Front Axle

April 14th 2016

The front axle is a whole subject in itself. I've been doing bits of it as I progress but here it is as a compilation.

• The steering rack had play at both ends.
• Six of the seven rose joints were shot.
• The king pins were knackered.
• The driver's side wheel had positive camber.

Stub Axle


This is the cause of the positive camber. The stub axle was loose and bent.

That slender bolt through the carrier is what held the stub axle in place. It went through a hole in the stub axle. 

But when I took it off I discovered there were 2 holes in the stub axle. Eeek!

That was all that was holding it in the hub carrier.

I decided to get my engineer friend to turn me a new one up but he winced at the cost of buying some bar in. He had a great suggestion, which I suppose you all know about anyway.

It was this. A shoulder bolt.

I just needed to find one,  20mm in diameter. The internet delivers the goods (literally) and £25 lighter of pocket I have a high quality 12.9 grade bolt.

Compared to the outgoing stub axle it wins in the beauty stakes.

First I made sure it fitted the bearings in the wheel. It slipped in beautifully, just a slight resistance.

I'll use that line for my next erotic novel.

It was then surprisingly easy. I chopped the head off. Then tried it in the hub carrier, and fitted the wheel. Then I measured how much more to take off to get the wheel lined up with the brake caliper (and packed away with washers from the carrier the right amount) with the end of the thread just inside the outer bearing.

I doubled checked the measurement because I didn't want to have to buy another bolt at that price. I could have got it a couple of quid cheaper from Thomas Grahams in Kendal, but the fuel to collect it and the wait for them to get it makes the equation not so clear-cut.

So this is with it cut to the correct length ....

Then came some fiddling whilst I gently ground out some scoring in the hub carrier that was preventing the stub going easily all the way into the hole. In the vice I could check it was at right angles in each plane. 

Then I welded the end of it to the hub carrier through the hole in the back.

So, if that needs to come out again it'll be a lathe job.

King Pins

These needed replacing. Some more of the beer can had been slid down between the pin and the bush to take up slack.

The first one I took out (to repair the stub axle) just about fell out, but the other side hadn't been out for some years and needed heat and a hell of a lot of bashing with a bloody big hammer and a drift to shift it.

Something I noticed was that the thrust washers were on top, instead of being on the bottom.

I found a bloke in Devon who does king pin kits for £40 which was £20 quid cheaper than I had seen elsewhere. So that's what I got.

Getting the old bushes out needed a junior hacksaw and some persuasion. I cleaned up the housings and pulled the new ones in using a threaded bar and washers.

You need to pull them in from the inside of the the carrier as the outer ends are crimped to hold the domed (welch) washers. Using the threaded bar also helps to prevent starting the bushes off cock-eyed, which as they are split, can end up in all sorts of bother.

Once in I needed a little easing with wet'n' dry on a dowel (through both bushes, sort of like line-boring) to make the pins move easily with finger pressure.

I've used an adjustable reamer in the past, but for fine adjustment they are too keen.

One done, one to go.

Steering Rack  (Ouch)

I had taken this off earlier. What a job that was. 

It had been fitted with a bracket and allen-headed bolts into a threaded plate on the axle. Using captive threads on a car that is going to to get wet and muddy and be left for a couple of weeks is a recipe for disaster. Lots of heat and careful strong-arm action with a new allen socket got them off.

I couldn't identify the rack from the numbers so resorted to an image search on Google for steering racks.

I found out it is a Mk1 Escort rack. Typical, as they are twice the price of Mini racks at about £115.

So I decided to repair it. The rack end was rattling and the other end was clanking.

Taking the boots off was not a pleasant experience because of what I found......

That's right. No oil or grease and lots of mud. I took the plate off that adjusts the plunger on the rack and the plunger was corroded solid. I used as much heat as I dare on the alloy and got the plunger to move down onto the rack. But it wouldn't return.

The nylon bush at the other end of the rack was very worn.

I decided that, as I could get a new rack if it all went tits-up, I would "adjust" the plunger to allow just a touch of play and remove enough shims to lock it in that position. I got a new nylon bush for the other end. You can get brass bushes at £20 but really for a car that isn't going to go faster than 20 mph, with the wheels having little effect on the direction of travel, I thought that a bit OTT.

When the bush arrived it was the correct diameter for the rack, but too big for the housing. My spoon-whittling skills helped as I attacked it with my Stanley knife and got it to fit. Carving the lugs that fit in the little cutouts wasn't as successful, but I solved that by crimping down the end of the rack tube to locate the bush. The picture makes it clear.

New boots (no panties) finished it off and with a coat of black paint, the rack works, Plus, it has no play. I filled it with SAE 90 gear oil. Anything is better than mud.

With occasional outings and decent lubrication it should last a while before the lack of adjustment renders it obsolete.

For about £50 I could have had a new high ratio Mini rack

But here's a thing. No-one seems to publish data like the travel in the rack. So you can't compare one with another. I don't want to lose any lock.

Spherical End Bearings (Rose Joints)

Not a lot to say. Both radius rods and the inboard ends of the A frame had buggered joints.

I had to use a cutting disc to get them off as the tube spacers on the bolts had corroded solid and one rose joint broke off as I (tried to) unscrew it from the end of the A frame. I drilled and tapped the thread out but wasn't happy with it so I shortened the threaded boss and welded a nut on (located by a bolt holding it to the existing threaded boss). That has worked fine.

All new bolts and joints now.

Here is a taster of things to come.