7 replies to this topic

[nurseholliday]

I had new tyres fitted this week. I chose to replace all four 145/75/R12s with the Yoko 165/60/R12s.

Now I have this problem that when I go round a sharp bend the rear left tyre scrubs on something. I'm guessing it's the inside of the wheelarch because there's no abrasion marks on the inner surface of the tyre so it's not rubbing the shock or the radius arm.

998Dave suggested to me yesterday this was a classic sign of rear cone failure. That's fine, I can replace the rear cones, but what I want to know is, do the sagging rear cones just makes the rear sit lower? I'm intending to fit Hi-Los and lowered shocks in the near future and give my Mini a hefty drop, but will this just make this problem of scrubbing the rear tyres re-appear?

I am struggling to comprehend what is happening to make the tyres scrub. Is it, because the rear cones are past their best, the rear wheel have more up and down movement so they are free to move up too much and thus scrub, and so if I lower the car, it will actually reduce up the rear wheels up and down movement and actually eliminate this scrubbing? Or thinking about it again if it's that, then it's not ride height related, but shock abosrber related. Faulty shocks are what allow too much up and down movement?


HELP?

[tuktuk]

I'm intending to fit Hi-Los and lowered shocks in the near future and give my Mini a hefty drop, but will this just make this problem of scrubbing the rear tyres re-appear?

fitting hilo's and adjustable lowered shocks will help as you could have that low look with no rubbing by stiffening the shockers up

[THE ANORAK]

this is nothing to do with the cones at all, when john cooper sold 165 tyres as part of his handling pack it included a set of 5mm spacers and longer studs.

its is a very common problem with standard rover minilite style alloys and a very common fix.

give mini-spares a call and they will sort you out with the right stud size (they did for me)

when you drive in a straight line there is loads of clearance but when you corner (hard) the side of the tyre "leans" over. with the tyres now being considerably wider than the 145 they usually rub on something. some times its the radius arm and sometimes its the bodywork at the bottom of the rear inner arch near the rear most subframe mount. if you have chunky shocks then this can be a problem as well.

all you need are a set of spacers

i actually mentioned this in my guide to the rover alloys (clicky link below my sig).

common fault, easy fix and nothing to do with your cones

look at the very bottom right hand corner of this add

Edited by THE ANORAK, 06 June 2008 - 12:11 PM.

[nurseholliday]

Thanks Anorak I'll get a set of spacers and studs then.

[nurseholliday]

OK I want to ask a question that may seem obvious to some but not to me....

If you look at this product on Mini Spares

http://minispares.co....aspx?pid=37934

In the description it clearly says longer studs are not needed since they are a thin spacer.

However, the JC brochure that Anorak has shown also states that longer studs are to be used, as does this tech article on Mini Spares

http://minispares.co...le.aspx?aid=368

Would it be safe to go to Halfords, buy a set of 5mm spacers and run them until I can get the longer studs from Mini Spares. My Mini is my daily driver and I can't have it off the road.

[998dave]

ooops, i hadn't thought of that, I presumed it was rubbing on the arches...

Go with what he said ^^^

[THE ANORAK]

in a normal situation you would get away without the longer studs but if you look at a rover alloy wheel nut, with the crappy tin cover off, there is already a lot of the nut that is not used.

the longer studs are necessary in my opinion but then you could probably do without them and never ever have a problem.

if i tell you to just use spacers then somethings bound to go wrong so I'm not going to.

in my opinion... fit the longer studs

EDIT: just to add, this seems to be a problem that only effects the standard rover alloys, must be something about a small offset

Edited by THE ANORAK, 06 June 2008 - 06:47 PM.

[nurseholliday]

I'll listen to you Anorak and go for the longer studs too. Thanks.