Morris Minor Owners Club

When I walked back to my moggy yesterday I noticed that she looked like she was a little low on the passenger side at the front. Can anyone help with a diagnosis? My initial thought was shock absorber but I'm not sure and would appreciate any help anyone can offer. Thanks

Park it on a flat surface and have a bit of a measure.
Normally it's the drivers side that settles more as it's always in use, so it may be this, and it has been adjusted out too much.
Or some previous owners passenger was very fond of pies.

A small amount of adjustment will get it riding level again.

Look underneath NOW before you drive it anywhere. You may be lucky and find that it has simply settled, or that someone has adjusted the suspension incorrectly. However, I have seen this symptom on several cars, including one of mine many years ago. It can be caused by the chassis leg either rusting through or cracking around the eye-bolt mounting due to metal fatigue.

Now, don't just go crawling under the car without taking suitable precautions. You need to jack up the car using a suitable kack and then support it on axle stands BEFORE you go underneath. It's a good idea to remove the front wheel on the affected side in order to get a good view of things. Check the chassis leg on both sides all around the eye-bolt mounting. Also use a small hammer to tap the area to check for corrosion.

It could also be the centre cross member starting to fail due to corrosion. Look under the passenger seat for any sign of the floor cracking, and check the cross member itself around the torsion bar mounting and the adjuster plate- again, a hammer will help.

If all the metal is all OK, then it is probably poor adjustment of the suspension, which can be set by following the instructions in the manual. it won't the the shock absorber as that does not affect the ride heigth, which is controlled by the settings on the torsion bar.

It certainly won't be the damper - but it could be the bolts securing the damper to the bodyshell have come loose/broken - so lift the bonnet and check urgently! Otherwise - as above - check to see if something has rotted/broken/come unscrewed.........

Thanks all, I'll have a good look tomorrow night. I'm hoping it's just settling but I'll let you know what I find!

Adam,
I'm having the same issue with mine. If you've got the same cause -- structural failure -- the kingpin for that side's suspension will eventually rise to meet the bump-stop, and as the car continues to sag and things dissolve it'll vary; right now it's almost equal with the other side, no work having been done. Freaky.

So you know, I'm replacing the chassis leg on the side affected, the center crossmember, all the floorpan, a sill panel, and both rear spring hangers. Pray you don't need to spend as much as I have.

Good luck, my friend, and no fear -- regardless of the problem, no Minor is incurable. That's my philosophy, anyway.