Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi Guys,
just wondering when replacing the rear shackle pins and rubbers if there was anything to look out for.. ive never done anything near the torsion bar before so just wondering what to watch out for ie can you change the settings

accidently and stuff and if so what are the implications and how to correct etc

I've never done them before so weekend here I come! and I'll take photos of those different sized trunnions too!

Mmmm! Not sure what your on about - rear shackle pins and rubbers are straight forward to replace as long as the body is on axle stands at about the right height so there is no 'load' on the shackles for easy removal, but they are not related to the torsion bars - which are for the front suspension?

You may want to consider fitting polyurethane rather than 'rubber' bushes ! But - I have to ask - why are you feeling the need to do this ?

The difficult ones to remove are the pins on the front ends of the springs.
Whilst you have the springs off undo the U bolts on the axle and check the condition of the plates and rubber pads above and below the springs. Make sure that you have the body and axle securely supported on stands

Thanks guys!
i have never done the job before so thought id ask if there were any gotchas!
i bought polyurethene bushes to replace the old ones

I need to replace them as the rubbers are worn through and when i go up and down driveways or over bumps im getting a loud knocking noise..
Cheers.
Tom

Allow yourself two days, a lot of swearing and plenty of cups of tea when you try to do the front spring hangers

And there's not much point doing the back ones - unless you also do the front (difficult) ones. While down there - treat the dampers to a draining of the old fluid - and refill with SAE30!

When looking at this exploded pic..
http://www.morris-minor.co.uk/p238.htm

does that mean i should take off the front of the steel plates and replace the rubbers as from the diagram it looks like the torsion bar feeds in to the back of the rear plate??


cheers.
Tom

you dont need to touch that rear adjuster plate or washers on the back of the torsion bar

Hang on - you were talking about the shackle pins for the rear springs - and now suddenly it's the torsion bars ???????????? If in fact it's the front suspension - lower arm inboard rubbers you are working on - indeed, don't touch the back end of the torsion bar!

yes but the name of the pins is the same.. sus105 are shackle pins according to my manual.. which are the pins that go in the rear front suspension..

Well I never....... Indeed it is the same part! So - you are renewing the front suspension lower arm rubber bushes ?

Hi!
Yes yes i am! I wanted to replace those bushes and was looking at the best way to try and do that as I have never touched the torsion bar on a car!
so just wondering if there were hints to changing the bushes or a set of instruction?

There is a full set of instructions for stripping the front suspension and changing the eyebolt bushes in the Owners club technical tips manual (available from the club). This is a very helpfull manual and well worth buying.

Those are known as the "eye bolt" bushes. (I think there is some confusion on this thread between rear suspension and front).

Yes, the pin that goes in front suspension between the front wishbones and the eye bolt is the same as the rear suspension rear shackle pin! And the eyebolt bushes are also identical to the rear spring rear shackle bushes as well!

I have replaced both fronts and rears on my car. A word of caution though, if the front suspension has been creaking for a while and you have been driving the car with shot eye bolt bushes, then you will have had metal on metal contact as the eyebolt (also shackle) pin will have been grinding on the eyebolt as well as the front suspension moves. If the eyebolt itself is worn then that will need to be replaced as well. Once the front suspension is apart, undo the big nut on the other side of the chassis leg and pull out the eye bolt. If the hole in the eye bolt has gone oval then that will need to be replaced as well!

Another top tip, is soak all the buts and bolts with plus gas for a day before starting work and get yourself some proper Whitworth size sockets and spanners. This will save a lot of rounded nuts and skinned knuckles.

A further tip, while you have the front suspension apart, renew all the bushes while it is all apart, they are not that expensive and the car will feel tighter to drive with all new bushes at the front!