Mushrooming, STD's, Fixed Camber Plates

[minicoopers43]

Well i've got mushrooming on both towers and passenger side strut mount is cracked so i'm gonna have to do something soon. I was looking into Installing Craven speed Strut tower defenders and IE Fixed Camber Plates.
Does anyone have either one or both of these?
Do they fix the mushrooming?
How was the install?
I've looked on NAM at the hundreds of posts and they are a bit overwhelming with so many different opinions and M7 vs Craven Speed bashing

[Minidave]

None of them "fix" the mushrooming, you have to do that seperately either by taking a 3lb hammer and a short 4X4 to them, or some other means, and striaghtening the tops out, then you can install the plates. The best ones I've seen are the ones that have a steel plate that goes under the fender, and another steel plate over the top - don't know what brand they were tho....

If you have a crack in the tower, depending on the miles and mods you have, you might take it to Baron for a look-see, given all the adverse publicity about this MINI might help out. To fix it you're gonna hafta have that welded back up - not a job for an amatuer IMHO, depending on where it is.....

[kenshin138]

Good topic, as I will likely do this when I (hopefully) do my suspension work this summer on my 06.

[minicoopers43]

None of them "fix" the mushrooming, you have to do that seperately either by taking a 3lb hammer and a short 4X4 to them, or some other means, and striaghtening the tops out, then you can install the plates. The best ones I've seen are the ones that have a steel plate that goes under the fender, and another steel plate over the top - don't know what brand they were tho....

From what i've read the IE camber plates are thick steel with a much better bushing than the stock strut mounts...check it out here >>>>http://www.lonestarminiclub.com/forums/ ... .php?t=361 and work just as well as the steel plate kind with the added benefit of better handling over stock strut mounts>>>>>http://www.cravenspeed.com/index.php?productID=201

[Minidave]

Anything steel that goes underneath the strut mount would be better than those silly lightweight aluminum plates that go over the top. My 2c, YMMV of course.......

[kenshin138]

Yea I've heard good things about the IE plates and those are likely what I will go with along w/ Koni FSD and TSW springs.

[ksminiman]

the under mount plates are the best defenders. the IE fixed camber plates are the best option for those who dont plan to race and have the money. I can say from personal experience that the M7 plates do work as I repaired my mounts and installed the plates then went to the wonderful streets of Detroit to test it out

Dave even you would be impressed with how the Aluminum performed. I definitely was. Like you told me, the aluminum and the top mount design wont hold up to the beating which I will admit I was skeptical of however the mounts are just the way they were after pounding them down and the plates are still straight and I hit some fox holes while in Detroit. The roads there make Missouri roads look incredible! I dont even worry about hitting holes anymore. I still try to avoid them but I wont go crazy anymore if I do.

minicoopers43 could you take a picture of the cracked mount and post it? I would be very interested to see what the extent of the damage is.