Mini Cooper Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates 2002-06 R50/R53

Description

New Color - the same Original American made proven product.
Don't get fooled by imported imitations.
MADE IN THE USA!
Two steel 4.5mm thick, Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates, Made in the USA
Fix Strut Tower Mushrooming Now!
If you just acquired a 1st Gen (2002-06) Mini,
this is the first item you should install!
Avoid Big Repair Bills and Save Yourself a Bundle Later
Nearly every 2002 to 2006 Mini has this problem!
Unless your Mini is very unusual, or rarely driven and then only on great roads, your towers are probably already "mushroomed". . The constant pounding of the strut into the tower causes the sheet-metal to deform or "mushroom". This occurs because the sheet-metal used to construct the towers is too light of gauge.
Take a look at yours. The towers should be flat across the top. You can probably discern the deformation with the naked eye, but to be sure, place a straight-edge across the top of the tower. A gap of 4-6mm is not unusual. As you might expect, this does adversely affect your front-end alignment, as well as the vehicle's handling.
In severe cases, the tower sheet metal will fatigue and tear. Avoid repairs costing $$hundreds by installing these plates now. You'll never have to give this another thought.
These Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates mount
between
the strut and the underside of the tower. In other words they are sandwiched in place. They fit the 2002 to 2006 Mini. These Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates are
4.5mm
thick steel. Compare this to the 3mm or 3.5mm plates that others are offering, at a higher price!  You may also have seen so-called reinforcements that mount on top of the tower. Those will not fix the "mushroomed" condition. Our plates, on the other hand, due to their heavy gauge and "sandwiched" mounting, will help to pull the deformed tower back into place and keep it there. There is no guarantee that your towers will return to perfectly flat, but they will be much, much improved and more importantly, they will stay that way.
We provide longer 8mm, Class 10.9,  flange head cap screws with our plates. The factory original  studs only have about 3mm of extra protruding thread. So while they might hold, with the additional thickness of a reinforement plate, we strongly recommend replacing the studs with the bolts that we provide. It is not difficult.
If you have a tower cross-brace, you may need longer fasteners
.
Let me know when you order and these will be provided at no cost.
This is a true Do-it-Yourself project!
(see instructions below)
Over 1000 sets installed worldwide
Our plates are powdered-coated in RED to provide a tough, hard coating for protection against rust and give a nice finished look. And, if you want, you can paint over this finish in whatever color you prefer. Photo #2 does show an unpainted plate in temporarily held in place under the strut tower, for illustrative purposes.
Once installed, your ride height will be affected slightly, as will your alignment. However, with mushroomed towers, both of these have already been affected, and you probably should have your vehicle realigned once you have fixed your towers with these plates.
All you need are common metric hand tools and a jack and jack stand. Allow about 45 minutes per side to install these. One person can do it, but having two people makes it go much easier. Instructions are included.
Free
Priority
Shipping to all 50 States, P.R. APO/FPO
Installation Instructions for Tower Reinforcement Plates
Necessary Tools:
10, 13, 15, & 16mm sockets, universal joint, long extension, ratchet, all 3/8 drive. The 13mm socket should be standard depth.
10, 13, 15, 16 and 17mm combination wrenches. Tapered drift punch. Small ball-peen hammer. LED flashlight.
Jack stand and small floor jack.
To install:
Do one side at a time. Set the parking brake. Open the hood.
Vehicle must be jacked up with the wheel off of the ground.
It is understood that the purchaser has the knowledge and the correct equipment to raise the vehicle and secure it in a safe condition to be able to work underneath it.
Remove the wheel.
Undo one end of the sway bar link. On factory links, use a 17mm wrench to hold the stud from turning and a 16mm socket/ratchet to remove nut.
On the driver’s side only, if you have the Xenon headlight option, undo the sensor arm from the control arm with a 10mm wrench/socket.
Slide the brake hose and ABS sensor cable out of their respective brackets on the strut.
Place the small floor jack under the lower ball joint and jack it up just until its snug
Unbolt
ONLY ONE
of the 3 flange nuts on top of the tower.
Save the nut!!
I recommend
that you start with the rearmost nut. It won’t matter much, but this is probably the easiest way.
With the nut removed, drive out the stud using your hammer, and maybe a punch. 3-4 good hits should do it. Don’t bend the “ear” on the strut. If the stud is really stubborn, have an assistant “back-up” the ear with something heavy and then drive out the stud.
Be sure that the floor jack is supporting the control arm, and then remove the other 2 nuts.
Save the nuts!!
Lower the arm and strut assembly as far as it will go.
DO NOT FULLY REMOVE THE STRUT
(unless you are replacing it).
DO NOT REMOVE THE NUT ON THE TOP OF THE STRUT
.
At this point you should be able to place one of the reinforcement plates onto the two remaining studs of the strut. You will probably have to wiggle things around, but it WILL go. If it won’t, you may not have the car high enough off the ground thereby not allowing the control arm and strut to drop far enough.
Once the plate is on top of the strut (in the correct orientation, of course) and held in place by the 2 remaining studs, raise the strut back into place, using the floor jack. This is where a helper is really useful.
Note: The large hole in the plate
IS NOT
intended to line up with the hole in the tower or the center of the strut plate. The hole is there solely for weight reduction.
Once the strut studs are thru the tower, put a new flange head bolt (supplied) through the empty hole. It’s a little tricky to reach. This is where you are going to need a long extension with a 13mm socket on a universal joint (or better yet, a 13mm wiggle socket) to reach up next to the coil spring. Once your accomplished this, install the nut, and snug it down.
(Tip: If your universal joint is too floppy, wrap it with a couple of layers of black electrical tape.)
Now, pick another stud, drive it out, insert a new flange bolt, and install a nut.
Finally, do the same with the final stud.
When all 3 new flange bolts are in, firmly tighten all 3 nuts. You may have to hold the flange bolts from turning. Use the 13mm socket/universal/ extension again. Do not exceed 24 ft-lbs/32 nm torque.
Re-insert the brake hose and ABS cable into their brackets. Reattach the sensor arm (if equipped) and the sway bar link.
Reinstall wheel (89 ft-lbs/120 nm torque) and lower the vehicle.
Repeat for the other side.
Purchasers understand and recognize that racing parts, specialized sports car equipment and all other parts sold by me are exposed to many and varied conditions due to the manner in which they are installed and used. Except for defects in materials, each part is sold “as is” without limitation, any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. Without limiting the foregoing, there is no warranty expressed or implied as to whether the goods sold hereby will protect purchasers or ultimate end-users of such product and parts from injury or death. In no event shall I be liable for any special, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damage whatsoever arising out of or connected with the use or misuse of the products and each part thereof. Purchasers are relying solely on their own skill and judgment to select, purchase and use suitable products and assume all responsibility and risk with regard thereto.