Just installed Eibach springs and everything is fine. And I'm using S-Lites with runflats.

 

i replaced all the worn motor mounts vibation got sligtly better i only feel the shutter between 3 to 4 grand...i am going to order up some new cv's one is bad anyways...i will let you guys no if this is the problem or not...i have changed everything from replacing the worn upper shock mounts to motor mounts...getting better with every change but it is still noticibley there. Next is going to be my worn lower ball joints and the cv's and followed by an alignment.

 

I was warned about this when geting my megans... It should just be that the geometry is off.

 

ITs called the lowered car ride... Goodluck with speedbumps!!! They are my enemy!!!!

 

think my cv is on the last thread...vibration got real bad this afternoon...and i am getting a metalic click noise when coming off the clutch. time so break the bank.

 

has anyone gone from stock suspension to JCW suspension and developed vibration?

I can appreciate that vibration has direct correlation to age of vehicle and suspension modification.

Pls drop me a pm

 

This obviously doesn't affect every MINI. I lowered at about 40K miles - no vibration then and none now at about 56K. I suppose how much lower might matter though. I lowered about 1.25" but .5" of that came from changing wheels/tires, so only about .75" by suspension.

 

Thats just it - its a gamble. I hate being on the fence in un-known land.

 

This phenomnon is caused by a combination of ride height, camber and toe. All three will potentialy place the CV joints at some angle that will cause vibration.

Smaller tires will not affect suspension geometry - they will lower the entire car.

My ride height was reduced by 3/4" and camber was set at 1.5 degrees neg initially. The vibration occured immediately, therefore before any alignment - toe angle was increased - more toe in. An alignment cured nothing. The vibration went away after I replaced the entire driver's side axle assembly.

 

I have this problem now and have camber plates. Last night I dialed my camber back from -2 degrees to -.5 degree (had both positions marked on the camber plates at the alignment).

In my case the steering wheel vibration went away after backing off the camber.

That said, I still want -2 degrees of camber for autocross, and I'm not really thrilled about the prospect of needing to change the camber before and after each event.

 

I have pretty steep camber in the rear but not much at all in the fronts?

 

We seem to have 2 cases here:
1. vibration in steering column - fixed with camber adjustment
2. driveaxle vibration - fixed with drive shaft replacement

I lowered my car with 1500 miles on it so the age of vehicle has no correlation.

I am going to phone my MA to see if they have had the problem with JCW suspension.

 

PLEASE let know. Thanks

 

you can purchase pure racing CV joints. These allow more articulation and therefore more room for lowering and camber adjustment.

 

I just spoke with my MA, they have one other person here recently with the same problem. They advised the Axis of the driveshaft is thrown off by excessive lowering. He recommended I raise the ride height if I had coilovers.
They also say they do not get the problem with JCW because it is only a slight lowering (mm).
MEB:
Where can I get racing CV's?

Has anyone with coilovers raised the suspension until the vibration went away?

 

Check out Grass Roots Magazine

 

I ordered a set of coilovers. I can not get Grass Roots, do you have a link to a retailer that sells a racing cv setup for the MCS or do I have to get one custom made?

 

If I remember, I'll go thru a few of my Grass Roots mags tonight.

 

im leaning on the cv joint issue it makes sense...def not the clutch as i had this problem before i replaced the clutch with a stage 3...and my vibration seemed to dissapated when i changed the spring rate on the coilovers....made the springs softer....but after a week got progressively worse....now the tires are touching the wheel wells so the cv joints are at an extreme angle...saving up some money and replacing the cv joints...i dont think they every wore a new groove in them due to the milage on the car...i think i lowered the car on 30 to 40k and i got close to 70k now on the speedo...ill keep you guys posted...if changing the cv joints eliminates my problem im sure it will to you guys too.

 

Have you tried raising your coilovers?
Racing CV sites:
http://www.cvaxles.com/custom.htm
www.nitrodriveline.com

Article:
http://www.turbomagazine.com/tech/02...eakable_axles/




This is the one I believe I am having trouble with.

 

Would a special (seemingly "high dollar") racing CV joint and axles really make a marked difference to just plain new or rebuilt CV joints from a local dealer or rebuilder?
There are a whole bunch of CV joint rebuilders out there, and I'm guessing that they may carry Mini CV joints - seems like the better choice, or at least cheaper choice for our expensive suspensions we are putting together.

 

If the vibration is because of wear, a rebuild would solve it.

if the vibration is because the CV joint is operating at an angle outside of its limits, a rebuild will do nothing.

I don't know which of the two is the real cause of the problem, but I have my guess... I changed my CV joint angle a little when I went from stock suspension to JCW suspension, and again when I added -2.0° of camber up front. Plenty of miles on my car at each stage, so if there was a chance for the CV joints to wear a groove, it would have happened. Maybe my changes in CV joint angle are slight enough to not cause the wear related problem. My guess is there is no wear related problem, and it's a problem of some setups bringing the CV joint angle out of operational spec.

 

This "wear a groove" thing is not true. I lowered my car with 2500km on the clock. I didn't even break them in yet.
The problem is the CVs, when lowered, are working outside of their functional range.
The kicker is not all MINIs have this problem when lowered. Its a gamble.
So buying a new CV may fix the vibration, an aftermarket CV that can operate at more extreme angles should fix the problem.
It really bothers me that I can not find an explanation for why some MINIs get the vibration while others do not.
There seems to be a variable we are missing.

From a CV Manufacturer:
"
Symptom
Vibration or shudder on acceleration or deceleration
Possible problems or causes
Bad inner cv joint
"

 

I too wanna know, but as I see it only cars that are lowered quite a bit has this problem?

 

The verdict.
A racing CV will fix the problem, so will raising the car slightly in the front.
The problem is with the front left inner cv. This cv only has a 12 degree operating range. When the car is lowered too much the inner cv is taken out of its ideal operating range and the vibration is caused by the inner bearings binding against the housing. I have pics I will post.
I tried a number of things, the racing CV will work but is not necessary. I purchased coilovers and adjusted the ride height until the CV was happy. Invest in good suspension.