Got a problem!
My suspension setup has been an ongoing journey, but today I had sudden problems on the freeway. I was cruising at 64mph and there was a slight shake in the steering wheel, but when I went to change lanes it felt like the front wheels were no longer perpendicular to the road....it felt like the front-end was rolling over on itself.
A slight turn of the steering wheel was causing a soft knocking sound and when I'd brake, the front end would start shaking. Thankfully, I was right by the wheel/suspension shop where I get my tires/rims worked on.
I didn't know what to tell the technician other than, "here's the keys pull it into the bay and you'll feel it what I'm talking about." Any help you guys/gals can give me would be *much* appreciated.

Here's my car's specifics (related parts):
2003 Cooper S
H-Sport: front sway bar, rear sway bar and springs
Ireland front rotor conversion, w/ stock calipers & Mintex M1144 pads
Momo X1's with hubcentric rings
BF Goodrich KDW2 215/45/17's

 

Well, right of the bat I'd say that you have a loose wheel due to loose lug bolts. This is a common problem with powder coated aftermarket wheels as the powder coating can disintegrate under the lugs which in turn loosens them.

Otherwise I'd check the struts as you may have blown the fronts out due to lowering the car.
I'd start with those and of curse all other possible loose connections.

 

Thanks for the quick reply!!! I'll call the shop right now to have them check the front struts and lug bolts. Last week, the lug bolts were replaced with the correct bolts (ie. longer than stock). Hopefully, it's not super-serious because we're supposed to be driving to Randy Webb's pulley party this Saturday afternoon.

 

Randy Webb is a prince! I just talked to him on the phone and he gave me an good idea of what the problem is: the ball joint on bottom of the A-arm was possibly heated (by the nearby Ireland rotors) to the point where a hole burned in the rubber boot.
Hmmmmm.....this car of mine.

 

Well....<shaking head> the problem was that the suspension place hadn't tightened the lug bolts enough and the bolts had worked themselves loose. They had tightened the bolts to 80lbs, but apparently 100lbs was needed. Another 5-10min of driving on the freeway and there would've been Mini parts all over the freeway.
Next week when I swap out my pads and rear rotors, I'm going to take Randy Webb's advice and wrap the rubber boot with thermotech tape and safety wire.

 

I just don't feel that you can blame the shop. Truly, in the end, you are the guy responsible for this. When you start going with the kind of mods you have, you need to be very involved with keeping up with the car. Lugs should be torque ALWAYS a second time after the first few miles of driving. 90% of the time you will find that they have come a bit loose due to heat and other issues with aftermarket wheels.

When I change wheels, which I do often, I always take a torque wrench with me. When I get to town I check it again. When I come home from tracking(when I used to drive there and back and had to change to street tires) I would stop after about 20 min of driving and check torque.

Randy's suggestion is a decent one, but know that you have hardly any clearance between the rotor and ball joint to do much work with insulating. I cool this area with a brake duct myself. Tracked many times and have not had an issue with the rubber. I think it's rare.

 

You're right about the tightening after driving for a couple miles. As soon as I leave the office today, I'm going to swing by Sears to get a torque wrench to carry in my roadside repair duffle bag. Thanks Onasled!