Hi All,

This is a four part question. I need to replace the rear shocks in my car as one is leaking.
1. Is it worth replacing fronts at the same time to improve ride quality?

2. What else besides the shocks should be replaced at the same time? I'm guessing top and bottom bushes. What about cones (mine aren't too old).

3. What sort of shocks are people recommending these days. Mine are 20 years old. I have hilos installed.

4. Are there any good guide to follow?

Cheers
Ryan

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

1. If you don't want to do the front ones now they only take 5 min a side to change - very easy if you change your mind later
2. New top shock bushes come with the shocks (no bushes on the bottom of the shocks). If your cones are reasonably new you won't necessarily need to change them. Might be a good idea to check the rear knuckle joints while you have it apart
3. I changed all of mine to KYB Gas-A-Just ones a few years ago and they are good (I haven't tried any others apart from cheap worn out ones)
4. There is a video here that covers most of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4BGUwhpQXo - the rears are a pain as you need to move the fuel tanks!

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Likewise I have a set of KYB gasAdjust and I've been really impressed by them they are also pretty cheap compared to the more complicated options. Great value I think.

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Roads need more corners
A Deluxe(CG13DE), 2 Clubbies(998 and 1275) and 2 Morris 1100Ss

Its probably worth replacing the fuel filler neck rubber with a new good one (there are good and bad ones) as the tank needs to be moved. I believe Karcraft have the good rubbers, others probably do but I'm not sure.

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1963 Morris 850 Smoke Grey
1963 Morris 850 Shadow Blue
1965 Morris Mini Smooth Van
1966 Morris Mini Van
1969 Morris Mini Deluxe Resto
5/72 Clubman Gt

Thanks for the responses team. Sounds like I'm on the right track.

Any idea how to identify the good fuel tank neck rubbers?

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Ryan Filippi
Minis In The Gong
[email protected]
www.minisinthegong.com.au

I'm also looking at new shocks, I see "minisport" have the KYB Gas A just Shockers for $295 and "mini sport oz" have the GAZ Adjustable Shock Absorbers LOWERED for $305.
I'm leaning towards the GAZ shocks as they are manually adjustable where as the KYB's are self adjusting and don't appear to have an option avalable for lowered cars. The way I see it manual control and shocks designed for a lower car would be the better option....any opnions on this please? for an extra $10 it seems good to me.
But I am serious if you have an opnion on the brand or desinge please let us all know.

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

I have heard the GasAdjust is adjustable for ride height it does it automatically you just don't have the other adjustability that comes with adjustable shocks, I can't remember the source though, I thought it was Calver / minispares.



From here (last paragraph / Conclusion):
http://www.minispares.com/article/Techn ... -knowledge

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Roads need more corners
A Deluxe(CG13DE), 2 Clubbies(998 and 1275) and 2 Morris 1100Ss

I fitted a set of new rear Gas A Just shocks and they didn't stay on long... They were very, very stiff and crashy out of the box - and the back of the car dropped by nearly 2" when the non-gas charged Konis went on. Don't know if they are all like this or if I got a faulty pair, but I wouldn't touch them again. The car now has Gaz adjustables and I'm happy with them, although there's no real need for adjustable shocks on the road IMO.

From memory the closed length of most of the shocks is similar, but the 'lowered' ones have a shorter open length which helps stop the suspension drooping too far and stuff falling out on lowered cars...

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*witty signature*

Sapphire Blue Deluxe spread across three parts cars, two sheds and a driveway...

Well you both have good points. My preference of the GAZ shocks is the fact you can set them to whatever adjustment you find you like and then never touch them again. Plus if the front and rear can be set to different levels tuning your ride and feel as you the individual find comfortable. I know the KYB's are ment to do this themselfs but I'm just not sure they will (hence why I'm asking for more opnions).
Like in the video Doc linked to the guy points out who actually dose have their mini sitting at the factory ride hight these days? mine is only an inch between the wheel and arch.
On that note dose anyone know the minuim hight for the shock mouns on a mini at full bump

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Respect mine and I'll respect yours.

Set and forget depends on how/where you drive. IF you ever compete then adjustables are (pretty much) a must (if you only have one car). Track settings are too stiff on the road ... and vice versa. BTDT

One truism I’ve found to be quite valid ..if you’re after a bit each way .... is ’front settings for handling..rear settings for comfort...’.

The correct way to choose damper length is the remove the springs (cones) and measure the distance between the shock mounts at full bump (allowing a bit of bump stop rubber compression) and compare this with the minimum length of the shock (ie at full compression).. But I think you could get close by measuring the virtual position of the lower mount at full bump. Get it wrong and you can shear the lower shock mount BTDT too..

I use (old) Spax which work well (IMO). Avos are supposed to be better ...just send $$$$

Cheers, Ian