Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi guys,

I am getting a wobble from the steering wheel over 60mph. I had the wheels balanced but it made no difference and overtime is getting worse. Had the car up on the ramps a week or so ago & the front left wheel did move a tiny bit (pushing and pulling top/bottom if that makes sense) and the garage advised it is possibly the bearings. AFAIK they haven't been changed.
1. is this likely the bearings are going - the wobble is quite annoying & I can't properly try the new 3.9 diff ;)
2. if anyone has changed them, have they got a photo, I can follow the guide but would prefer seeing a photo before I attempt it.

Ta in advance.

Steve

when my prop shaft bearings went, it gave a very similar feel to unbalanced wheels.. so it might be worth giving your propshaft a quick check

quite an easy job took around half hour for both i had the same problem as you slight wobble and shaking steering wheel over 60 mph put some new bearings and hubs in few days ago not had chance to test it out yet so hopefully it sorts it

Check that the tie rods are tight and rubber bushes in good condition

I'll try . The propshaft looks ok but what should I check

Check if it's the king pin trunnions that are worn - rather than the wheel bearings - repeat the shaking test but this time with someone pressing down hard on the footbrake. Note the shaking should be in the 12 o'clock / 6 o'clock direction. If there is movement in the 9/3 o'clock direction - check out the TREs. If you still detect movement - it's not the wheel bearings. Simple check for wheel balance - jack up so the wheel is hanging free, if necessary slacken off the brakes so the wheel is free to turn - then give it a gentle spin and when it settles - mark the low point with chalk. Do it again a few times - are all the marks together? If they are - it's not well balanced. Turn the wheel so the marks are at 9 o'clock - and let it go - does it revolve round till the marks are at the bottom ? Turn it back to 9 and this time add some weights (just loosely at this point) to the rim at 3 o'clock until the wheel doesn't move when you let it go. Now it's in static balance ! When happy with it - fix the weights on properly. Simples ! But do now mark the wheel, brake drum and hub so you always put the wheel back on in the same orientation to the drum and hub.

more than likely wheel balance take it to a tyre depot and get them to do it on their machine,you probably don't have weights anyway,don't know many who carry a set of weights I don't too much fiddling about for me they will do it right in a couple of minutes.

I have a handy tin full of weights accumulated over the years. Stephen says he has had the wheels balanced already..... a weight may have fallen off, or it may not have been done correctly. The brake drum is also significantly out of balance - due to the large hole for adjustment! Initially though I mention the method as a CHECK for balance. If the wheel rolls to a stop in the same place each time - it's out of balance. But I suspect the problem is worn parts here - not balance.

My front wheels were balanced by a garage but the problem was still there. I have learnt not to immediately eliminate issues so it may not have been done correctly. I will try that method sometime and see what the results are. If its balancing, ill get the garage to do it. If not ill let you know