MG Car Repair: suspension problem on 1976 mgb, polyurethane bushes, grease nipples

Question
Hi- I hear a "clunk" when I go over a bump. I have had the car for seven years and have never done any work on the front end. The noise has become more pronounced of late. The noise is coming from the passenger side front. Where should I start in looking for the problem?
Thanks

Answer
Hi Terance

This could be serious.  If you are not an experienced home mechanic, then you should go to a garage as soon as possible and get them to perform a basic safety check on the front suspension.

There are several things that can go wrong with the front suspension.  Mostly they are due to excess wear because the suspension has not been greased regularly.  There are 3 grease nipples on each side and they should be greased with a grease gun every 3 months or 3,000 miles.

You really need to jack the car off the ground and secure it on axle stands.  Then you place a big lever under each front spring pan and lever upwards a little way.  Be careful not to lift so hard that you lift the whole car off the safety stands.  If you can see the spring pan moving BEFORE the kingpin moves, then there is excess wear in the lower kingpin pivot.  In this case you will need to fit a new kingpin and a re-bushed exchange swivel unit.  

Another common fault is perished rubber bushes.  There are 4 pairs of bushes at the inboard ends of the spring pan, and there are rubber bushes between the shock absorber arms and the top of each kingpin.  I no longer fit rubber bushes, I replace them with polyurethane bushes.  These are fairly easy to replace yourself, if you are handy with a wrench.

Other possibilities include a broken front spring, or a worn drop-arm on the anti-sway bar.