Morris Minor Owners Club

Son Simon is now a Morris Minor owner - 1968 Traveller/Pickup conversation. Trouble is that a few people have been telling him that its a common fault of the Moris Minor for their wheels to come off .................. including his Dad, who incidentally never owned one

He's asked me to put a post up asking if their is any truth in these ugly rumours I suppose they must have come from somewhere.

I remember many years ago when driving into a carpark the wheel collapsed on an old Austin 1100 - suppose that was metal fatigue, rot etc.

Grateful for any comments - just to make him feel better about it

i think they may be getting mixed up with the bottom trunnion collapsing

in all my years of moggie owner ship including the 60`s never new it as a common problem

but then any wheel can come off even a modern car
but it is certainly not a trait in the minor

Probably people just being jealous

I heard these rumours a while ago too but seem to recall it being to do with failing to lubricate the kingpins.
Mick

Lubricate the kingpins and remember after changing the wheel to do up the wheel nuts tight but not over torqued - amazing how many people forget!

OK - I've no idea how to lubricate the kingpins so I'll have to find out. Is it part of the greasing process?

aupickup wrote:i think they may be getting mixed up with the bottom trunnion collapsing

Is it common for trunnions to collapse?

just keep the nipples greased then its all fine, just like i showed you

Great Does that look after the kingpins as well?

yes it keeps thethread good on the top and bottom

this way it is only necessary to replace the trunnion as they do wear

I've had one of the lower arms, that come out from the torsion arm to the trunnion, go, but that was a fault in the manufacture of the part. You could see the weak spot in the break.

I too was told tails of wheels loosing lower trunnions when I first started to drive. Either its jealousy or it's a way of making sure young 'uns maintain their car properly. It made me rigidly work to the 3, 6 and 12,000 mile services shown in the Workshop manual. I've never had one go... now watch as I loose all 6 in as many months.....

Oh no you won't Perhaps all those years ago folks didn't really look after their cars like they do now. I think MOTs came into force about 40 years ago but maybe over the years they have become more stringent.

As long as the correct wheels are fitted - with the correct retaining nuts - and they are correctly tightened (not too tight and not too slack) - then the wheels are very unlikely to come off! early Mini had wheels that were too thin - they pulled over the wheel nuts quite easily - we lost 4 wheels that way until we managed to source enough of the later 'thick' wheels. I suspect as above - the problem really relates to trunnion/king-pin failure. Check the ones on the 'new' car very carefully - and apply grease regularly.

As has been said, it is essential to keep the top and bottom trunions regularly greased. You wil see the grease nipple on the ends of the trunions. When greasing ensure that the grease travels right through the trunion and pushes through the rubber seal at the other end. This will make sure that there isn't any old dried grease blocking the threads. It is good practise to give them (and the track rod end) a squirt every time you take the wheels off to adjust the brakes.

Thanks everyone - he's already much happier now and he's going to get all the relevant areas thoroughly checked. I'm taking the Trav/pick-up to the National so I'm sure I'll be able to pick up lots of handy hints and tips from fellow members.

hi well funny you ask this it happened to me when i was 17 just past my test in a 4 door mogey i was going over stratford upon avon bridge looking in my mirror saw a wheel going the opposite way to me then the car when bump on the road had to fit the spare one on this was down to not tighten the nuts up after a service was done on the car after that always double checked the nuts from now on neil

Good idea - trust you didn't carry out the service!

hi no did not do that serive done at a local garage always done my self after that

Perhaps all those years ago folks didn't really look after their cars like they do now.

generally because people didn't look after their cars, modern ones are designed as maintenance free as much as possible! This has led to a worsening attitiude where many folks don't even bother to make basic safety checks...

funny thing I was showing off my mm wheels that have just been sand blasted ,painted and re shod to a neighbour and he said that the wheel centres break out over time . Suggested I check for cracks regularly