Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi All.
Does anyone know what size of socket i will require to remove the nut in the centre of the steering wheel on my 1970 traveller??
Paul.M.

Mine say's 1 5/16th hub nut socket as purchased from DSN.

3/4 WHITWORTH

You can also get away with (I think, without going outside) a 34mm which is sometimes easier to find.

The thing to watch is it needs to be a thin-walled socket to fit in the space. A 1/2" drive socket will be OK (if you find somewhere that sells them that big), but a 3/4" drive socket, (which is more readily found in that size), won't fit in the recess!
Some speak of using a hammer and cold chisel, but that smacks of desperation to me! I have used that method to undo them in the past, but find that getting the nut sufficiently tight by that "Old Skool" method is a different matter!

Chisel works well for me........ While that socket has many uses on a Mini - it has no other use on a Minor so hardly worth buying it. Most steering wheel nuts show some evidence of the chisel by this stage in life..............It usually only needs a wee tap - no major hammering or butchering!

do not remove the nut completely, or when you try and pull the wheel of / tap it from behind it will fly off and hit you in the face

charlie_morris_minor wrote:do not remove the nut completely, or when you try and pull the wheel of / tap it from behind it will fly off and hit you in the face

lol I can picture the headline "Steering wheel nut,gets hit in nut by steering wheel"

Hi Guys.
Yeh have tried the chisel method, bloody thing didnt budge, i am assuming it is undone in an anti-clockwise direction??
gonna have to get a socket me thinks, all this for a dodgy connection.
Paul.M.

Hit it harder...

A 1/2 in drive 3/4 Whitworth socket and one of those long bar things. Should fit between the spokes and you can turn the wheel one way and the socket the other. If that does not work then hit the bar ----- or the hub caps!!!!

bmcecosse wrote:Hit it harder...

When I nod my head!

will be chewing the f--r at this rate.

paul42mill wrote:will be chewing the f--r at this rate.

Refrain from running around the block naked when it does come free.... it's so easily done when things won't budge.. then suddenly come loose.

When I nod my head, you hit it.

If using the chisel method you need to make sure the wheel is held as rigid as possible. Otherwise it just bounces and the shock needed to start the nut is muted.

They arnt normally that tight. It usually only takes a tap to loosen them. Try loads of plus gas and let it soak in.

Short sharp shock........

Get a 34mm 1/2" drive socket and do it properly!! Just looked on EBay, they are there for £7.50 including postage!

If you want a socket, make sure its a deep one. I tried to buy one from Halfords - they let me take it out to the car to test it but although it was thin walled and the right size (nearly) it wasn't deep enough.

Mine does have lots of chisel marks on it!