Jump to content

Horror of the week 18/ 12/ 12...... Bolt from the blue.....


Tony
 Share

Recommended Posts

BMW Mini

 

Complaint

Bolting from side-to-side on bumps....

 

The reason was diagnosed as worn coils ( not by us ) so the owner decided to buy new coils then let us fit them and reset the geometry. I had already explained on the phone that worn coils wouldn't make the car bolt left/ right but he bought them regardless.

 

Once the car was in we found this>

post-2-0-25652800-1355842209_thumb.jpg

 

post-2-0-38027900-1355842224_thumb.jpg

 

Totally destroyed suspension top mounts, in fact it was so bad the damper shaft could have torn through the mount.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly........ We hit the nail on the head with a 20ft test drive and lifting the bonnet. We still fitted the coils because the owner had already bought them, shame really since this was afew £100s wasted on coils that didn't need replacing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I've done exactly this to a 205gti. I slid off the road (inappropriate speed/braking for conditions of course) and went straight across a set of kerbs with the wheels locked up and it hammered the shocks all the way through the travel and deformed the shock upper mount into a nice dome. I didn't realise until after both macpherson struts were replaced and the tracking done (at home with track-stick) but it still wouldn't run straight. If I had known WIM back then, it would have been cheaper and easier to get a professional opinion to start with!

 

Lucky for me & the 205, the upper mounts are part of the inner wing and made of normal body-steel, So it was possible to flatten them with a mallet.

Cast top-mounts like the MINI and BMW and others mean that it's a definite point of failure and will have to be replaced, or scrap the car. Did the customer plan to have them replaced Tony?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...