Shopping Cart
Mini Cooper Shock Tower Mount FailureMini Cooper Shock Tower Impact and Upper Mount Damage.If your pre 2006 Mini has now more than 70,000 miles chances are you are in need of new shock absorbers. The Mini Cooper suspension design has a very short shock absorber travel.  This short range of travel will quite often fracture the front upper rubber shock mounts when the vehicle impacts a pot hole in the road.  Some pot hole impacts are severe enough to deploy the vehicles airbag system. Even mild impact will quite often bulge out the steel body mounts that support the front of the vehicle. Broken upper shock mounts are a dangerous situation since they are responsible for securing the upper shock absorber to the body of the vehicle. Symptoms:Vehicle has a knocking sound in the upper front shock area when passing over (even mild) road imperfections. Car darts or wanders during acceleration, and during braking. A feel of roughness in steering when parking at slow speed.Visual inspection:Take an eye level view of the front upper shock mounting studs. These are visible under the hood directly above each shock absorber. All 3 studs must be perpendicular to the top of the mounting surface. Any indication of a slight bulging, or studs exiting at an outward angle is an indication of impact damage from bottoming out. To check for cracked rubber mounts look down inside the body opening to see if there are any visible cracks around the rubber mount. Mounts that are cracked must be replaced immediately. Shocks with any signs of leakage or those with more than 70,000 miles will need replacing.  Quick check:The protective inner dust cap will normally be recessed down into the shock body mount by aproximately 1/2 of an inch. Dust caps that are even or slightly protruding from the mount are an indication of a mount failure.  Selecting the correct shock absorber for your vehicle:If you are wanting a smooth factory quality ride and you have no desire to lower your vehicle with performance springs. Your best choices are Boge factory replacements or Bilstein Touring class shocks. These are a high quality upgraded version of the factory shock. (lifetime warranty) Below are related parts for this project:(NOTE: Part numbers & pricing depicted are listed as examples depending on year/make/model.)Replacement Shock Mount - Part# 300585(view shock mounts here)Boge Factory Replacement Shock - Part# 400601(view factory replacement shocks here)Bilstein Touring Shock - Part# 301375(view touring shocks here)Bilstein Performance Shock - Part# 172146(view performance shocks here)More MINI Cooper Articles and Tech Tips(View Index of Tech Tips Here) |
|
