Just bought an '08 R52 JCW. I didn't think to check for mushrooming when I bought it. It does look like it has a little. Does it make sense to get a Craven Strut Defender now? Whether or not I do, I reckon I out to hammer it back down flush/flat - correct?

 

Hammer them out and put the plates on ASAP. Once it starts it just gets worse. This will help stop it.

 

Ordered the Craven Strut Tower Defenders. What's the appropriate bashing tool?

 

mini tech told me your supposed to jack the car up, then smashy smashy with a large hammer until flat again. dont recall if your supossed to remove the bolts to the shock... seems like you should...

not so much a science as it is brute force and art.

i think a medium sledge outa do; large heavy flat surface area.

 

maybe a rubber mallet?

 

use a rubber mallet. or place a block of wood on top of the tower so there is no metal on metal contact if a rubber mallet isnt available.

and yes, definitely lift the car and remove the 3 nuts that hold to the strut studs.

another method would be to buy under tower plates to use with the craven defendsers. thats what i did. it sandwiches the tower and perfectly reforms it, and then keeps it that way. all you have to do is re-torque the nuts every couple hundred miles or so. worth the extra $80 in my opinion.

just be sure you torque the nuts TO SPEC when re-installing them. i believe they go to 15 ft lbs. i torqued mine at 25 ft lbs and snapped one of the studs. luckily thats an easy fix as well.

people say the hammering method works but it didnt seem right to me.

 

Use a 2x4 across the top and hit it with a bfh. That's the best way.

 

How to inspect strut towers and what to look for and how to sort it if mushroomed.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I do have a rubber mallet that I can use.

Brick: I saw that video, that's what made me go and check them. I need to watch it again and go do it immediately so I'll remember how exactly to measure it. It's definitely slightly out.

Jown: What under tower plate did you use? How difficult was it to install?

 

i normally stay away from ebay, but i actually got them from a seller on there. he makes/sells a lot of mini/euro parts. i figured... how could you ***** up a flat peice of steel with holes in it?

the ones i got from this seller are 4mm thick vs others like madness that are 3mm. i think mini mania or craven offers their version of them as well but theres really no need to over-pay for a part like this.

install is fairly easy. they provide you with longer bolts to replace the strut studs, since you will be adding 4mm more space between the tower and the strut. i only used 2 out of the 6 provided. you may not need them at all.

IF you DO you need them, install will become a bit more daunting, as you will need to fully remove the strut to hammer out the studs and replace with the slightly longer bolts provided with the plates.

to avoid removing the strut, a small c-clamp can be used to "press" the studs out. i found this to be easier than hammering, but overall, if ylure comfortable taking the strut out, its going to make the process easier.

IF you DONT need to replace the studs (which you can test before removing anything), simply lift the front end (this can ne done before or after removing the 3 nuts. whichever is easier for you), remove the 3 nuts from the strut studs, place the plate on top of the strut (but under the tower of course) push the strut back up into the tower, and install the nuts. (in mine and your case, you would install the adapter screws for the craven defenders, followed by the defender and its nuts.

 

Thanks for the info jown.iv I ordered the craven speed version out of laziness lol. Seems a pretty straight forward install.