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MG TD TF 1500 - Replace seals - Lower link, front suspension?

Will you please describe how to remove the bolt so that I can replace the seals in the lower link of the front suspension on my TF? Will the spring and everything shift when I remove the bolt? This is a bare chassis. No tub. No engine.

I read the WSM, but I still can't grasp how.

(I know how the seals are positioned. I replaced the upper seals today, with the guidance of members of the BBS.)

Thanks,

Lonnie
TF7211




LM Cook

If you have a floor jack jack up the spring pan so the upper arm comes off the rubber stop. That should be enough to remove the bolt. Loosen the two 1/4" bolts on one of the arms that secure it to the spring pan to give you some clearance with the new seals. You do not take these out ! Just loosen a few turns.

If the frame is not heavy enough to get the upper arm off the rubber stop, take a ratchet strap and hook it on the front axle of the jack, take it over the shock and hook the other end on the axle as well. Tighten the strap , then jack up the spring pan. Works like a spring compresor. Make sure the strap is routed behind the shock and not on the upper arms. These have to be free to unload the pressure on the bolt for removal.

... CR
CR Tyrell

Hello Lonnie, To change the swivel pin seal, the brake backplate needs to be removed, or nearly so. If the shock bolts/links are assembled, use the same technique you used to compress/unload the spring to do that.
Above technique should work, variations in the archive somewhere. George
George Butz III

Thanks CR and George,

I do better with pictures than I do with names of front suspension parts, since a number of names for the same part are used interchangeably. Just to confirm --- The lower seals, supports, and thrust washers noted by the blue circles are the ones that I'm replacing.

Not sure, but one of my front shocks may have been damaged by a strap used to compress the springs last year. Peter Cauldwell had to replace it when I sent to him for rebuild. Gotta be sure to run the strap so as to not put undue stress on them (?)

I'll probably replace the new rubber bushes that are already installed with new polyurethane bushes (#56 on the diagram). Should I replace them before the lower seals, after, or at the same time. How do I handle the coil spring?

No engine or tub.

Sorry for the dumb questions.

Thanks for your help,

Lonnie
TF7211


LM Cook

Why don't you just wait and do this after the engine is in?

Since you are not going to be driving it until then as long as the fenders are not on it will be easier to do then.
Christopher Couper

Thanks Chris. Maybe that should have been my first question.

I’ve come this far, gonna forge ahead and wish for the best.

I have a jack under the front cross member and a jack under the wishbone / A-arm near the lower link. I believe that pressure is off of the bolt that holds the wishbone to the lower link so that I can remove it.

I’m sitting on the floor looking at it and working up the nerve to pull it out.

Do I need to tell anyone that I’m a total newbie at this?

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Chris,

Sometime you just have to try, even though experts tell you not to ...

I removed the bolt, but the wishbone slowly moved downward (chassis moved upward) because there isn’t enough weight pushing down on the spring. Pretty easy to reinsert the bolt but would have been difficult if I had swung the hub out to replace the seal.

That’s a long way of saying that I’ll wait until the engine is in the car. Thanks.

Learning every day.

Lonnie
TF7211
LM Cook

Trust me. I like to overcomplicate things too.

My wife constantly shakes her head. Just today she asked me how I got into a predicament: lack of knowledge or just wanting to rush it she asked? I told her the former drove the later. :-)
Christopher Couper

Well, I had a similar problem in 1970. I wound up using one knee to depress a length of wood (4 x 2, balanced across a fulcrum) under the lower arm to compress the spring so I could fit the lower bolt.

Something must have slipped because I woke up some time later sprawled across the engine, with a large, bleeding bump on the side of my head where the 4 x 2 had hit it. Powerful springs on the front of these things.

Not recommended.
D A Provan

I found this article about removing front springs on "The Second Chance Garage" site. Surprised and happy to see a TD as the photo subject!

> Restoration Made Easy: Simple Coil Spring Removal
http://www.secondchancegarage.com/public2/coil-spring-removal.cfm

Lonnie
TF7211

LM Cook

This thread was discussed between 29/09/2020 and 07/10/2020

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