Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Messy directional stability 1975 +8

Since I acquired the car in 2012 it has driven as if on railway tracks. Some time ago – and getting worse over time - the car began to pull to the left when accelerating and to the right when decelerating. And when I disengage the clutch after heavy acceleration, the entire front end of the car gives a noticeable jerk to the right.
I took it that the problem was caused by play in the bushes of the leaf springs and I therefore fitted new bushes being very careful to fit the springs parallel to the chassis railings. Doing the job I visually checked the leaf springs and their mountings and could not recognize any damages. All was to no avail.
My next step was to fit new hardchrome kingpins and bushes, in the hope to find the solution here. Also here I checked all parts and could not find anything wrong. All springs was renewed 50.000K ago. Still to no avail.
I cannot figure out what can cause my problem so, any suggestions to solve the problem will be very much appreciated

Are the track rod ends worn?
How are the front wheel bearings?

I seem to recall my 1975 +8 (back in 1979) used to pull slightly off line under acceleration. Though I can't accurately remember which way I want to say to the right under power. I think I was told it was a product of the LSD. So I would say look there, axle location, oil quality and tyres are they equally worn and matching specs.
Hope you sort it soon.

I had a very similar issue with an old Land Rover, and it turned out that one of the rear leaf spring axle locating pins had sheared and the rear axle was moving forward/backwards very slightly, producing the symptoms you describe,

However, I note that you've gone over the rear and everything checks out.

I'd probably look at the crosshead and check to see if it's true and if there is any movement.

Tracking was the first parameter that came to mind. Has that ever been checked/adjusted?

I would go off piste and check the engine & gearbox mounts.
Hope you find the cause - Good luck.

If you have not already done so, might be worth running over all the running gear with a spanner, It is not unusual for things to loosen off in time...

The first thing I would be looking at would be play in any of the wheels, with the wheels on the deck, grab the top of a front wheel and give it a good shake if you can, the weight of the car can help load up any possible play to make it`s self heard or felt. Jacked up and if you grab both the front and rear of a wheel and pull and push with left then right hands, again you might pick up on any play in the system..which as has been suggested can e down to steering gear wear, causing tracking to be out by some degree..

Try the simple stuff first, best of luck.

I freed up the pre-load on my 4/4's steering rack which made a huge difference to the steering. The nylon yoke swells over time which is a slow process hence I hadn't noticed the change in the steering, self centring & hands off wheel tracking. I assume the +8 has a similar preload adjuster.

Thank you very much to all for their inputs. Ref. below, only thing I wonder is if there can be a malfunction of the LSD even if there is no noise from it?
Track rods and front wheel bearings are OK
I havent checked the internal of the LSD, and I do not know how it works. But as I understand my readings on the internet, things should be fine if there is no noise – and there aren´t. Axle location, oil quality and tyres are OK.
Crosshead is true, and there is no movement.
Tracking has been checked again and is OK.
Engine and gear box mounting are OK.
All wheels are checked and no play anywhere.
Car has a collapsable steering column and a steering box, and to my knowledge no preload adjuster. There is very little play in the steering system at all – 7-9 mm measured on the rim of the steering wheel.
Thank you again to all.

Dix
The preload adjuster