Tuning the Morris Minor Ride

[mickeytwonames]

My question is what type of ride should I expect from my Mk II 1956 Splittie?
I've replaced all the rubbers on the front suspension (didn't know about the poly ones when I did).
The front wheel bearings are new.
There is no play on the steering.
The damper oil has been replaced.
The ride height is correct.
The tyres are Xply.
The bushes in the rear springs have not been replaced - YET
On the straight, the ride is smooth and quiet.
The car goes round corners just fine.
BUT
When you hit an anomaly on the road there is a bone shaking rattle through the steering column.
If you are on BAD road it fairly constant.
Is this to be expected, or is there something I should look at?
Many thanks for any tips

[bmcecosse]

What grade of oil did you put in the dampers? Are the bump (and rebound) rubber stops in place? Also quieter with grease in the steering rack.. At the rear - fit polybushes - and make sure the bump stops are in good order - you can usefully cut 1.5" off the stops - but do retain the taper shape. And of course - SAE40 oil in the dampers. Rattle etc can just be the exhaust hitting the body.

[IslipMinor]

2 things to check:

The 4 bolts that attach each of the front damper to the crossmember - these need to be tight or the damper can knock on rough surfaces.

There is a damper in the steering rack - it does not often need adjusting, but if the rack is worn, it can rattle and you may need to remove some shims to get the correct damper clearance of 0.002" to 0.005". If you do need to adjust this, remove the damper, allow the oil to drain, replace the damper cap and plunger WITHOUT any shims or spring, adjust the cap until it is still just possible to pull the rack through its housing and measure the gap between cap and rack body. Add 0.002" to 0.005" to give the upper and lower gap size and calculate how many shims are required to make up the gap (shims are 0.003" thick). Remove the plunger, refit spring and required shims and reassemble to the rack housing. Refill with 1/2 pint EP90 oil.

[MarkyB]

Although you say there is no play in the steering I'd manually check the track rod ends as any play in them may not be noticeable at the wheel.
A pump or two of grease won't hurt either

[mickeytwonames]

Many thanks for your help - I'll get down and dirty

[Trickydicky]

Have you oiled the felt pads in the steering coloumn? If not then there are two, one at the top and one at the bottom. Use Hypoid oil as it is heavier. If they are worn they are cheap to replace.
Also have you replaced the eyebolt bushes? if not it could be those? if it is the eyebolt bushes does the rattle or clunk appear to come from one side? if it does then thats the bushes at fault, but for what they cost I would replace both sides.