Those would be the Mini-Madness plates, not mania...

Nice pictures.

 

Oh...I always mess that up. It was Mini-madness for sure. I took a lot of before and after pictures. By the way, Old Rick, I bought these plates after reading your opinion on them. Thanks.

 

Opinions are free around here, but you're welcome. Great pix of the problem and the solution.

 

Mushrooming, shrooms or whatever you want to call it have been discussed in other threads quite a bit, but thought I would post here too, since it asks which are the better of all the solutions offered (mallet, M7, Craven, Mini-Madness).

I had M7 plates in July 2008. But then I read member Old Rick's posts and the enthused debate that followed his comments.

While I think the M7 or Craven plates are good, on thinking about it (for hours) IMHO the $100 MINI-Madness plates are a better fix, shroom preventative and/or concept.

Read Old Rick's posts for the full story, but in a nutshell he says that a thick, solid steel plate UNDER the strut mounting surface offers more protection than simply bolting an aluminum plate on top of the mount surface (the surface I am talking about is the surface visible when you open the hood and see the three bolts for each strut mount).

The concept is that the steel plate mated directly to the strut mounting plate (the piece with the three mounting bolts attached to each plate) is far more effective than a plate that is placed on top of each MINI's "fender well" (for lack of a better term, I'm not an engineer or mechanic).

I looked at the surfaces involved and referred/recalled my limited experience with physics (aka failures of this and that over time, typically something bending or warping). What Old Rick says is accurate, the strut impacting against a heavy tight fitting 1/4" steel plate is most likely going to limit or prevent shrooms far better than an impact against a "loose fitting" M7 or Craven plate.

I say "loose fitting" because with the M7 or Craven you have: 1) the strut mount plate (with its three mounting bolts); 2) then above that the MINI's body or "fender well" that the strut mounts to (as it is done at the factory, so to speak); and 3) above that the Craven or M7 plate. IMHO that style of "sandwich" is not mated tight enough to be as effective as the MINI-Madness plates. The M7 or Craven plate is the top slice of bread in a "strut mount sandwich." To be most effective, seems to me the plate needs to be where the meat is in the "sandwich."

The MINI-Madness plate being a solid, rigid piece of steel also seems better than a piece of aluminum. While I don't know metals, comparing the two side by side, the MINI-Madness plates sure seem more solid. In fact, to install one side I had to pound an edge with a hammer to slip it in (don't ask, I was lazy and did not want to adjust the jack and jack stand to give me more clearance). Anyway, the MM plate edge did not dent despite my whacking it pretty hard. Those things are solid, no pot metal in those babies.

After installing my MINI-Madness plates I determined there appears enough bolt remaining so that I can install the Craven extender/reinforcer bolts/nuts that come with the Craven plates. I am considering installing the Craven plates so I will have a super strong "double burger sandwich" for even more protection against shrooms. I would still need to avoid road hazards, but having an double protection would seem to be excellent shroom prevention.

Sidenote: I did not have shrooms before the install, my strut mount surfaces are perfectly flat. My MINI has 29,000 miles. I mention this because MINI-Madness and Old Rick say that if you have shrooms that when bolting the steel plates in place this will straighten the deformed surfaces. How cool is that. Seems a good reason alone to get the MINI-madness plates, especially since pounding the metal mounting surfaces with a 2 x 4 sounds bogus.

Look elsewhere for my install tips. I will post them on another thread. It's not as easy as the MINI-Madness directions imply. I'm good mechanically, but not good at times. It took me and a friend about three hours. I had some issues, but at the end of the install I was smiling at having got them installed and now felt protected. IMHO this is a two person job. While someone who has done a few of these may think it's a simple install, there's a few stumbling blocks for us one-time installers. PM me if you want my install tips and tricks.

Here is a link for the MM steel plates.

http://www.mini-madness.com/index.as...ROD&ProdID=334

Sidenote: Although MINI-Madness says they are for the S model, they installed perfectly on my 2006 Non-S.

 

I agree about the under strut protection. The Craven under strut protection is $25 less than the MiniMadness and does the same job with less bling. This is what I have installed in conjunction with the strut tower defenders (on top of the strut towers).

http://cravenspeed.com/index.php?pro...wer-indurators

Steve

 

Should have gotten a set of camber plates instead.........shroom protection and better handling and tire wear.

 

Thats what im wondering. Does a set of good Camber plates essentially do the same thing as all these "under strut tower protecters" ? Im guessing yes. Im looking at gettin a set of IE fixed plates with some sort of upper strut plates

 

PortMCS: short answer yes. A set of adjustable (or fixed) camber plates is the best option. The IE plates are very beefy, but don't add to the ride height.

 

Actually the IE Fixed plates do add about 3/16" to the ride height, per a lengthy thread about the fixed plates.

They do great things for cornering, and actually reduce road rattles slightly. They are also good as to preventing mushrooming, and the studs are long enough to accommodate any top-side anti-mushrooming plates if you are a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy. You will need an alignment after installing them.

 

Are these types of products necessary for the 2009 model MCS?

Pat

 

My bad (sorry). I have the adjustable plates and they did not add any height to the ride. I used them with stock shocks before moving to coilovers.

 

this might be getting off topic, but would getting a set of coilovers and a set of the top plate(craven or m7) also be considered "sandwiching"?

 

Depends on if the coilovers have camber plates......some do some don't.

 

Thanks Dr.Phil

 

I have the strut tower defenders (STD) by Craven. I like them plus I got them in red to add to some things under the bonnet.

 

I am surprised none of the resident experts have answered this.

I recall reading somewhere in here that the later model MINIs (2008?) have beefed up strut mount areas, not like the too-thin mount surface on my 2006.

As I recall someone said he looked at his new MINI and the strut mounts "looked" thicker, or something like that.

I think it was in that HUGE thread/poll asking about tires and wheels to determine if wheel size and tire type contributed to shrooms.

I commented in that thread that MINI making the change constituted an admission that the earlier strut mounts were flawed.

But can't remember more than that. Do a search. It's somewhere. You also might want to look at pics of the "old" strut mounts and compare them with your 2009.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ollection.html

 

I'll check that thread out.
Thanks.

 

Maybe because this is the first gen forum.........

 

Not sure what this is commenting to, but I don't know that the shroom issue is discussed in the second gen, at least not as much as in here.

And Pat, it's in the long thread where someone commented about it, in the first gen thread.

 

Thanks all. I'll keep my eye out for more information. I was able to drive my wifes car today and it seems to have "enough" shock travel to eliminate or at least minimize the issue. I would think if you make a habit of driving through holes you could create a problem.

Pat

 

It was to your post....why would there be any discussion about the second gen cars in this forum?

 

Actually these posts discussing the why about where posts belong are a waste of space, eh.

 

Actually, in my totally unprofessional and non-engineering opinion, the trouble with shrooms is reduced to three things:

1. Drivers hit potholes or other road hazards really hard. Or drivers (like me) live in cities where the roads are horrible to where the MINI suffers because of the constant beating the suspension takes.

2. The MINIs that will be more prone to shrooms than others are MINIs that have run flats (which is a stiff tire and does not provide much cushion), sport suspension, and/or 17" wheels.

3. The MINI strut mount surface is simply too thin. Look at the surface areas (under the hood). That metal is way too thin for what it does, support the struts.

I would look at close up shots of the first gen MINI and then look at yours (strut mount surface). Is it thicker? I heard it was. But I have not seen pics of the new ones to see if that is true.

To me the key to avoiding shrooms is installing the MINI-Madness plates and then continuing to be on the alert full time to avoid road hazards and potholes.

The way I do that is to stay well back from the car in front of me and I look way ahead to notice hazards so I can avoid them. Here in San Francisco I look like a drunk driver because I have to do a lot of weaving to steer around and dodge potholes.

 

As a new owner of an 06' MCS Convertible, after reading all the mushroom horror stories and plate debates, I opted for the Mini-Madness Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates. Seems like the best & cheapest solution... May add a strut plate later on depending...

Thanks everyone for the info and time spent solving and researching this factory weakness...

Rmpl

 

As in many situations, there is no downside to adding the Mini-Madness plates. No such thing as too much protection.

Borrowing Old Rick's "belt AND suspenders" metaphor, with the MM plates and being careful on the road, you should be OK.

I am doing pretty well here in San Francisco, on the worst roads in the nation.

I have yet to hit a pothole or canyon and dodged maybe a thousand or so by now.

My MINI does look a little nutty going down the road. I weave a lot, change lanes, straddle over two lanes, brake then move a little to the right or left, etc. (But I don't care what others think, it's my MINI and potential repair bill.)