Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi, i want to replace my rear spring front and rear mounting bushes and bolts etc, the u bolts on the axle are new and i dont want to remove them if possible, question is, can you lower the front , then rear and change the bushes while leaving the u bolts alone, i intend doing the rears, then the front another day. any help and advise please, regards steve

The rear bushes & shackles are easy to do & I'm sure that you would not need to take the U bolts off the axle.
However, the front Bushes & pins are a different matter & from memory not possible without taking the back mounting first off to allow the springs to slide back to replace the bushes & then forwards into position.
Not a matter of just "lowering"

In any event ...If you leave the back axle connected you will have a massive extra weight to deal with while doing the job.

I would not myself attempt this without loosing the U- bolts & releasing the axle...after all, if they are new they should come off easily!

I left the axle attached, but had all the brake lines, inc the flexi removed at the time. As said, you have to slide the fronts back slightly to get them off, might aswell just do both at once! If fitting poly bushes, remember to grease them a little first. At the front, you will almost certainly need new pins, and the plate which the pin secures too, and new nuts/bolts to hold this in iirc.

I found it easiest to tackle one side at a time, supporting the weight of the axle while you remove the U-bolts, so you just have one spring weight to deal with. Rear bushes can, as said be easily done without disturbing anything else though. Biggest headache is generally "removing" the two 1/4" nuts and bolts that hold the front pin support plate in place. I have managed this without destroying them by wedging a suitable flat screwdriver inside the front mount to scotch the bolt head while you undo the nut /spring washer from the outside. Saves possible bloodshed wielding a hammer and cold chisel under there!

Why the concern about 'not undoing' the U bolts?? Less than a minute each. Do the fronts first - the rears are much easier. Take the opportunity to drain the dampers and refill with SAE 40 oil.........

I found it fiddley with the axle removed and dealing with one spring at a time and can imagine it would be a very tough job with the axle in place. Not only weightwise but with the axle linking the springs together they will be difficult to manouver to get the fronts done.

thanks for all the replies and advise, i will do as advised, drop the whole spring, doing one side at a time. regards steve

hi ive been reading up on removal of the rear spring, and would like some help regards the front , what does the "mounting plate" do at the front pin, " i have read a bit on this and the mounting plate is not even mentioned, it says undo the nut and remove the pin,, the only time the plate is mentioned is if you are replacing the complete bracket with a new one, so does the plate need removing, if so do you remove the pin first or the plate? and which way on replacement, regards steve

You will struggle to get the pin out - but feel free to try.... It's usually very firmly rusted to the little plate - which is attached with two small screws which are always extremely difficult to remove. It's a strange arrangement and unnecessarily complicated...

^+1 And you bolt the plate on, then push/pull the pin through. A bit of copper slip may help future removal.

3/4 of the way down this page may be useful, shows a nice new one being fitted.
http://www.mmoc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f= ... 8&start=15

thanks for putting me on to the restoration pictures, i now understand it perfectly, ( a picture is worth a thousand words) many thanks steve.