Mini Cooper S Rear Suspension Fail - Edd China's Workshop Diaries 18
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Have we covered all of the bases when upgrading the suspension on my mate Neil Burgess's 2007 BMW Mini Cooper S rally car. Good question. It has taken ages but is going well. Having improved the front by adding some increased caster bushes, adjustable camber strut tops and a pair off adjustable Ohlins shock absorbers we then had to modify our freshly refurbished subframe to make it all fit! With that all done and ready for setting up, this week we continue with the rear suspension and finish off making the rear toe and camber adjustable. Having successfully swapped out the trailing arm's metalastic bush for a spherical bearing we have now got to the fun part; bolting on all of the shiny new parts...
2007 R56 BMW Mini Cooper S Rear Rally car Suspension Upgrade, Part 5 - Edd China's Workshop Diaries Ep18
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The story so far:
BMW Mini Cooper S Suspension Upgrade Part 1 (Front): • Rally Suspension Upgra...
BMW Mini Cooper S Suspension Upgrade Part 2 (Front): • 2007 BMW Mini Cooper S...
BMW Mini Cooper S Suspension Upgrade Part 3 (Rear): • BMW Mini Cooper S Rall...
BMW Mini Cooper S Suspension Upgrade Part 4 (Rear): • BMW Mini Cooper S Rear...
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The fact the threads stripped out is actually excellent content. I mean, any of us who work our own old cars have seized/snapped/stripped bolts to contend with quite often. You begin to think you are doing something wrong. So nice to know it happens to the pros and to see how they fix it.
Agreed. It has happened to everyone doing this kind of work.
Agree
Oh yeah. Totally agree! Those are the moments you hate when working on a car but look back at warmly years later - if you get everything done that is. Seeing the pros encounter it fills me with a kind of sympathetic schadenfreude.
I was wrenching an old Nissan back in the day, replacing a control arm as I recall. One bolt wouldn't budge no matter what I did. So I (stupidly, in hindsight) gave the threaded end a few hard taps with a hammer, and got the bolt right out.
Well, it should come as no surprise that the threads had squeezed together at the end of the bolt and putting it back on became a nightmare. The frustration was palpable, but after a few more hours of fixing the threads with a steel saw and a file I got it to thread to the nut again.
Don’t you hate it when they give you the wrong torque settings?
Refreshing to see a show where real world problems arise and not everything gets tidied up in a half hour. Crack on Edd. 👍
I hope that Neil could give Ed a ride and film it. Would be awesome!
Indeed
I am loving to see this complete series about suspension. I dont think its getting boring and cant wait to see the final results
It started to get boring...
Türkler daha gelmemiş🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷
Two words... Thread Files.
@@paspax Two more... Thread Chase
Rethreading the aluminium will be interesting, that and deriving the new torque settings, as the stated figure of 160 is clearly responsible for the damage.
Ed great content. I agreed with your view that WD was going in the wrong direction away from what most viewers wanted to see i.e. detailed content. I applaud your decision to go with your gut and start doing this channel where you go in depth and show your loyal viewers really top class detailed content. Thank you. I have learnt a lot from you over the years 👍🏻
Edd China... You are simply the BEST
Türkler daha gelmemiş🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷
"The Turks haven't come yet"? What an odd thing to spam.
@@efsanesarkilar8016 Hayır, Türk henüz gelmedi.
Would be great if you could prefix the videos with an episode number like you were doing to start with. Makes it much easier to catch up and for downloads with TH-cam premium!
I agree!
Maybe a date as well
Yes basic TH-cam stuff, helps steer the views and auto-plays, no need to make a "playlist" just number your episodes and let the algorithms do the rest.
Yes, episode numbers and a date please, so helpful.
100%
This show “airing” on a Friday was genius. End of a long work weak and cozy up with some wrenching with Edd.
I usually watch it Saturday morning so I can make my morning cup of tea when Edd does :-).
Tom Horsley Edd's on Saturday and "Built by Jeff" on Sunday
Just realised Edd has a new channel.. absolutely ace.. feels just like the Edd bits from classic wheeler dealers which I have missed dearly.. makes me feel right at home.. Great stuff
I absolutely love this content. Informative and cool, but deceptively relaxing. A cup of coffee here in the morning and I'm absolutely comfortable lol
I actually watch at night to wind down before bed 💤 soothing
This channel has gone from strength to strength. I hope we will get some footage of Neil's car in action.
Electric drop-tank racer, what a great idea! Thanks for making my Friday evening interesting, Edd.
Such a great show! Informative while solving real problems but without drama, like WD with that Brewer character. Can't wait for that electric fuel tank race car!
yeah, the idea is great, no fuel weight loss.
I really like this kind of content, is highly didactical and realistic. Authentic science!
I will gladly wait a year to see your electric salt flat racer... thanks for the great distraction and illuminating content
that year long wait is just to see the conversion beginning i think, might be 2 years before the trial run.
My heart sank at the noise of the thread failure, it's clearly under engineered. Ed, I think it would be jolly decent of you to give Neil one of your nice shirts as his is looking a bit knackered.
"It says threads will not override or fail under load... we're gonna test that!"
Ed, As I watch this episode I’m actually packing to travel to Bonneville for this years Speed Week. So was excited to see your belly tank project announcement. There are a couple electric streamliners running on the salt already but they need more competition so get that project going and come out next year. See you on the Salt!!!
Burp! “Brilliant”! Awesome! Nice work, Neil. :)
Wow Ed, I can't believe that thread! Was a high torque tho😂. Great video, you and Neil work well together👍
Thanks Ed for speaking up for tall guys. I am 6’6” and also have trouble fitting in many cars. The “big” electric belly tank racer is going to be fun to watch. Thank you for doing all that you do!
I do like how you'll happily talk about Wheeler Dealers and Mike with no unpleasantness in your voice. A good charcteristic to have 😊
Hopefully a timesert will fix the stripped threads or broken bolt in the suspension arm 👍
Loving the real world feel of these shows... Showing the fails as well as successes.
How about a cup of tea, I will never argue with that. With me it’s coffee but the same enthusiasm. Loving your show here in Detroit!
edd I am very pleased that you can illustrate us on how to improve our vehicles, with practical ideas, I hope you have many successes, we continue to support you from Mexico, a hug and congratulations.
Liking that you stop for a cup of tea - so British!
This Tornado fuel tank reminds me Camille Jenatzy and his wold speed record from 1899, also on electric car, very aerodynamic and first time over 100km/h. So great idea Edd. Thanks for video.
Great to watch a Specialist with incredible Knowledge entertain us all.
Hey Ed. Just watching you cleaning up the thread. I don’t have dues for all the sizes i use and find a wire brush is a great alternative. Keep up the good work. Rich
Türkler daha gelmemiş🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷
Always an option, but when you're at Edd's level you get tired of "cleaning up" your fingers in the process! Especially wearing gloves and they get shredded, or launching the thing across the room if you're using a grinder.
Taps and dies come in multiple grades and there are looser ones specifically for thread cleanup without running the risk of cutting into the threads. As they don't need to be high quality, it's worth picking up a cheap set!
I used my wife's label maker to label all the wires in my engine-bay. Great little tool!
I've used it on many different things and unfortunately it seems to "unwind" and loosen over time. I would at least not trust it being stuck on metal even if it is stuck to itself. But it might just be the brand (using Dymo).
That’s a bummer, stripping out the alloy threads , great video guys !!! Keep these video coming , they are like the old days Edd 👏👏👏👍🇬🇧😎
Absolutely love Ed’s combination of sheer talent and eccentricity, loving this show, and Neil’s involvement , he clearly is a man with deep knowledge and talent, but unaccustomed to wearing purple I think 🤔 😀🇮🇪
My Saturday morning wrenching fix. Thanks!!
Hi Ed miss you on the wheeler dealer's been watching it for many many years
Thanks
As soon as Ed said 165nm I thought ooh this will be interesting...
I would be helicoiling or similar into all those major alloy components to make them serviceable. They were only designed to be done up once, plus the grease probably meant a bit more strain on the threads at the same torque.
Loving the show Ed, thanks for making the effort.
Ahh, man! So close, and then you hear something fail right at the finish line. Well, I guess it's better that the threads strip out while at the shop, instead of on the rally course.On the positive side, Neil & Edd have the professionalism & a sense of humor aspects covered - & this Mini will be sorted & ready to race in no time. As for the electric belly tank racecar, I can't wait till you start on that - it would be awesome. Thanks for a very interesting series Edd!
The look on Edds face when the bolt stripped.
Edd, you are a genius. The drop tank speeder is a brilliant idea and it is such a fantastic shape with the tail fins. Definitely something to look forward to. The stripped thread! Blast! When I heard it I thought it was the aluminium housing cracking so I suppose a stripped thread is slightly less disastrous. I'm sure it is fixed by now and I am looking forward to the next video. 👍😊
I have had cars since the early eighties, and as a metalworker, the bodywork was not a problem, BUT trying to do mechanical stuff with basic tools, and no workshop, I began to hate it. watching you doing stuff is such a delighyt. why wetren't you available back when I was a kid? loving your videos, and no irritating sidekick with a cockeney accent interuppting!! Thank goodness you have this show!
it's so cool to see you on youtube, with your own show... the ed china way, has been a fan for many years
The torque figure is probably for a dry assembly (no grease) adding a lubricant makes a significant difference
Mmm...
I guess you betted right
Good observation! I would assume the torque should be dialed down a couple of notches when adding copper paste on ordinary steel bolts with nuts as well.
What toueque need to be used with greese ?
@@szingertibike about 40% less
@@stuartf6385 thanks stuart i think its better not use any greese just screw them dry :D
Stuff that makes you want to scream happens regardless of who you are, with my current restoration, where this is happening a lot, it offers a massive reality perspective when the pros like you edd do not cover it up and edit it out. Thank you for your honest diary entries, they are so valuable to my knowledge, perspective and want for these set backs not to get me down. Cheers edd.
Another vote here for using Timeserts. I use them all the time in aluminium and they make a great repair. They also give you the confidence to screw bolts in multiple times without fear of the threads stripping. Where I have a need for undoing bolts and replacing them multiple times at high torque I now fit them from new rather than waiting for the threads to strip.
Another vote here as well- I just ordered a timesert kit to fix stripped out oil pressure switch threads in my 69 beetle, worked like a charm and seems to be quite a bit more robust than a helicoil.
Can't wait to see how you fix this one Edd!
Love this series and seeing how it all works. I’m sure neil is a great fella, at least this episode he has come to life a bit
Hi Ed. I feel your pain with that suspension bolt 😢 You will overcome the problem I'm sure. Interesting concept regarding
the aircraft fuel cell. Looking forward to see how it pan's out. See you in the next one. 👍👍
Tea, biscuits and Edd what more could you want for a Friday :)
BINKY FINISHED, lol
@@jfk64kennedy95 or at least the next episode to come out!
@@mabolzichjjl August 6th new episode
“So it’s not going to spring off and break my fingers, which is rather lovely” 😆
Same sort of thing happened to me earlier this year while torqing a control arm bolt, with captive nut in the chassis, managed to drill and tap a larger diameter. Don't fancy working with Aluminium...
Poland is watching the greetings
I am so gland I run into your chanel. I love your show Wheeler Dealers👍
Hey Edd, great name and really glad to be able to see new content from you again. Super unfortunate about the end of this and must just be bad luck. I did the rear struts on my wife's Mini R56 using a similar torque spec without issue. I've always enjoyed working on cars as a hobby but watching you work always inspires me to get out and take on bigger or more complicated repairs - please keep doing what you do and look forward to watching you solve this one!
This is absolutely excellent programming. Well done Edd and team.
Ed, good afternoon.
Impressive your work and capacity for solution and innovation.
Your videos are just great.
Best regards from México.
Fernando Esparza M.
Edd’s TH-cam content is so cool that even the threads explode!
Ouch! Thanks for showing the fail. Makes things more relatable to me. My brother and I broke so much stuff when we were young and hopping up our Datsun 1200.
Hi mister Edd China.I love this art because of you.I have been watching you since I was a kid.My biggest dream is to meet you one day Please be understanding as my English is bad
7:00 - My ghastliest emergency rally repair memory was from a club event in Kenya [East Africa] in the 1980s. We'd smashed (all right - I'D smashed) the nearside front wheel on a buried rock just outside Kericho. The road was red dust - as fine as talcum powder, 18" deep. The stuff's impassable in the wet, but fortunately conditions were dry.
We grovelled about underneath the car, trying to stop the jack(s!) from disappearing, then found we'd stopped right on a massive column of ants who were moving nest, carrying eggs and food and grudges. Great big bitey buggers, they were, with a bite like a pair of pliers. 🐜 We were covered in them. They got EVERYWHERE. It still makes me itch thinking about it now.
Just about to do the rear suspension on my R53. Will take factory torque specs with a grain of salt for anything into Al. By the way, I'd never heard of wheeler dealers. Just came across your youtube channel. Fantastic! Outstanding video quality mixed with a modest demeanor that I find very relatable. Stands on it's own merits head and shoulders above ALL other youtube car channels. Subscribed
On my R53 I used experience to tighten up things until they 'felt right'. No problems so far with things coming loose after many miles.
You have to admire Eds fortitude when things go wrong. Who hasn't hurled the odd spanner when things go bad?
Nice work edd and sorry for your time loss keep on
Ed, use a timesert, they are used to repair cylinder blocks and are signed off for use by most OEMs even on head bolts, used a fair few on my Triumph (motorbikes) aluminium crankcases.
Yes timesert is the way to go, we use those at work and have proved to be very reliable. Much better than a wire insert.
Another vote for Timesert. Have used on stripped captive nuts in body for subframe bolts >150Nm. Having said that the material they were going into was steel so not sure of their external threads will just transfer the stripping action to that lesser aluminium arm. It would be over a greater surface area (external treads) though so should be ok??
Love this show. Gutted to hear that thread stripping. Every mechanics nightmare!
I used a longer high tensile bolt & a nyloc nut, Ed. A bit of machining to create a flat & hey presto... problem solved! Cheers. Leigh. PS: I enjoy the Channel immensely!
Love the show ed, hope you're here for years
Please make show hour long episodes we want more time to watch👍we love your new show
Hi Ed, I'm no fasteners expert, but here goes, hopefully someone who is can correct me:
After you chased the threads it looked like there are shiny/dull lines along the length of the bolt. If I'm right, this is because the bolt is deformed into a slightly triangular shape in cross section. When this triangular screw is threaded into the aluminium, it will slightly flex the aluminium thread into a triangular shape because the tips of the triangle are slightly larger than the diameter of the female threads in the casting. It will still go together with typical bolt and thread tolerances, but provides a lot more friction on the thread than if it was just a standard bolt, giving it good vibration resistance without the need for other locking devices. I imagine this bolt needs the locking to prevent it coming loose.
Which is fine for production line assembly as long as you don't intend to take it apart.
The thing with bolt torque (and everyone please feel free to get angry) is that they are only a pretty rough guide of what we are actually trying to determine which is:
Bolt tension.
The bolt must be tight enough to stop anything from slipping, but not so tight it breaks.
I say it's rough, because the thread friction accounts for more torque than bolt tension does, and bolt friction varies wildly. I have a graph somewhere that galvanised bolts getting smoother each time you undo it and do it back up. This difference in friction literally DOUBLED the bolt tension for the same torque.
If you want to accurately measure bolt tension use a micrometer and measure the bolt as it stretches.
This is one reason some bolts are single use.
So I suspect smoothing the thread by re-use, chasing the thread, and grease as others have said increased the bolt tension above the capacity of the female threads as others have commented.
But this is only because the factory set the torque way up to overcome all the friction in their locking system.
This is actually a good thing IMO.
I know it sucks when it happens, it happened in the shed, not at an event.
Going forward this design is not going to be reliable for racing. The challenge will be to find something that can be assembled and disassembled repeatedly, but not of its own accord.
I would suggest if you use helicoils you might want tie wire or similar to be safe.
Another option might be a stepped stud loctited in place with a locknut on the inside.
If there is enough space and a flat surface on the other end, a through bolt with a nut might also work as others have suggested.
You could also get new arms, new bolts, torque them to spec and pray you never need to take them apart - and that they survive the extra vibration of rally with rigid bushes....
Happy to hear where I'm wrong guys - it's all knowledge.
Also, let me know if you actually want more info.
I should probably mention the Ajax fasteners handbook and Carrol Smith's nuts, bolts, fasteners and plumbing handbook as great references
Edd, i'm enjoying the series but I would like to say well done with your book, I've enjoyed every page.
I've been watching you for years now Ed and I love your new channel I'm a fellow grease junkie.
Love to see edd doing what he loves
That "pop" at the end though.... Brutal.
Nice edit at the end, when the threads collapse, then you calmly roll back .. is there a Christmas DVD available with the un-edited cut? 😉
I was thinking the same thing. Pretty sure a cup of tea was had before the roll back ending was shot... Poor Edd :(
I think I'd be checking my bolt figures here. That torque seemed pretty high into Aluminium to me given that it's an unmodified thread, no insert. I bet that was built with a DC Spindle or an SPS Wrench during assembly if the number really is that high. Breakback torque wrenches aren't normally reckoned to be that accurate (if you believe the info from SPS or Kamex)
I thought that the torque setting was too much for a soft metal. Poor ed. Great series love it.
🤣
That sound at the end, gutting, instantly knowing you wasted all your time and Neil's money! I feel for you both.
Ohhh, my heart wrenched when I heard that big "chunk" sound. I have had bolts break that same way, though I don't recall stripping out the threads quite so violently. Sorry for the complications!
Great stuff, Edd! I'm currently arsing around trying to get my mk2 Clio 1.6 valver back together after a cam belt change, the cam belt was a doddle but the auxiliary belt is a total nightmare 😂
It's strangely relaxing to see someone else do a better job than I could ever hope to!
P.s. Neil sounds quite like Tony Pond!
EDD this gets better and better thankyou so much i love it x
Be glad when that mini is done and out of the way.
Using drop tanks from fighter jets as drag racing car is GENIUS! I never actually ever thought of that!
Usually people do create them from scratch using pile of aluminium bars and sheets. But this? Very promising one so far!
The question about the drag racer reminded me of an episode of monster garage, where Edd helped to design/build a drag racing milk-float.
That was great fin to build. I think we called it ‘Full Cream Ahead’ or som thing just as brilliant. Did it again some years later with eBay, WSR and Tom Onslow-Cole for a Guinness World Record!
What a shame, I hope it’s an easy fix! So much effort! Looking good 👍🏼
I cannot wait for the next episode dealing with the "crack" of those aluminum threads. This happened to me recently when I was installing an air conditioner compressor on a Honda. I just stopped tightening the bolt and just left it like that. I am quite sure that was NOT the right thing to do, but the car is old and I just needed it to work for a while until I got another car. There has been no ill effects, the air works and the belt doesn't squeal but I am sure there is a better way.
Perhaps a counterbore bit to cut a flat landing surface for a nut (or the bolt head!) on the outboard side of the trailing arm, and clear out the remains of the threads in the arm.
Those wheel bearing bolts usually have to be replaced as they are 1 time use only!
24:52 thank you for being the first English speaking person to pronounce “Öhlins” correctly ! 😅👍🏻👍🏻
So "glad" to se that im not the only one to get into unexpected troble. Keep up the good works. Like your show. 👍👏🙂
Usually you'd panic but then having Edd on the job.. you wouldn't even cry lol - Paddy, Grimsby.
Edd , keep up the good job .
Hey Ed!... Frequent viewer
.seldom commenter.
My cousin who was a US air force mechanic taught me back in the early 80s for a good anti-seize that's not in the manual to prevent galvanic reaction .... Believe it or not...was Maalox antacid .. It dries to a powder film between the iron and non ferrous aluminum, magnesium, what not keeping it from reacting.
Maalox makes sense = aluminum hydroxide & magnesium hydroxide. I have used Loc-tite Blue as a thread locker/anti-seize and White Lithium Grease as an anti-seize.
@@GrayRaceCat I have worked on and built motorcycles for years ...two things required ... A hammer impact driver for disassembly and maalox to put it back together.. I swear the Japanese are sadists for putting steel screws in aluminum
@@josephdougherty2399 Not just the Japanese, The Swedes & Italians too! (I've personal "experience" with Volvo & Alfa Romeo) I've been wrenching since the late '60s (My neighbor had a stock car, raced @ Miami Hollywood Speedway, 10yo me used to "help"), and was employed as a mechanic ('82 to 2020). I've never seen nor heard of Maalox in that application. It makes sense though, Aluminum hydroxide & Magnesium hydroxide would be similar to using White Lithium for assembly, only not a dissimilar metal like Lithium in this case. Unless instructions require a specific P/N assembly lube or stated "assemble DRY" I always used Loc-tite grey anti-seize/assembly lube.
I haven’t watched it yet but believe me I can’t bloody wait. Waiting for my curry before I do haha. Cheers again edd. This mini is going to be epic!!
ordered Domino's a soon as I saw the upload. Cheers from Israel. A big and a very long time fan
Another great episode, sorry to see the thread strip...never a nice experience.
OMG Noooo. This whole work again? I know that feeling 😢 Please tell us that there is (tuning?) parts of better quality. Anyway I enjoy watching the show right from the 1st episode as I’ve enjoyed the WD ones. You have developped it the right way IMO. 👌
The lower bolt is one use only. Now you know why. :) Its supposed to make its own "unique" threads as it goes in. ps- also shouldnt use lubricant/copper there as it throws off the torque numbers. Thanks for including the issues too, we all have them!
Love the warts and all.
THIS IS BRILLIANT!
Oh what a bigger that is close to the end and snap sorry to see that happen after all your hard work
that sound of dread at the end I know the feeling as a bolt shears off or like you the thread fails! That 5 minute job just turned in to a day of pain trying to resolve the issue
Silicone grease is a dielectric compound that will help deter galvanic (dissimilar metal) corrosion. Also, switching over to stainless as much as possible helps too. Some heavy grease still has sulfides in them to this day and that can be detrimental to aluminum.
Reminds me of all the things I use to have to put Solid inserts into, when in industry. All the alloy parts that were in an out all the time. Solid insert and it too the techs and fitters 6months -1 year before it needed another repair. Or never again in many cases.
Surprised it need that much torque in the Alloy.
that ending was sad, Edd... good luck with it!