Ok, so I know that most people will end up lowering their cars to give it better handling and a more aggressive look, but I have a question about doing the opposite. I just had new wheels and rims put onto my mini because it was scaping on my garage slope. I have 205/55/16's for the tires and that has raised the car enough that it doesn't scrape anymore, but now, with the aggressive fitment of my new rims, my wheels are occasionally acaping on the wheel well. The rims are 16x7.5. So, I was wondering if it is possible to raise the car and if so how?

Any help would be appreciated. Also, I live in San Francisco and so if you know of someone who could do it in the Bay Area that would be a plus as well.

Dr. Bob

 

Raising the MINI is not a good idea- higher center of gravity would alter handling. Taller springs aren't easily available unless someone can get a set of stock MCS springs and stretch them out just enough to help you but there would be no way to evenly balance the stretch for each spring and it might be a bit uneven.

A better solution would be to find the areas that you are scraping the wheel wells and cut them with a dremel tool so that the scraping can end. I think your 7.5" rims did not help and maybe you have a steep slope to contend with. You did not mention if you lowered your MINI so I will assume you have a stock suspension.

Thread on How to trim-
http://69.93.166.248/modules.php?op=...pic=6863&0

 

>>Raising the MINI is not a good idea- higher center of gravity would alter handling. Taller springs aren't easily available unless someone can get a set of stock MCS springs and stretch them out just enough to help you but there would be no way to evenly balance the stretch for each spring and it might be a bit uneven.
>>
>>A better solution would be to find the areas that you are scraping the wheel wells and cut them with a dremel tool so that the scraping can end. I think your 7.5" rims did not help and maybe you have a steep slope to contend with. You did not mention if you lowered your MINI so I will assume you have a stock suspension.
>>
>>Thread on How to trim-
>>http://69.93.166.248/modules.php?op=...pic=6863&0


Thanks for the feedback. I do have the regular stock suspension and have not had my car lowered previously.

 

haha this is a joke right?

my eyes are bulging out of my head.

yeah for incereased wheel gap! whooopeeee

 

>>Ok, so I know that most people will end up lowering their cars to give it better handling and a more aggressive look, but I have a question about doing the opposite. I just had new wheels and rims put onto my mini because it was scaping on my garage slope. I have 205/55/16's for the tires and that has raised the car enough that it doesn't scrape anymore, but now, with the aggressive fitment of my new rims, my wheels are occasionally acaping on the wheel well. The rims are 16x7.5. So, I was wondering if it is possible to raise the car and if so how?
>>
>>Any help would be appreciated. Also, I live in San Francisco and so if you know of someone who could do it in the Bay Area that would be a plus as well.
>>
>>Dr. Bob

You didn't mention your new wheel's offset. The rubbing is probably due to the wrong offset causing the tires to rub.

 

I had occasional rubbing in the rear after adding 17x7.5 SSR Comps (42mm offset) w/ 215-45-17 S-O3s. I had adjustable rear control arms installed and it only took -1.6 degrees camber to solve the problem. FYI - before they did the alignment they said I had -0.2 on one side and -0.8 on the other, so it was an extra degree of neg camber, give or take. This might work for you as well, without increasing ride height or wheel gap, and would improve your handling rather than making it worse. It's also possible to add camber plates in the front if you have rubbing issues there. I'm not saying this WILL solve your problem, just that it worked for me.

_________________
'02 IB/IB MC w/ assorted extras

 

Dr.Bob,

Now I see the route you have taken to increase the height
of your car. I agree with one of the other answers you have
already received. Because of the extra 1/2" rim width you
can do this one of two ways, or both. Control arms might
be the total answer and depending on the amount of adjustment
required you may not have adverse tire wear problems. I still
need to know the offset of those wheels to figure out if in addition
you might need to trim inner wheel wells.

David

 

Ok, so in response to some of the other questions raised above, I asked what the offset was and it is a 40 mm offset.

 

Instead of lifting your MINI, which would seriously compromise center of gravity and suspension geometry (possibly inducing POSITIVE camber), how about reducing the slope on your garage?

Well, unless you're planning on turning it into a rally car.