96 Rover Mini Cooper Suspension Question

[Snoop]

Just a question about the suspension on my Mini which is fairly bumpy. Not sure is this is just normal for a 26 year old Mini or whether replacing the shock absorbers would help? The roads in in Christchurch City since the big earthquake back in 2011 are a mixed bag of new smooth roads and on going road repairs to fix the road surface after the earthquake. So would fitting new shocks help improve the ride is the 1000 dollar question?

[camshaft2]

I have a 96 SPi Cooper and mine is a bit bumpy, especially with passengers in the car. I would however be inclined to say that your rubber cones (if original) have compressed/hardened such that they have lost their spring so to speak. I doubt that changing shocks alone would make much difference.

[minibitz]

Its the rubber suspension cones on a mini that are primarily responsible for how compliant the ride is. Shocks are there to control, the rebound. Saying that if adjustable shocks are fitted and set too firm this will add to the choppy ride.

Assuming your car is standard it's more than likely the cones have done their dash, compressed and gone hard. 90's cones are terrible for doing this. Lost count of home many sets I've changed for customers. And, guess what I was doing this afternoon for another customers 1993 car?????

Cone on left has just been pulled, new cone next to it. Believe it or not I've seen them even more compressed than this out of 90's cars.

IMG_0757.jpeg

[Snoop]

Thanks for the info and the photo which says a thousand words. Is there any measurement or a check you can do that clearly shows you that the rubber cones need to be replaced? Also, if you need to replace the rubber cones, are the replacement rubber cones made of better material?

[111Robin]

It's more obvious at the front with the weight of the engine. If the springs are ok you should be able to get at least a couple of fingers between the tyre and the wing, preferably three. If you can't then the springs are definitely set rock hard. Search on here for discussions on the current springs, there do appear to be good/bad ones,, the only ones I've recently bought were from Minispares but others will have more up to date information on what's best.

[Snoop]

Great, thanks for the info. I have started doing some more research on the subject and I have also viewed some YouTube videos on how to replace the front and rear cones which has also been very helpful

[robanzac]

Thanks minibitz for those photos, that has demystified something for me.
I did the cones in my 97 MPi about 10 years ago because I thought the ride was, and always had been, much harsher than any of my previous memories of minis.
Couldn't really believe the cones I removed from the front - just like your photos
I have actually thought (until today) that one of the previous owners must have fitted some sort of hard competition versions, or something.
In truth they were most likely the original (poor quality 90's) ones that were just had it.