I am sorry to revamp the Hi Lo's again

but is there a How To put in a set of HiLo's anywhere?
What I am trying to ask is.....How do you put them in front and back, how hard is the job and are there any tricks that need to be done when putting them in.

btw - I have dry suspension.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Cheers Gerard

This is one that should be a Stickey Search on Hi-Los etc

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"Show me the Mini!"

It would be an easy job if the alloy cone didn't always jam in the steel end of the rubber spring.
At the rear, jack the car way up, wheel off, shock undone (easy on a moke on both sides because no fuel tank), let trailing arm droop. Separate cone from rubber spring & remove (sounds easy). Depending on whether you've got new ball ends or not, change them over (also sounds easy). Check the plastic ball seat, may as well chang a stuffed one while you're there. If they've extruded out the side or worn out, lever out the remains and stuff in a new one.

Wind in the hi-lo and bung it in with the extension rod. Put some anti-seize on the surface that keys into the rubber spring. Wind out the hi-lo a bit and put the shock back on. Now adjust the hi-lo until, when the car is on the ground, the height is right. Then do up the locking nut and Uncle Bob. Check that the rubber cone is in the correct place in the sub-frame and not cocked to one side. Check that the ball is in the socket on the trailing arm & not jammed between the arm and frame.

Front is similar but you'll probably need a spring compressor to get the alloy cone out. I've got one of those so you may want to come to my place & we can do the job here.

M

Drive to local mini workshop, get quote, go to another one that's cheaper, drop car off or wait, pay cash go home via wheel alignment shop. Easy.

Cheers
Aaron

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Ahhh yes, the willy method.
But first you must attempt to have a go at it yourself, ending up in throwing some spanners around, then getting pissed off and taking it to the Mini mechanic

this may seem like a stupid question, but i have just never looked at a set of hi-lo's closely, how do you actually wind in/out the hi-lo's is it just a nut?
Once fitted to the car can the hight just be adjusted by winding in and out until the desired hight is achieved.

Ryan

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

Yes-You have worked it out-Undo the locknut(the top nut) then wind in or out for height adjustment(the other nut). Check height-then tighten the locknut up.
Go for a test drive!!Then find that it's too low and do it all again

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The Hi-Lo is a bolt and locknut, the bolt is screwed into an alloy `cone' that sits in the rubber spring. The bolt head is drilled 1/2" and the `knuckle joint' ball sits in it.
To adjust height you loosen the locknut, and wind the bolt in or out- counting the flats- then tighten locknut.
Sounds easy... but to get all 4 right takes practice or good luck.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

hahahah, thanks, yeah i can see that i will prob make it too low, but hey, i will work out whats best. I just want it tol look more even as the back is higher then the front.

Ryan

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

If you don't keep the back a bit higher, and you are running wider wheels and tyres, there's a real good chance the rear tyres will hit body on bumps.
Especially if you carry fat chicks...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

NO FAT CHICK!!!!!!

but that could definately be a prob as i have wide wheels and it already hits when i go over bumps with four in the car. Maybe it will stay the way it is then.

Ryan

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

but "Fat bottom girls you make the rockin world go round"

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

To get all four corners of the car to sit correctly, you would need a perfectly flat surface (concrete slab in the shed should be close if it's new) then ROLL the car up onto 4 scales (a scale under each wheel). Dont jack the car up onto them because the suspension angles will change - you must roll the car onto the scales.

Make sure that all the knuckle joints are new or in very good condition before anything else is done. Worn joints and rubber mounts can affect everything.

As long as the car is sitting at the desired ride height, the aim is to get the same weight reading across each axle line. Front will obviously be heavier due to the engine/gearbox. If the hi-lo's are set unevenly, it will show up as different weights under each wheel across that particular axle. The weight difference front-to-rear is normal. All you would need to do is make the front pair match and the rear pair match.

A wheel with a lower weight reading requires that corner hi-lo to be extended slightly (to increase the spring/rubber cone downward pressure. The adjustment is made, the car is rolled back and forward to settle the loads, then put back on the scales again.

To be even more serious about it, you would bags of "whatever" equalling your body weight in the drivers seat before checking the scales.


But this is only really a race car kind of accuracy, and pretty much never done to street cars. At the end of the day, it all depends on how precise you want to be.

At the least, its a way of finding out if your settings are way out, or if they are pretty close, even if you dont want to get it perfect.

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[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs

If you don't have the equipment/funds to do the above, then you should make sure that both fronts are the same length as each other, and both rears also.

Carefully match them before you install them, then when you adjust each end of the car be sure to adjust each side by the same amount. That way the corner weights will at least be within production tollerances.

Well you kinda need them as short as possible to install them...

You can just reset them by screwing them all the way down while on the car and counting the number of flats you have turned them and do the same for the others.

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