Rubber cones

[360gts]

A friend of mine dropped by yesterday with his Japanese Rover mini.
He has had to keep raising the height of the front hi lo units. Finally, ran out of adjustment.....by the way, the ride was horrible.
I took a look and was shocked to see what the cones looked like.

We replaced them with a couple of old ones....the car drives better and the ride is back to normal.
Here is a picture of the two cones we removed and a genuine cone from a 64 car. Guess it confirms what rubbish is in the modern rubber components!!!

[woodypup59]

See this post on the mini mania forum.

https://www.minimania.com/msgThread/126 ... bber_cones about halfway down.

"Bodger" reckons he's a co-owner of M Parts, the company that rescued the tooling from Dunlop Trelleborg and now manufactures them, albeit in much lower volumes than Dunlop. He reckons M Parts must have manufactured in excess of 75,000 units and have not received any feedback from people saying the rubber sags. He would be very interested in hearing about your issues.

So if you were able to send them back that would be great.

We've had plenty of problems with new cones sagging.

I reckon its the same level of customer service we have come to expect from Heritage panels.

[Spider]

D, I wouldn't actually be too quick to say the genuine ones are rubbish. They did change the mix at some point in later years to a slightly softer compound.

Sadly, your friend has let those cones go way too far. If they are changed out about every 2 - 3 years, before they turn in to pancakes, then stored in a cool dark place, as with your 64 cones, they come back to shape and as they age, they do get firmer / harder. Some can get rock hard so there is a limit.

When they are let go too far, the rubber 'shears', settles and then go quite hard.

The other thing to do with any Mini be it fitted with rubber cones or Hydro is to put it up on jacks when your not driving it.

"Bodger" reckons he's a co-owner of M Parts, the company that rescued the tooling from Dunlop Trelleborg and now manufactures them, albeit in much lower volumes than Dunlop. He reckons M Parts must have manufactured in excess of 75,000 units and have not received any feedback from people saying the rubber sags. He would be very interested in hearing about your issues.

'Bodger' (Roger) is indeed a part owner of M-parts, though, I'm not sure about "have not received feedback from people saying the rubber sags", I was supplied one that had not cured properly and sagged horribly, and I have had a quite word to him about that. Having said that, I'd say in the last 8 or so years, I would have bought around 60 or 70 of them.

One thing I do find quite beneficial with these Cones is to buy them at least 6 months before fitting, stored in a cool dark place. I find 'as brand stinking new' they are too soft, and a few months on the shelf does the trick.

' Bodger ' is also a member on this forum. He's a top fella

[woodypup59]

Perhaps Bodger could supply an address to which we can send the saggy cones so that he can investigate the problem.

I don't think changing them every 2-3 years is acceptable.

[Spider]

Perhaps Bodger could supply an address to which we can send the saggy cones so that he can investigate the problem.

I don't think changing them every 2-3 years is acceptable.

Send them here;-
Albion Works
Vale Business Park
Cowbridge
Vale of Glamorgan
CF71 7PF

You can let them go much longer than the 2 - 3 years I've quoted, but usually, they are a toss away by then rather than a recyclable item.

[mab01uk]

The new Minispares Evolution rubber cones sound interesting:-

MINISPARES EVOLUTION RUBBER SUSPENSION CONE
"Genuine Mini Spares performance cone utilizing 20 years of elastomer/rubber technology from our competition cones manufacturer. Fits all minis without the need of modification to anything. Only beeen available since 02/09/2020.
Original cone spring design technology is over 60 years old and needed modern scientific advancements and updating. Car weights/wheels changed over the years. These cones will give stability to your suspension, decreasing body roll and giving consistent ride heights after the initial settling down period, which allows fitting of original trumpets rather than adjustable suspension units such as hilos where the cars originality is to be preserved for increased value.
Most complaints about other suspension cones available is that they sink or sag after use giving unstable suspension heights which in turn is detrimental to the cars handling. Already by 30/9/2020 2 customers who had problems with new cone springs loosing height have fitted these with rave reviews of ride consistency. These should be fitted as a car set of four or, a pair of front.
Hilos or adjustable suspension might allow getting the correct ride heights but that means the hysterisis on each cone is affected and they are all working under different characteristics and limitations."
http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... 0to%20shop

Some early customer feedback on TMF:-
http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/to ... ber-cones/

[keith@minispares.com]

should have identification left on them somewhere--dunlop, Moulton or patent numbers.
the could have been the Indian ones that were useless but only M parts, Minispares and Minisport make any now.
Keith Dodd

[Bodge]

Perhaps Bodger could supply an address to which we can send the saggy cones so that he can investigate the problem.

I don't think changing them every 2-3 years is acceptable.

I have only just spotted this discussion about the rubber cones. I am indeed one of the co-owners of M Parts but it's my business partner John Lloyd who masterminded the rescue of the original tooling from Dunlop Trelleborg and set up low volume remanufacture.

So Colin, I am sure John would be very interested to hear about any issues you have been having with sagging cones. I stand by what I said on the Mini Mania site that whilst there have been odd instances of "faulty" units, I am not aware of reports of them sagging after such a short period and I agree that 2-3 years is not acceptable. It is the same rubber formula as used for the 1960s cones and if Chris told me about his own issues with them, then I'm afraid I have forgotten.

If you PM me your contact details, I will ask John to give you a call. Roger

[Spider]

and if Chris told me about his own issues with them, then I'm afraid I have forgotten.

Rog, don't sweat it mate - they are a good quality product

I just put it down to anything that's made, that there maybe the odd one, but it has only been that one out of the more than 40 I've fitted.

[minibitz]

I'm a bit confused by this post as the OP says the pancaked cones are off a Jap import, but then all the discussion moves on to M-Parts cones. Does this mean that M-Parts were supplying cones to Rover during the period these cars were being manufactured?

As for the pancaked cones. I personally own two Rover minis that have had flattened cones like this and have also replaced multiple factory cones from 90's Rover minis for customers in my workshop. It seems a very common problem on cars from the 90's. I've used M-parts cones as replacements and to date (10+ years) had no issues.

[850man]

I replace flat cones in Rover Minis regularly.
Whatever they were made with is nowhere near as good as the rubber in much older rubber cones.
We keep and use the Avon marked cones these days, they seem to be of decent quality and go the distance.
I have also used and was impressed with the Smootharide donuts available from Minisport. They provide a decent softer ride over the Avons and combined with the shock absorbers that come in the kit make driving a Mini quite pleasant.
I have also fitted the Minitastic spring conversion and had excellent results from them too.

[Bodge]

I'm a bit confused by this post as the OP says the pancaked cones are off a Jap import, but then all the discussion moves on to M-Parts cones. Does this mean that M-Parts were supplying cones to Rover during the period these cars were being manufactured.

Dunlop Trelleborg announced a last time manufacture of the rubber cones in the early noughties after Mini production was discontinued. M Parts acquired the tooling and began production of them in low volume in around late 2008 / 09.

So it was Dunlop that would have supplied the Rover production line.

[Spider]

There is another Rubber Cone on the Market

Made in China

The manufacturer sent me a set for testing



On the Test Rig, I could only get 0.160" Compression at 24.5 kN (2500 Kg) - that's the upper limit for me ! Almost as hard as concrete

I'm not sure what Truck these were designed for but I can't see how you'd ever get them in a Mini.

[MiNiKiN]

There is another Rubber Cone on the Market

Made in China

The manufacturer sent me a set for testing



On the Test Rig, I could only get 0.160" Compression at 24.5 kN (2500 Kg) - that's the upper limit for me ! Almost as hard as concrete

I'm not sure what Truck these were designed for but I can't see how you'd ever get them in a Mini.

Probably cone springs for a tram, which coincidentally fit the Mini