Over time, the ride and handling of your vehicle degrades from normal wear and tear on your struts and shocks. Our local service shop regularly replaces several struts and rear shocks on R50, R52, R53 MINI Coopers from this type of wear. Routine replacement of these parts is the only way to keep your MINI at its original performance level, and is an excellent way to upgrade your suspension if you are looking for a sportier feel. MINI struts and shocks are simple to replace, but require a proper torque and tightening procedure for the lock nut to avoid damaging or breaking the delicate mounting stud.
Past practice has typically been to use a high speed impact gun to lock down shock center nuts, unfortunately spinning the internal shock components or applying an uneven weight could cause damage to the piston inside the shock. Improper tightening of the lock nut may also result in breaking of the fragile upper shock center stud. Neither of these conditions would be covered by any manufacturers warranty.
Promini is proud to announce a new tool that makes strut and shock replacement easy and safe with no additional special tools required. Any 1/2" drive socket wrench and appropriate allen wrench will work with our new Strut Removal Socket. The factory upper front strut nut is typically 21mm, while most replacement struts or performance struts use a 22mm nut size. We recommend the 2 piece kit for proper removal and installation of any replacement shock or strut on your model MINI.
We recommend replacing strut tower mounts at the time of strut replacement as they wear out with the struts.
Thanks for the post. I got many information on the shocks which I think will be very valuable for me during repairing.
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