Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Help Needed with Front Spindles

Hello,

I am in the process of restoring/restomodding my 1966 Morgan 4/4. Examining the front spindles today, I noticed that the vertical steel tubes on each spindle seems a bit bent/out of true, with two wrinkles/notches in each of them, near where they meet the cast portion of the spindles. This isn't normal, right? I know that I need new bronze bushings at least. I have those ordered. One of my kingpins is also completely trashed. But it looks like I may need someone to rebuild these. Any leads for someone who can do that here in the U.S.? The steel tubing seems an odd size, measuring approx. 1.445" O.D. And 1.225" I.D. $900 per spindle to purchase new seems a bit painful.

Thank you for any help,
Megan

Replacing King pins and bushes seems to be a regular issue on Trad Morgans, the less you grease them the more regular the occurrence.

If you beam up gomog.com you will find loads of Morgan related tec info, that should keep you busy enough till someone turns up on here more educated than I with the issues you raised.

Good luck with the task at hand.

Welcome to the world of rebuilding the front suspension on a trad Morgan,

I would not worry too much about the wear marks on the outside of the tubes , this is normally caused by the spring rubbing , there is a lot of metal there.

What is important is to replace the phosphor bronze bushes and get them reamed to suit the new king pins. It is well worth specifying hard chrome king pins, as these will last much longer.

Also worth doing is to make up a "gaitor" to enclose the rebound (lower) spring to stop the ingress of road dirt (which when mixed with grease forms a lovely grinding paste) Nothing fancy is necessary,

Sorry that I do not know who can remove the old bushes , insert the new , and then ream them in your part of the USA , but I am sure that others will be along soon. If you go south down to California then I would recommend Isis Imports in Bodega. A competent local machine shop with a press and a adjustable reamer should be able to help BUT get some recommendations first, this is a job that is easy to get wrong the first time you try it.

Hi Megan, the spindles you refer to are actually part of the sliding stub axles which despite having three assets can be considered integral. A casting, the machined wheel spindle and the tube you refer to shrunk into the axle casting. This tube supports two usually phosphor bronze, bushes which are reamed to allow stub axles to slide and turn with minimal play on the kingpins. The kingpin and stub axle bushes therefore are the parts subject to wear and replacement when necessary.

The wear marks on outer part of stub axle tube, as Andy points out, are of no great concern especially after 55 years of use, although further wear could be minimised by using upper steering bearings which will eliminate the need for springs to turn with steering movement.

Is it a broken welding or only a notche, difficult to see on the photo?

For the bushes:
https://www.gomog.com/allmorgan/frontsuspension.html

I used this reamer: https://www.librands.co.uk/products-view-178.html. No adjustment to do, you get the right diameter.

As said above, choose hard chrome kingpin and grooved bushes like: https://www.librands.co.uk/products-category-73.html. There is other suppliers.

Megan,

Your post says Seattle. If you haven't already, consider joining the Morgan Owners Group Northwest. https://www.mognw.org/index.html They are an active group in your area with some knowledgeable members.

Thank you for everyone's input, advice, and knowledge. I have kingpins and bronze bushings on order. I am going to get the reamer ordered as well. I think I'm going to need a bigger shop press though. The little 6-ton one I have from Harbor Freight isn't going to cut it.

If it is not too late make sure you specify grooved bushes and hard chrome king pins , they will literally last a lifetime.

If you are concerned about the press coping there is a work around , but it is not for the faint hearted. You can decrease the pressure needed to remove the old bushes by CAREFULLY making a single cut through each bush with a sharp hacksaw. You must be very careful that you don't cut into the tubes so it is a tad nerve wracking (for me anyway!)

When reaming the aim is to get the king pin to just drop through the bushes when dry , but stick when lubed. Make sure you wash out ALL the bronze shavings from the completed job, you really don't want anything in that central reservoir between the two bushes.

Good luck

With regard to your first concern of the wear on the tube base immediately above main casting, this could be caused by spring bowing as well as turning. With extended use the main sping can develop a bow which could cause or contribute to this wear. When everything is stripped down, such distortion should be obvious, necessitating replacement, no bad thing on a 55 year old vehicle when spring may have weakened as well.