Want to lower... worried about axle and vibration
 

I want to lower the car about 1" to get rid of a little fender gap, and improve the handling of the car. I have an 09 Justa, and am reading all of these horror stories about vibration and having to have that axles replaced soon thereafter.

My car has 40K on it, just out of warranty.

How low can I go before I should start worrying? I am looking at NM Engineering Springs, as they seem to drop about 1.2". Everything else I find seems to lower around 1.4".


Thoughts? I am wanting to order tonight, so any information would be greatly helpful!

The PM that you sent me, those shocks are adjustable so you can make them softer if the ride is too stiff for you. I had just as many rattles with the stock set up as I do now with my coilovers. Actually I would say my stock setup rattled more then my car does now.

Im not worried about a stiff ride... more so the axle vibration and wearing out axles.

Most of the issues asscociated with this involve coilovers and being lowered more then what you are wanting. I dont think IMO you will have any issues just using springs at 1.2" or 1.4"

+1

Axle vibration is not a common problem. There are many people (myself included) lowered well over 2" with zero problems.

I have 24k miles on my NM springs, no issues with anything.

I got them for the same purpose as you're wanting, just to take out some of the wheel gap. I've also heard/read nothing regarding early axle wear, etc. The angle/degree change with these isn't very significant.

You wont have vibes at 1" down. I had to drop 2"+ to make my axles cry. Then it made me cry because my car doesn't want to be as low as I'd like.

I'm on my 3rd MINI using NM springs. I've never had a vibration or axle issue. I agree with others, the 1 to 1.5 inch lowerings aren't the problem, it's the extreme 2 to 2.5 that cause the problems that you are worried about.

Hate to revive an old thread, but in an effort to not spread misinformation - I just wanted to point out that 1.3-1.5 can also cause vibration. I have the H&R springs installed (not coilovers) which claim to drop the car 1.4 inches, and I have this pain in the ass vibration problem.

Vibrations happen on cars with higher miles usually. It has to do with the axle's wearing at a certain ride height over time. No new car has reported vibrations. It's always people who lower after many miles that get it.

Just installed lowering springs (1.2") last weekend and have a noticeable vibration at 25-30 MPH and again slightly at 50 MPH. Car has 58k on it.

I cannot tell what side it is however. My guess is passenger since this is the "long" side.

Do you happen to know which side is the guilty party for the vibrations? 'Usually' it is the short side (driver) but not sure.

Only considering higher mileage minis (60k+) and a mild drop (1.2) can we get more data points from folks? Stats (miles when lowed) + (drop) and yes or no on the vibration.

I was waiting until I had to replace my stock shocks and while I was under the car throwing on some springs to close up the wheel gap, but if a vibration is a real possible result then that’s is a deal breaker.

Can more folks chime in here and for those that got a vibration is the only solution, aside from going back to stock height, to replace the axils? Can the axil wear in to the new height without issue?

I believe that I answered this just a couple posts ago. ^^

:-)

I lowered (Mach V Motorsports springs) my car (1.2" in front) a weekend ago or so and have a significant amount of vibration at 30mph under medium to heavy acceleration.

Yes but one out of one posts, even though it is 100%, doesn’t mean 100% of those that lowered on high mileage cars have issues. I am looking for a larger sample hope other will reply and offer any suggestions as to what they did, if anything.
:popcorn:

I'm about to lower mine (NM Springs) and I have 105k miles. I'll let you know

I lowered mine awhile ago, can't remember the mileage exactly, but it was over 100,000. Currently just over 321,000, have never had a single vibration. Lowered 2+ inches.

Nik

Xwelder,
I am interested in your results. I’d like to also go with NM Springs and Koni Yellows, I think it’s the better option, but I’m leaning toward going with Megan EZ coilovers just to have the option of bringing the height back up close to OEM if I get the vibration.

Xsmini,
Your signature implies you have a 1st gen. mini. I believe the vibration is more of an issue with the 2nd gen.

Just installed the NM coils. All is good, no vibrations

What is your mileage?

110,000. I also went in and cut 1/4 coil off the front springs. Still no vibes

Can we see a pic of how low you went? I'm thinking of lowering my Justa too but I don't know whether to buy springs or coilovers.

So not a lot has changed on this thread

Was anyone able to determine which side was causing their vibrations?

I find it very odd the varying mileage and drop rates and what owners are finding. There seems to be no pattern.

thishouldwork, did you find anymore out in any other research (excluding NAM)?

No additional info, it seems to be luck of the draw. I’ll be pulling the trigger on one of the options I mentioned above. I should shoot an email off to Way @ WMW and see if he has an opinion on the topic.

How is the ride settling in with the 1.2” drop? Did you cut the bump stops to add a little more travel? Also were you able to dial in the rear camber without buying adjustable links? I understand the R55, R56 has a little camber available to adjust.