Crashnburn1981
158 posts
Joined: 04/12/2004 16:50:02
Location: glastonbury United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
knuckle joint
Hi, i found the only way to do this was to take the fuel tank out, then drop the shock out and let the radius arm drop, thus giving access to the knuckle joint, as far as i can remember, you cant get the shock off the radius arm at the bottom of the shocker, so afraid you may have to take the tank out. Nick
Posted: Nov 30, 2005 12:07 AM
Rob
50 posts
Joined: 01/10/2005 23:57:53
Location: Bridgwater United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
knuckle joints
has anyone experienced this? i have renewed the knuckles on the suspension. on the back the nylon cups sat in nicely but when it came to the front they will not go in! the old ones were completely removed. i have the car back on the whells and however much i bounce up and down on the wings they still wont seat! had a gentle go with a pig skin mallet, just cracked the nylon. Anyone with any ideas? i dont wanna set the ride height then to find the cup go in 10 miles down the road and have the tyre hit the arch!! Any help will be much apreciated! Cheers
Posted: Feb 04, 2006 04:17 PM
Keith
173 posts
Joined: 13/09/2004 07:56:05
Location: United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Knuckle issue
This is usually caused by corrosion inside the knuckle cup bore. You need to hoik the new ones out, get a decent flap wheel in a right-angled drill/air drill or get scrapping with some decent abrasive tape to get all the crap out of the seat/bore until the cup JUST slides in nicely. KC.
Posted: Feb 06, 2006 11:07 PM
Ed
95 posts
Joined: 19/06/2006 21:43:15
Location: APO United States
Suspension Knuckle Joint Replacement
Hi,
Front suspension on my mini is very very low. I beleive that it's the knuckle joints (http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?pid=36103) that have worn badly.
Does anyone know how to go about replacing these? Am I right in thinking that i'm going to need a cone compressor?
Thanks, Ed.
Posted: Jan 23, 2007 06:40 PM
Vitamin
2 posts
Joined: 21/01/2007 15:28:35
Location: Beverley United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Assuming it's a dry Mini then it could be the knuckle joints. The steel ball sits in a nylon cup and if the cup breaks up or wears through that part of the suspension collapses. Yes you will need a cone spring compresor as you have to remove the trumpet from between the cone spring and the upper suspension arm. When my rear ones went they produced a loud clicking noise.
Knock the joint out from behind with a long screwdriver and make sure you put plenty of grease in the new joint and make sure the rubber dust cover seats properly to protect the joint - dirt and water getting in is usually the cause of the problem in the first place.
Posted: Jan 24, 2007 01:14 AM
J. Lyon
214 posts
Joined: 11/12/2006 18:57:13
Location: Colorado springs United States
Just wondering where I would find the knuckle joints on my mini? it's a 1978 Mini 850. Thanks!
-James
Posted: Mar 12, 2008 06:31 PM
Luke6040
210 posts
Joined: 17/11/2005 17:00:38
Location: Wolverhampton United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
sorry DELETED
Posted: Mar 12, 2008 06:40 PM
mark
397 posts
Joined: 18/08/2005 14:01:28
Location: Hitchin United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
the knuckle joint is at the end of the radius arm, where there is a ball going into a cup on the swinging arm/radius arm however you term it
Posted: Mar 12, 2008 07:13 PM
John
1948 posts
Joined: 28/05/2006 16:49:46
Location: cambridge United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
when they wear through they will cause about 1" drop in ride high at rear and 1.5 at front due to suspension ratios 5:1 and 3:1
Posted: Mar 12, 2008 07:26 PM
None on the front?
Posted: Mar 12, 2008 10:07 PM
at end of alloy trumpit against the suspension arms, trailing arm at rear and wish bone of sorts at front.
Posted: Mar 12, 2008 10:57 PM
Thanks. One last thing. Do you have to have the cone compressor to do the change of the rubber cones and knuckles?
Posted: Mar 13, 2008 07:45 PM
a. mericanminifreak
183 posts
Joined: 02/11/2007 23:17:14
Location: rosbach v.d.hohe Germany
Just in the front while the rear should drop down low enough to take the trumpets out.
Posted: Mar 13, 2008 08:02 PM
Switch
17 posts
Joined: 09/10/2008 13:41:13
Location: Heathfield United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
95 Cooper rear suspension arm knuckle joints....which ones?
Hi All,
My g/f and I have just taken delivery of all the parts necessary to get the cooper thorugh it's MOT. It's in to my mechanic next week for the work.
However, one of the things that needed replacing was the rear suspension arms and the knuckle joints...I couldn't find any knuckle joint on mini spares which said after 1990 for the rear, so I e-mailed them and was told that this: GSV1264 would be the correct part...even though it says front. So we ordered a pair. I am a little concerned however as they would seem an amazingly tight fit in the nylon cups in the new (well re-con) rear arms. I realise they need to be tight, but I'm still concerned and need to make sure, so we can order the correct parts before it goes in to be fixed up.
Have we got the right ones?
Any answers would be most appreciated!
Cheers,
Martin
Posted: Jan 14, 2009 01:56 PM
Tim
1849 posts
Joined: 18/10/2004 09:40:59
Location: Bournemouth United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
I suspect the only difference between the different knuckle joints is the "built-in spacer", which controls the ride height.
The nylon cup should be a very tight fit in the arm - and they are impossible to get out without destroying them - but make sure the hole in the arm is clean first. However, the knuckle joint should fit neatly inside the nylon cup - it has to rotate after all.
Posted: Jan 14, 2009 02:52 PM
knuckles
Cheers Tim,
I've had a closer look at the arms and knuckles and I believe with some "help" the knuckles will fit nice and securely.
Whats the best way to fit them without damaging the knuckle?
Posted: Jan 14, 2009 03:19 PM
Personally, I cleaned the hole in the arm thoroughly, smeared it with a little grease, pushed the cup in gently as far as it would go, then assembled the whole lot and let the leverage on the arm push it home.
Don't forget to put the rubber dust cover on, though you won't be able to get it to stay over the cup until the arm is taking some weight.
Posted: Jan 14, 2009 03:34 PM
Iain
44 posts
Joined: 29/02/2008 12:23:18
Location: Aberdeen United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Renewing front knuckle joints
Can anyone help, I have noticed the knuckle joint on one side of the front of my car is disintegrating.
To replace the joint do I have to remove the top arm and cone, or by using a cone compressor is it possible to compress the cone and remove the knuckle joint with the top arm and cone still in place?
Posted: Mar 31, 2009 01:52 PM
You should be able to remove the nylon cup from the upper arm just by compressing the cone. However, you may have to remove the shock absorber to allow the suspension to drop far enough. Make sure you clean out all the muck from the hole before inserting the new cup.
Posted: Apr 02, 2009 01:30 PM
Barry Brown
511 posts
Joined: 23/06/2008 12:08:31
Location: New Barn United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
dodgy 21A425 knuckle gaiters
I purchased 4 new knuckle gaiters in april 2009 for fitment during a restoration. the car was reassembled during march to june 2010. since then the car has done only 230miles but the gaiters have perished.
i am going to have to strip it all down again and replace them (and that ain't funny on a hydro car!)
I've sent an email to minispares this week bringing this to their attention but i'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience with this part. Hopefully you're all going to go check this over the weekend as mine are sufficiently b*ggered to be an MOT failure already and getting dirt in your ball joints is guaranteed to ruin your ride ;)
If enough of us have purchased this part and are experiencing a problem with it and still have the receipts then it could be worth getting together to have minispares manufacture/supply a decent quality replacement.
I'm not a militant type of person but this really does look like they have the wrong rubber compound for the job.
Posted: Jan 21, 2011 07:52 PM