I did the Alta rear swaybar tonight (the adjustable one). The install was the
2nd time for me since I was missing brackets the first time and had to put
my car back together.

Anyway, got the brackets and was doing the install tonight. After i installed
the swaybar, I raised the subframe and moved the swaybar up/down to
check for noise and free movement; i hear creeking... So I lowered the
subframe again and filed off a part of the chassis that was hitting the
bushing brackets... and raised the subframe again.

still creeking... humm, I thought, and put a piece of paper above the
swaybar and slid it down from the left hand side all the way to the right...
the silicone sealant on the chassis was rubbing the bar on several locations.

Lowered the subframe again and took a sharp knife and trimmed and trimmed....and trimmed and trimmed...x 30min the silicone. And raised
the subframe again and the creeking was gone.

Put the swaybar on the soft setting and took her out for a spin.
Im glad I did the rear swaybar, although a lot of work was put into it.


Special thanks to Aaron at Outmotoring for his great support. :smile:

 

Whew, I'm glad you finally got it installed successfully, even if you have the LONGEST SWAYBAR INSTALL TIME IN EXISTENCE!

As for fitment, I have the H-Sport Comp in mine, and if you think the ALTA 22mm is a tight fit, lol, well, it's not! Sounds like the factory chassis sealant workers were being sloppy on yours, mine had marginal excess, and needed no trimming (though my first MCS did need trimming, though only a smidge).

Again, glad you got it put in and Out Motoring came through for you!
Enjoy, and Motor-On!
Ryan

 

Whew, I'm glad you finally got it installed successfully, even if you have the LONGEST SWAYBAR INSTALL TIME IN EXISTENCE!
>>


awww, man, tell me about it!!! I have BARELY any room left with the 22mm.

 

I'll be installing the Madness sway bar soon. I hope I don't encounter the same problem. I just love working on my little blue Mini, even though frustrating at times.

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Some of the welds on the subframe interfered with installation of the RDR bar clamp-on collars, so apparently there's quite a bit of build variance in these cars.

A quick application of the cut-off wheel (thx Scott) and I shaved the collars down to size. Fits fine now.

Jeff in ATL

 

When I installed the Alta bar I found no interference at all.

 

2cool- it's probably more specific to the vehicle and not to the bar...there
seems to be a wide tolerance in the sealant application and the way the
chassis is welded and cut as there is a lot of clearance if the car only
uses the factory bar and brackets.

 

i have the RDR adjustable rear sway bar
after the install the clamps (installed on the inside of the bracket) were rubbing
so i moved the clamps to the outside of the bracket (where they serve the same purpose)
& no more rubbing


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Im not sure that I want to hear all these issues. I am about the start the install here. I go on vacation next week, but then its time to buckle down on the rear sway bar... You guys are making me nervous. Im glad that you have it installed... Do you see any difference in the handling. The MINI already has great handling and I cannot see how it benifits too much, but its a must have!!!!

 

Much improved handling, decreased to non-existent understeer with the bar on its stiffest setting. It is a mod that I highly recommend, even before a pulley.

 

It's a world of difference. If you're going on vacation and plan on aggressive driving and won't have a chance to test the mods I'd suggest going conservative.

Stock you can throw it into a corner to hot and lift to scrub off speed. At full hard with the RDR bar (I'd say it's roughly equivalent and perhaps even less than the middle setting on the h-sport comp bar) the tail end will come around nicely on trailing throttle.

If I were really going to push it on unknown roads I'd drop back to the middle setting. There's very little margin with the current set-up.

As to worrying about the installation I wouldn't. I didn't really have to install the clamps (bar still works fine without them.) I was just surprised that I'd heard nothing of interference problems. After talking with others mine appears to be a unique circumstance.

Hope this helps,

Jeff

 

The cutting of the sealant isn't that hard to do...the rear brake rotor
was in my face so tasted some carbon with my tongue... not a bad
taste either.

I do recommed though, that after you have the clamps on and
raise the subframe (with a jack, btw), don't screw on the subframe
screws just yet and move the bar up/down to check free movement
and creaks.

The filing of the chassis can be done with any ol' file and I only
needed to file about 3-4mm tops. Touched it up with some paint
afterwards. The cutting of the sealant took a bit of time, but
nothing hard to do.

It's not something to be worried about, just was surprised that I
had to do this as i've never had to do this on my other cars that
I have/had in the past.

 

my 22mm alta was a straight forward, no problems install.

 

Sounds like I need to install the sway bar. I am a rookie when it comes to suspension. I understand the 22mm adjustable swaybar.. 22mm in diameter? Also how many settings are there? How difficult is it to change? How are the setting rated? I am a bit lost when it comes to this... any help would be great. I dont want to get myself in too deep....

 

goldcountrymini, check out the installation How-To over here: Swaybar install

The Alta bar is 22mm thick and has two settings (two holes on each end). The inside hole is the stiffest setting, the furthest out on the bar is the softer (still stiffer than stock) setting.

 

Others have pointed out that you can use any combination of holes between the two sides (middle on one and high on the other) to achieve settings that fall between the three selections.)

It seems to make sense on the surface of it.

Jeff

 

>How difficult is it to change?

Very easy...just take off one nut per endlink that connects to the swaybar and
move the endlink to another hole, torque down the nut. :smile:


>How are the setting rated?

On the Alta, just 2 settings: hard and soft
On the other ones some have 3 settings: hard, medium, soft

 

Thanks everyone for the info. So with the soft, med, hard... How does that wear on the tires? Also with more horsepower this is going to increase the stability of the car right? But it wont let the power get to the wheels and to the ground (thats what the limited slip diff does right?). I told y'all Im a rookie when it comes to suspension bits. Thanks again for the info.

Which one is the best to buy for the money?

 

goldcountrymini- going straight, there will be no additional wear on the tires.
While turning, the rear tires will be forced to absorb a lot more weight transfer
during the lateral G so the rear tires will wear more than before.

During the turn, the car will be leaning much less than before so you can
put down more power to the ground..but it is only to a certain degree on
these open-diff drivetrains while turning.

best for the money... not sure. the Alta I got seems to be a good package
for the price (www.outmotoring.com) if you get your brackets the first time.

 

Thanks for the info. I just had my tires rotated and the local tire dealer told me that the front two (which stayed onthe front for aprx 12,500) was pretty bad... I am not sure if they were trying to sell me a tire, but the tread is a bit low. I still have on the stock run flats. Do these have a short life? I know there was a thread about this... hmmm...

 

I jsut put my UUC rear bar in tonight. The install was really easy with Randy's instructions. I think the hardest (most stressful) part was getting the car up on the stands. I don't trust those plastic blocks...

I went with the stiffest setting first and the change in cornering is dramatic. It's going to take some time to get used to.

 

Early_apex- you make a strong point. I just painted the brake calipers and I found it difficult to put the entire car up on jack stands. being that there isnt too many spots to jack the car up safely.... where did you put the stands?

 

?! I just use my jack stands on the plastic blocks...works just fine. :smile:

The jack point is pretty much available down the entire side of the car.
You'll see a black plastic strip that covers a metal lip (?) running down the
entire side of the car on both sides. You can jack up the car pretty
much anywhere down that strip.

 

I did it like this:



Though my 04 doesn't look exactly like that. It has a unibody "rail" that runs about from where the jack is in that pic to about 1/2 way down the side of the car. I wouldn't advise jacking on the rear end of the rail, I got a little denting when I tried it.

I put the stands on the plastic chunks meant for the factory jack. I would recommend decent stands with a nice wide base, not the tiny 2 tons stands you can get for $10. Be sure to get the stand arms as dead center on the plastic as possible - the rear one on the first side I lifted started moving a little the first time I tried to put it up.

Also be sure the blocks are secure to the bottom of the car or they could fail and the car might fall of the stands. There have been several reports of this and I've read it's due to pins in the bottom of the plastic piece not being secure. Again, my 04 appears to be different as I couldn't find any pins.

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<img src="http://my.athenet.net/~mtr/mini/minirowsm.jpg">
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04 Blk/Blk/Anthraccite MCS

 

Thanks for the reply. I was more concerned with the rear. I did the same thing as you for jacking up the car to put the stands under the front tires. I was just a bit concerned with messing something up for the rear tires. HMM... I will have to try it adifferent day to get a fresh approach. Next step for my cooper... the boost/oil gauge install...