Morris Minor Owners Club

I was replacing bushings in the front suspension.
When I tried to remove the eyebolt it came out with the tube.
It doesnt seem to be to be rust, it was more of crack around it.
What is the best way to repair it? It seem a bit much to replace the complete chassisleg.
Br Lars

Oh dear- yes the leg is badly cracked/rusted. The tube is held inside the outer leg in an internal strengthening support. You really should replace at least that section of the leg. However - you may be able to open up the leg locally - weld the tube back into the internal support - and then put new steel over the outer leg - welding it into the tube too. Really depends how good the metal around the hole is from a rust/corrosion aspect.

How about some pictures? Won't be easy considering the position but might make things look a little clearer for us. ;)

Check carefully the condition of the rest of that section, there is a double thickness strengthener that the eyebolt tube is welded into.

I would think, as long as the metal around it is solid, you could weld the tube back into the leg. You have to ask why it fractured in such a way though and I would suspect it is due to internal corrosion as the chassis legs tend to rot from inside out, in which case it's time for a new leg.

I will check again and the other side also.
I'm thinking of ordering these: http://www.morrisminorspares.net/shop_item.php?ID=2735
Does anyone have used them and how is the quality?
Br Lars

That is the exact same part I used in my last resto - Fitted perfect.

Ok... Here is some pictures.
There weren't to much rust inside, it looks worse on the pictures the it actually worse the it is.
I will repair it istead of replacing it.
Lars<br><br>

The cracks..<br><br>

Has anyone seen these cracks before? Any ideas what causes it? Is there something worn on Lars' car that may need to be replaced other than this bit?

Just good old fashioned metal fatigue.....

If this photo has appeared it shows the internal structure of the chassis leg. Downside is it forms a double skin when the outer cover is put over it. The tube is welded to the inner structure not the outer box section, it just butts up to this.

Bear in mind that the tube does more than just preventing collapse of the chassis leg due to over zealous tightening of the eyebolt. It distributes the load across both the external chassis leg and the internal strengthening member, which of courses results in double metal, which is a great place to breed corrosion. Once the tube broke loose of the internal piece, the external metal had to carry the load, which it can not. When was the hole cut in the frame? Doesn't matter now, you have a repair job anyway. Personally, I would cut back to eliminate the internal member and form up a piece of steel of heavier gauge and weld it in. The rest of the leg looks fairly good and this would elliminate any double metal.

I've only seen this type of failure once before - this happened because the tube was not properly welded to the inner structure and therefore broke free - after a while the (thinner) outer skin cracks under the cyclic loading of cornering and potholes / speedbumps etc.

The failed one I'd seeen was on a fairly new replacement chassis leg - if this one is an original leg then it may well be the same root cause of poor welding between the inner section and the tube but if so it's taken a long time to show itself!!

With rot, the inner section dissapears and without the structure the bolt can pull through (have seen that a few times) - however this one really doesn't look to be a simple corrosion/rot failure. Generally the chassis leg has been patched in this area before the bolt puls through - patched chassis legs are a big warning sign as it's unlikely that anyone rebuilt the inner structure, therefore it will be rotten and close to failing!

On the new legs the tube can often 'not' be welded fully to the bracket and is only held in place by two 1cm long welds.
I have seen several failures as shown in the photo, but then we probably see many more cars than most.
You should check too , that the tube on the 'new' legs is correctly aligned. We have sent a few back as the tube was set at quite an angle.