Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi again,

Having had the car sitting on the drive now for a couple of days, i have noticed that the car is sitting rather oddly;
the passenger side is a couple of inches lower than the driver's - unlaiden!

The last MOT noted 'slight play in the front trunyan ball joint', and wether this is anything to do with it i am not sure.

If anyone has any ideas as to what the problem could be, i would be greatfull to hear them - i will try and upload some photographs ASAP

- the lean itself is not a huge concern, but my worry is what the cause is.

Cheers

Most likely cause is wrong setting on the front suspension height at one side (or both).
Next most likely cause is a faulty rear spring (e.g. gone soft or broken leaf)
Worst case scenario, but VERY unlikely after an MOT is a rotten centre crossmember, allowing the front suspension to sag - if this was the case it would not pass an MOT.

Is this a newly aquired car?
There is no such thing on a Minor as a trunnion ball joint. There is a top and bottom trunnion on each side and these are threaded onto the vertical swivel pins. If they are not greased regularly then the threads will wear eventually leading to a collapse of the front suspension, nomally the bottom trunnions at low speed.
If you cannot see anything obviously wrong such as broken springs as Ray mentioned then the front suspension can be adjusted by moving the lower suspension arm on the torsion bar. Each spline will alter the height by 1.5 ins. and fine adjustment can be made by moving the adjuster plate between the arm on the back of the torsion bar and the chassis crossmember. As a rough guide when the car is standing on level ground you should just be able to get your hand vertically between the top of the front wheel and the top of the wheel arch.
If you need to reset the suspension height then mark the position of the lower arm on the torsion bar before you start and take the oportunity to replace the worn trunnion.
Caution. If you are working on the front suspension then the car must be properly supported on axle stands and the outer end of the lower suspension arm must be supported with a jack until the load is taken off the torsion bar

I'm not so sure an MOT would spot a weak cross-member - if well lathered in underseal! They see the car on the ramp with the suspension dangling - and if not familiar with the torsion bar suspension ( ie ref to 'trunyan ball joint' (sic) ) - they may not think to look at the torsion bar - or it's rear reaction bar. I'm afraid this is the most likely reason, unless the suspension has recently been worked on - and assembled one spline out - lift the carpets and inspect the floor under the front seats - is it uneven - anything trying to come through ??

you should just be able to get your hand vertically between the top of the front wheel and the top of the wheel arch

Really?? It used to 40 years ago, before we fitted the 5.5" x 13" wheels!!

If there is nothing obviously wrong like a broken rear spring or suspension mounts, I would adjust the torsion bar first. When my mother first had the car before us, it too sagged on the LH side and I replaced the rear spring with no effect whatsoever. A simple adjustment on the torsion bar and it was very quickly sorted.

Usually the driver side sits slightly low - because the car always carrys a driver - and maybe not a passenger. Possible someone has corrected this by lifting the driver side - hence passenger side now looks low.

Most Minors will have been through a few trunnions and or kingpins, goodness knows how many suspension rubbers, and probably eyebolt rubbers too. With this in mind it's most likely to be an issue on the front suspension setting when they put it all back together. (although it could be quite a few things)

If your garage missed a failed crossmember, you'd be advised to get your money back and probably a few years free MOT's too, "to compensate for their mistake". Or you could contact VOSA to show them the car. Personally I'd expect that it's not the crossmember as even the YTS trainee could spot a rotten one on the ramps if he tried.


Front suspension setting - I expect to get 3 or 4 fingers between the top of the tyre and the wing lip (with hand held vertical). Less than 3 fingers it'll be looking low and more than 4 fingers it'll be looking high...

thanks alot everyone - i will check it out at the weekend in the light, and feed back!