That's what I figured. I already have 2 new wheel bearings for the front, along with new wheel carriers, inner/out ball joints, front lower control arms, Powerflex bushings, tie rod ends, and rear control arms. Just need to pick up my suspension, which will hopefully be in another week or 2. Then I'm taking the weekend off from work and installing everything. I can't wait! The front end is going to be like new!

I'm gonna take a lot of photos too and make a thread on my MINI suspension adventure!

And most likely do a nice write up of the whole thing while I'm at it!

 

So now I should have everything I need for my install. I have new wheel carriers, new wheel bearings, new inner and outer ball joints, new Powerflex bushings, new front lower control arms, new rear lower control arms, new tie rod ends, and my suspension will be here tomorrow. Found an awesome deal on new Tein SS coilovers and ordered them. When I receive my suspension tomorrow, I'll take pics of everything I have and then either friday or saturday I'll be installing everything. That will be an all day event for me. Lots of pics and a nice write up on it soon to follow!

 

My new suspension arrived today!!!

Tein SS Coilovers
New front lower control arms
New TSW rear control arms
New Powerflex bushings
New tie rod ends (I must have forgotten them in the picture )
Newer wheel carriers with NEW bolts
New inner and outer ball joints
New wheel bearings

And...........................................some MINI Cooper GUM!!!

Here's what everything together looks like......



Saturday I'll get to put it all in!!!

 

Well, I wish I could say that the install went well. I wish I could also say I finished the install. Had A LOT of issues arise on Saturday. Most of the front end came apart without issues. The first problem I ran into was with the CV axle nut. Whoever put it on must have thought that you had to bend the end into the slot completely. I ended up have to chisel the bent part off the nut. They pushed it so far in that you couldn't get anything in there to bend it back out. It was flush with the axle threaded end! So that gave me quiet the problem. After that, everything came out without issues. Took off the wheel carrier, suspension, and the lower control arm. I used a torch on the LCA bushing to melt the rubber and rip out the old LCA.



Then I took a sawzall and cut the band inside the bushing housing and used a hammer to pop it out. Now, I don't have access to a press, and I didn't feel like dropping the whole subframe. So I devised a solution to my problem. I got a long bolt (about 6" long) and I picked up a couple 3" steel squares and 2 big washers. I then put a washer on the bolt, a steel square (with a small hole drilled through the middle), and fed it through the back of the bushing housing (I put it in from under the seats towards the front of the car). I then put the bolt through the new bushing and then put the 2nd square on the bolt, along with the 2nd washer, and I put the nut on the end. (Sorry for the hand drawing, I didn't have any available hands to take a picture of it.)



I SLOWLY tightened it down and forced the new bushing into place. This took a few tries to get it right, but it worked well. So after the bushings were in place I managed to get the inner bushing part into place, slide on the LCA and new ball joints. Installed the new suspension on the wheel carrier, and put it back into the car. I reassembled the front end and dropped it back to the ground, and found another issue.



The camber is WAYYYYYY off! The passenger side is fine. We took it apart and reassembled it. I'm thinking the wheel bearing hub must be miss aligned and is slightly tilted. The strut mount plates are fine, and they both are sitting like mirrored versions of one another. This is the only thing I can think of so I will have to take a look at it again tomorrow and hopefully it'll be the cause of this issue. I just ran out of time this weekend, and I'm working today so tomorrow will just have to be the day to take it apart.

 

I've been following this thread with much interest.
Any updates?

 

I've been working all week so I haven't had a chance to try and figure out what's going on with the suspension right now. Tomorrow I have off and I'll be able to look at it then. I just don't look forward to swapping out 1 part at a time to figure it out........

 

You may want to check these spacers out. There are some rim limitations to be aware of but it sounds like if you are running 17" it should be no issue. These change the roll center of the front end. I did something similar to my Chevelle some years ago by swapping spindles. This is a spacer that goes under the spindle. The best way to describe the benefit of roll center change is like comparing a work truck or tall van to a sports car. A favorable change in the roll center is like making the pendulum shorter so the mass does not "bob around" as much.

Dustin at this site is very helpful and responds quickly to email:
http://www.autoxcooper.com/megan.html#susp_mod