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Problems with rear suspension on a 8 cwt van.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2026 10:22 am
by Morris Minor 6cwt
Hello,
Ive nearly finished putting a van back together and now need to deal with the rear suspension.
I can push the van side to side with two fingers, to the point where the van with wobble like a rowing boat or canoe. Plus, the rear seems way too hight, yet Ive added 3 inch lowering blocks, and still it looks high.
I don't plan to use it to carry heavy loads and like to keep it as light as possible.
Any ideas?
Im thinking of installing 6 leaf instead of 8 leaf springs, poly bushes (like I have with the front), and then Im not sure about the dampers...upgrades?
I took it out to test the other day, and it felt like it could roll over without much effort. I didn't get above 30mph!
The front, I sorted and Im happy with it. Its just the rear that needs serious attention.

Any ideas and experience to solve these issues will be most welcome. :-)

Re: Problems with rear suspension on a 8 cwt van.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2026 11:05 am
by MM1949
Post some pictures of your rear suspension and a side view of the van to show the problems you are experiencing.

Re: Problems with rear suspension on a 8 cwt van.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2026 11:17 am
by les
——as the above suggestion.

Re: Problems with rear suspension on a 8 cwt van.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2026 11:39 am
by MM1949
The other posting same subject is a duplicate...

Re: Problems with rear suspension on a 8 cwt van.

Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2026 11:58 am
by philthehill
Be aware that the front eye of the van spring is larger than the saloon so you will need to retain the top leaf.
You can try reducing the number of spring leaves to 6 and see how it goes.
If it rolls as you describe then I would check the serviceability of the dampers.
The lowering blocks should have no effect on the rear suspension.
Have you fitted rubber spring pads on the rear? The vans and pickups do not have the rubber spring pads. The axle is bolted solid to the springs with special steel pads as per the photo below
Spring plate.JPG
Spring plate.JPG (816.74 KiB) Viewed 228 times