock, it’s just the shock mounting bolts that were removed, so no need to worry about vehicle weight when tightening either.