Good photos of this phenomenon in post #10 of this thread.

 

I've seen worse on several Minis in our local club here in Detroit...both with 18" wheels...

 

Actually my wife's surprising cool with all this. Problem is me. Doing a new motor for the 911, motec M48, cams, top end, dyno tuning the proper way on an engine dyno... So I keep telling myself keep the MNI stock. Ergo, I need a decent excuse to mod the car and my thinking at the moment is that wheels (thats I already done), a rear bar and camber plates is the best set of minimal mods if I decide to AX the MINI this year.

 

yikes! good thread tho

 

Ok...so I've got this bone stock May build '02 MCS that I'm trying to keep original and unmolested, but I want to protect it as well.

So what bar do you suggest where I don't have yank out the air box and ecu and inter cooler and.....well you know what I mean.

....Les

 

Well we have a couple of suggestions for you . If you decide that you just want the protection you can use what we call the SRP, Strut Tower Reinforcment plates. If you want to also have the added suspension performance we have our Strut Tower brace with built in strut tower reinforcment. This bar will require no cutting of your stock intake or ECU cover . Of course there are other strut tower braces that will assist in preventing " mushrooming " but the more solid the mounting plate is the better off you will be.

Randy
M7 Tuning





SRP



Strut Tower Brace




http://www.m7tuning.com/main.m7/store/10025
http://www.m7tuning.com/main.m7/store/10036

 

[QUOTE=maxmini]Well we have a couple of suggestions for you . If you decide that you just want the protection you can use what we call the STR, Strut Tower Reinforcment plates. If you want to also have the added suspension performance we have our Strut Tower brace with built in strut tower reinforcment. This bar will require no cutting of your stock intake or ECU cover . Of course there are other strut tower braces that will assist in preventing " mushrooming " but the more solid the mounting plate is the better off you will be.

Randy
M7 Tuning

Thanks Randy......it appears the strut brace does not require any other modifications....strictly a bolt on addition. Do you need longer bolts for either of the solutions?

...Les

 

Thanks Randy......it appears the strut brace does not require any other modifications....strictly a bolt on addition. Do you need longer bolts for either of the solutions?

...Les[/QUOTE]

The plate is completely bolt on. One word of caution however. Many people , me included , tend to over tighten these nuts when putting on braces. You only need about 25 ft lbs torque. I lived and learned the first time around .

Randy
M7 tuning

 

Randy,

Any developments and/or ETAs on the new black strut brace?

 

Out next order will be in black. We should have those in stock in less than a month perhaps 3 weeks.

Randy
M7 tuning

 

Randy,

Have you ever considered a version that would move the strut mounting bolts in a little for more neg camber at the same time? Use dowels on the underside of the plates to locate it to the original strut mounting holes, and use the plate as a drill guide for the new strut mounting holes.

I could be a customer interested in that!

 

Thank you QED.....

We are working on something very, very revolutionary. Something
that you will be saying "Why didn't I think about that" and we will
most likely show it (maybe) at AMVIV... I'll let you know.

peter
Team m7

 

Randy whilst on the topic of mushrooming and strut braces, how about a sale of ur m7 braces ??

 

Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about! Yeah! I'm all over that! Do you take PayPal??!!

...Les

 

I guess I speak for Randy...

I hate to say this, but we are almost out of braces again.
Yes we got a shippment in Friday a week ago (a big shippment) and
we had so many pre-orders that we're almost out again. With that said
we have (7) Titanium colored units left and that's it, untill we're
getting the new Black hard anodized units in stock. Black is M7's new color with stainless or chrome hardware....Sweeet.

Peter
Team M7
562-608-8123

 

If the mushroom effect is such a big deal on lowered mini's with 18's what does the manufacturer do to protect the JCW?

 

Wait for you to complain

 

I'm very happy that the black ones are becoming a reality. Expect my order very soon!

You guys are top notch. 'Nuff said.

 

I wish there was an actual count of how many people have had this problem.

 

I started to look into that and gave up. There is talk of it on several threads on NAM, Team Mighty Miniz, Mini2 , Motoringunderground and NEmini at this point.

Randy
M7 tuning

 

Thanks Randy. It's not a bad price for insurance, but two things:

1. I'm running 16s and suspect that I might have a less than usual chance of this happening, and

2. I'd suspect that these would be protest bait. I can't imagine anyone could say that this would give me an advantage in stock class, but still.

Thanks, if I can get away with it, I'll put an order in.

 

You are correct that running 16's with a fatter sidewall will greatly reduce your chance of having a " mushroom " issue. Seeing that you are in a stock class I am also going to assume that you are riding at a stock height. With these facts in place I might make a suggestion that you do not need our product at this time. Ifothers with your specs have had an issue please feel free to step in and correct me. You are more than welcome to purchase them of course as added piece of mind but you are at the other end of the spectrum that we see in real need if the SRP. Those people running lowered cars," race " suspensions , low profile tires 40 or 35 series for example , 18 inch wheels or unusually bad road conditions are the prime target for this product. Thank you for the post and feel free to contact us for any further info.

Randy
m7 Tuning

 

The plate is completely bolt on. One word of caution however. Many people , me included , tend to over tighten these nuts when putting on braces. You only need about 25 ft lbs torque. I lived and learned the first time around .

Randy
M7 tuning[/quote]

What will happen if you over tighten the nuts? I don't know how much 25ft lbs torque feels like so i just tightened it till it's tight, and a bit more.

 

What will happen if you over tighten the nuts? I don't know how much 25ft lbs torque feels like so i just tightened it till it's tight, and a bit more.[/QUOTE]

The bolt will either snap or start to spin in place . It is a strange set up. Sort of like a bolt that is pressed into a spot and if you turn it too hard it will spin. Actually bolt is miss representing the unit. It has a round head actually with knurled edges so it stays in place mostly my pressure against the outside edge . I would either find a torque wrench and do it by the numbers or if you are doing it by hand use as short ratchet and just get it nice and snug. Mark the nuts to see if they are turning and then just check them every so often until you can hook up with someone with a torque wrench or a calibrated wrist Its not like there is a lot of stress on these bolts .The shock tower is being pressed up at all times unless you are airborne for a extended period of time and if that is the case you have a bigger problem than loose nuts

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Well, after going back and forth in the GS forum, I put an order in last night. No one's going to flag it locally and if I have to pull them for 4 national dates, so be it.

Thanks for your honesty Randy, but you made the sale anyhow. Looks like Per ordered a set as well.