28 replies to this topic

[tiger99]

Well the guy at Minispares who said that is an idiot, who has clearly never read the Rover manual or has any appreciation of basic engineering principles. I am not entirely surprised. Advice like that can kill.

I don't know how many miles you have done on these and how close they are to fatigue fracture, which is not predictable, but I would strongly advise throwing them all away and fitting a new set properly, as the are NOT OK. Just because they have not failed yet does nothing at all to prove that they are not about to do so, in a mile, or ten thousand miles. You just can't know, and they have been overstressed.

[Tamworthbay]

Well the guy at Minispares who said that is an idiot, who has clearly never read the Rover manual or has any appreciation of basic engineering principles. I am not entirely surprised. Advice like that can kill.

I don't know how many miles you have done on these and how close they are to fatigue fracture, which is not predictable, but I would strongly advise throwing them all away and fitting a new set properly, as the are NOT OK. Just because they have not failed yet does nothing at all to prove that they are not about to do so, in a mile, or ten thousand miles. You just can't know, and they have been overstressed.

Perhaps he had read the article in last months mini mag? Scary really. OP- it is a pain but tiger is right, much better to do them right than have the, fail on you, perhaps just trashing your car, perhaps............... Several have been on here recently where they have failed. Thankfully no serious injuries that I have heard of, but a lot of expensive damage. Be safe.

[BVY]

Hmmm that's not so good. I mean they weren't really tight. I'd say they were only just too stiff to move by hand and did move smoothly. I think the theory behind what he said was so that when they lap in as I drive, they loosen off. He did stress not to make them too tight.
I think my last post was slightly missleading. I totally understand what you mean though Tiger and Tamworthbay. The last thing I want is an avoidable accident! Or any other for that matter!
I think I'll pull them off pretty soon then and see how they look...

Thanks guys!

[mike.]

When they're lapped and shimmed right they should move by hand smoothly, but once greased with a grease gun they'll go tight because of the grease pressure. You'll still be able to move them by hand but it'll take quite a bit of force.

This was the point I was trying to make in my first post.

[jcullenuk]

Ello my mini faild 2day. On suspension ball joint. He said to me that it has excessive play but he can grease it. Is it worth buying new ones has they cost next to nuthink. Ps both sides off front suspension upper ball joints

[tiger99]

They will still move when greased. If not, something is wrong. They will be stiff, but it should be viscous drag, not friction. In other words, they will move slowly fairly easily, but might seem stiff if you try to move them quickly. That is acceptable.

[sonikk4]

Ello my mini faild 2day. On suspension ball joint. He said to me that it has excessive play but he can grease it. Is it worth buying new ones has they cost next to nuthink. Ps both sides off front suspension upper ball joints

It will be worth replacing them as the grease maybe enough for it to pass its MOT BUT if they are worn then it will be a waste of time. As you say they are cheap and also being a critical part of the front suspension not worth taking a chance with.

[jcullenuk]

Is it a big job to change them?

[BVY]

It's a pain in the arse trying to undo the old ones and shiming the new ones!! But at least you won't have to do it again for a long time

[mini-luke]

I'd class it as fiddly but not difficult

[MiniLandy]

It was deemed impractical to use Metro hubs on Mini because the geometry differences would have meant costly changes to suspension arms, tie bars and wheels.

Can you expand on this? A lot of people use the metro hubs on the mini, and it's something i'd like to upgrade to eventually (mainly for the sealed ball joints). How is the geometry different on the two hubs?

[Cooperman]

When buying ball joint kits be very careful as there are some real junk quality ones out there which usually appear at autojumbles and such like at very low prices. They are not case hardened correctly and wear out very quickly. The material from which they are made is also suspect..
Get the top quality ones from Mini Spares, then lap hem in and shim them as 'tiger' and 'sonikk' have said to do it. It's better to have them a bit too slack rather than a bit too tight.

[Noris8322]

I agree with Cooperman, buy the best quality ones you can find and avoid the cheap rubbish

I've used the genuine ones from Minispares - GSJ166. They are better quality than any others I've used. I've heard good things about Minispares cheaper version - GSJ166MS, but I've never used them myself. Using top quality parts make the whole job much easier

[jcullenuk]

Thank you every one for your comments