rear beam axle
Turbo Mini Forums

i had one of the ones hudersfield spares sold (i bought it before i realised how crap some of their gear is!) i wasnt impressed with it, it was rusty as hell after only a few months and it made the wheelbase noticably longer, i like my mini low but the wheels actualy scrubbed on the back of the arches rather then the top! other then that i didnt realy see much difference in the handling. my mates dad runs a minispares alloy one and it looks to be a lot better kit, (unsuprisingly!)
steve

doh! why did i start messing with it!

now im confused in what to do!!
people are saying it makes it worse and some are saying it dont make any differnce!!
think i might just save my money!!

interested in nics idea about the rear subby and alloy radius arms, carnt find any info though!

cheers
josh

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

i had a look too for you, but i cant find any pics on jims site, hopefully he will see this

I found this link ages ago for alloy arms.

http://www.jakspeed.co.uk/RadiusArm.html

I emailed a couple of months ago, but got no response.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

T45 is a steel.

The construction will mean it's much lighter than the std ones though.

I have previously made up some using 1.6mm thick, 50mm dia. CDS tubing. They were light, stiff and also meant I could include the mounts for the rear calipers rather than some dodgy bolt on affair.

Might be worth a look.

I can not remember where I go the stub axles from now but I bought them rather than making them.

Would probalby make them now though if I was going to do it again.

As per the site StevieTurbo posted EN19 would work out ok as would heat treated EN24 but that would be interesting to weld, even with a tig!

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

I have a minispares Alloy rear beam ready to go onto mine. when i get the underside panited.

Only thing i can say about them is that they don't stock them. They are special order only. And expensive for what you get.

And after i had it powder coated, i did a dry build and it did not fit...!

Had to modify it quite a bit. Not happy, but not a big job.

Also,i showed it to a engineer friend of mine and he made a much stronger and in my eye a better version. So i might be selling mine in the future.

Also i've fitted a rear ant roll bar just to but a bit more roll stiffness into the back end.

My girlfriend can lift car up. so it must be bloody light. Cos she struggles to lift a finger in the house..!

I drill holes in everything..!

Stevieturbo
Jakspeed became Specialist Components AKA John Kimms,
he can now be found here:

www.specialist-components.com

Edited by garethlloyd on 19th Nov, 2006.

Thank you for the reminder .. need to speak to that man about oh so many things ........

was that my wallet running out of the room to hide ... LOL

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

Stevieturbo - apologies for not getting back to you - I need to shut that web site down now I think! If theres anything I can help you with e-mail me through the specialist components web site or pm me on here.

back on topic - I run a huddersfield type beam on my gold mini - it is modified in terms of triangulating the brackets which hold the swing arms and its well nailed to the heal boad - other than these fews mods its been good as gold for 7 years - oh and you do need to modify it where the exhaust sits at the healboard - otherwise you can't get it high enough in the tunnel to drop the car. If I did one again I'd probably go for the m/spares alloy one - or make one myself.

John

If Carling made Mini engines
it would probably be like this one!

John,

glad to see your on this site ... I can see you making me a very poor man .. LOL

In all seriousness your stuff is great quality and I no doubt will be buying some stuff from you in the near future.

Any pics of your car on here?

Will contact you direct for more details.

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

Making a rear 'beam' isn't difficult. just be sure you get everything dead square and true.

If your going to make it adjustable for camber and toe then make sure it's well up to the game .... don't want a rear wheel beating you to the scene of the accident!!!!!

Every day is a school day ...........

How fast and how expensive ...... the same question...

i take it that the normal adjustable rear camber and tracking brakets do not fit on a rear beam?? or am i incorrect??

has anyone got any info or pics on lightening the rear subby and using the lighter alloy radius arms?

cheers
josh

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

im sure with enough effort you can get a beam to handle superior to a subframe

i dont know who made my beam, its similar to the huddersfield one, but the middle is kinked up for the exhaust, has brackets for an antiroll bar, and castor adjustment

so who has the minispares one??
is it the best one to go for?
is it better or worse than having a subby?
what spring rate is best to use? or does it depend on the rest of the car?

cheers
josh

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

If you can get a stiff enough beam and mount it to the body in a lot of places it should be pretty good, bear in mind std subbys are rubber(poly if you've changed them) mounted so it shouldn't be to hard to better that for stiffness.

one thing i do'nt like that much with beams is that the whole of the rear is supported on the shock pins on the radius arm, ok KAD do an arm with thicker pins, but it's still not that elegant, hard springs and shocks wound right up and a bumpy road would put a lot of stress on that pin.

Can a larger pin be fitted ??

Ive seen a few diff cars using coilovers, and their pins arent exactly huge.

Look at some kit car coilovers. Ive seen M10 bolts going through them.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

not easily, the shock pin is part of the stub the wheel bearing runs on, the std one is 3/8"? diameter kad so one thats 1/2" dia, pretty big but still single shear.

Is it as big as 3/8" ??

I have a vague memory of it being around 5/16"

Why not jus remove the stud, and drill and tap for a larger one ??

Edited by stevieturbo on 19th Nov, 2006.

9.85 @ 145mph
202mph standing mile
speed didn't kill me, but taxation probably will

actually i think your right the std one is 5/16"

here's what it looks like.

http://www.specialist-components.com/cnb/s...rodCategoryID=4

double post.

Edited by Joe C on 19th Nov, 2006.

has anyone tried this kit?

http://www.framini.co.uk/

also am i correct in thinking that i could use the normal minispares rear camber & tracking brackets on either the minispares rear beam or the FRA one?

cheers
josh

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

I wonder how much weight it does save. I seem to remember weighing my (lightened) subframe at 12kgs. I reckon then that you could easy lose 10kgs.

But even so, I can't lift the back of my car up, and would 10kgs make me able to?


Wil

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

The FRA beam looks a bit farm yard engineering to me. I'm sure it’s up to the job, but does not look very efficient.

The Mini spares beam is one complete box section with 2 additional fixing points.

To which I have double skinned these mounting points upon the car.

They only supply camber adjustable brackets. And No internal tracking adjustment. So you have to either make up some shims or make you own adjustable brackets.

Shims are easier to manufacture and simply in application. One set job done. And light and cheap. (None sent in kit.!)

But again it’s not a straight forward swop for a subframe.

Basically the idea needs bringing up to date. I will try and post some pics when I figure out how to.

Hope this info helps.

I drill holes in everything..!

cheers Si P pics would be good mate.
when you say they only supply adjustable camber brackets, do you mean they come in the kit or you need to buy specific ones seperatly?

cheers
josh

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985