hi all,

I have a 1976 Australian Leyland clubman. 1100 engine with a few go-faster mods.
I have 12x5 super light wheels with spacers, which means I am often scraping the tyres on the underside of the wheel arches. This occurs even with minimal weight in the car, whilst driving on my own.
I have hi-Lo suspension, and it is set quite high.
I'm no expert, but I'm assuming this would lead me to think that my shock absorbers are worn out. Also, It is quite a bouncy ride.
I've been living with this for quite a while, but I now would like to fix the issue, and even take it one step further...... I'd like to be able to load up the car with the wife and kids, and a whole bunch of luggage on the roof, for family holidays. I'm assuming this means more of an upgrade than standard shocks?
I don't mind living with a stiffer, higher setup than usual, if that is the solution.
Not sure if I'm on the right track here......
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Sounds to me like you have the car`s ride-height set too low,,, & Posibly the Hi-los have rather large diameter platform,,, maybe even the donuts are old & hard & squashed

if you run smallerdiam platform hi-los, with sharper radius
std style rubber donuts in good condition & not old hard squashed ones
& set the ride-height at correct mini height

you should be fine

shocks don`t hold the car up,,, they just dampen the effect of the springs
KYB Gas-adjust are a great shock tho if you want to buy shocks

we also "usualy" fit adjustable control armstoo,,, this allows you to set the wheel alignment to where you want it,,, Camber/Caster & Toe/tracking can easilly be set then. Keeping the car nice & square gives you a safe confident & great handling mini.

Matt

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

It does sound like your rubber donuts/cones are old and squashed? Have they been replaced at some stage? They will make the ride bouncy as they don't have as much suspension travel. Old shocks will contribute to the bouncing too. I have recently replaced the cones and shocks and the improvement in ride quality is significant. 12 inch wheels mean you have less rubber too, so they will contribute slightly...

I've got the KYB gas-a-just shocks that Matt mentioned, they are a huge improvement over the old ones I had before.

The ride height on the cars originally was quite high, look at some of the cars in the brochure section e.g.
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic ... 32&t=88199

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The height should be about 13 inches from the centre of the wheel to the bottom of the guard with new cones and original trumpets that's what i remember the manual says