Trumpets vs Springs? *Sorted, ta :) *

[Advantage-ous]

Hi All,

During my mini's rebuild, as with everything else, I will need to replace the trumpets (?). I am not too sure what they do or how they work, tho i have seen them on the car.

A while back I had a discussion with someone who said that there are now springs available for the mini, in stead of trumpets. I must say i was out of my depths during this conversation, as i dont know too much about these things and most of the info pretty much flew well over my head.

The person said that these springs were much more expensive than trumpets at first sight, but that in actual fact in the long run they were cost effective because their ride quality was much better, and they lasted about 20yrs, vs trumpets which last about 2yrs.

I have been trying to make up my mind as to what to do, but have found no further info on this. Can ppl please inform me on the who,what, when, where, why? (lol)

Thanks in advance.

[BlackSe7en]

[b]OPEN TO CORRECTION HERE[/b]
With my very limited knowledge ( as in Zero ) , I believe that the Trumpets are the alloy tubes connecting the Knuckle Joint to the Moulton Rubber Doughnuts. As far as I am aware , there are NO spring replacements for these, but there are spring replacements for the Rubber Doughnuts available. As for the Springs lasting 20 years and the "Trumpets" lasting 2 years, look at all the Minis on the road that have never replaced their Trumpets or Rubber Doughnuts in their 48yr to 7 yr lifetimes.

There are "Adjusta Ride " and "Smootha Ride" suspension Kits available also, which replace the Doughnuts and Trumpets, but these do not have the "Spring" replacements as part of the kit.
AS I said already , this is way open to correction.

[The Marcos Graveyard]

BlackSe7en is correct re the donut-spring replacement situation, but just to clarify, the Adjusta Ride is a replacement for the trumpets that allows you to alter the height of the car only, while the Smootha Ride is a replacement for the rubber donut which gives a less harsh ride.

The rubber donut and the alloy trumpet can be omitted altogether if you use coil-over shocks but that's another ball game.

As has been pointed out the standard set up of donut and trumpet work very well and are more than adequate for most peoples needs.

[Advantage-ous]

Ah, thanks guys.

Perhaps that is what the person I was talking to meant - the coil-over shocks. He did say that the std trumpet and donut system was eliminated altogether. Embarrassingly enough i dont even remember who the fella was that i was talking to. Could have been a mechanic guy i know.

Can you please explain the coil-over shocks ballgame, and its pro's and con's?

That might help me to decide which to go for.

[The Marcos Graveyard]

Coil overs give you the opportunity to vary all the aspects of the rear shock absorbing system.

You get to choose the free length of the spring which will decide the ride height.
The weight of the spring will determine the stiffness.
And if you use an adjustable shock, then you can determine the rate of the rebound.
To go the whole hog, fit a set of adjustable camber and caster brackets to the rear and ditch the subframe for a beam axle.
Your wheel choice will also be affected as the rear shocks are offset and stick out a little more which lessen the amount of offset you can use on the wheel to avoid rubbing.

And what will you end up with ? Something to talk about down the pub.

When you introduce all these variables, you just multiply the number of things that can lead to a bad set-up. Fine if you are using it in a racing Mini that does a few miles a couple of times a year around a smooth race track, and you have the equipment and the time to set them all up, but for a road car it's a bit of overkill. The standard rubber donut is more than adequate for the job, you might consider an adjustable shock, I use Spax, and to lower the car a little a set of Hi-Lo's, more than enough adjustments to keep anyone happy.

This is just my opinion, your mechanic may see things otherwise.

[DaveC]

As TMG says - keep it simple, less is more etc

[Advantage-ous]

thanks guys

yeah simple sounds good. i did have a rubbing issue with the front wheels. But i hope that was just down to bent tie bars, so i have a set of new adjustable tie bars to go on, when ready. I'm running 5x12's or 5,5x12 alloys, so i shouldn't need to do any cutting, hopefully.

[66mini]

Advantage-ous: As an interested party did you go for the rubber cones or the coil springs in the end. I know a lady in her 60s who loves her mini but now finds the ride too hard. I have advised coils springs. Can you help ?

[The Marcos Graveyard]

The best option for your lady friend is probably Sir Alex Moulton's re-engineered cone springs that come as part of his Smooth-A-Ride system, basically a softer rubber with a different profile spring. It is only available through Minisport as far as I know.