1980 MGB Suspension Issue

[Guest Hillock]

I am restoring a 1980 MGB, and you all have been very helpful with a few other issues I was dealing with. Over the weekend while looking at the car from the rear I noticed that it is several inches lower on the left side compared to the right side (as measured from the top of each tail light). A friend of mine thinks it's probably caused by worn out bushings that go into the control arm. Does that sound right? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Let me know, and thanks again for the help.

H

[Dave@Moon]

The MGB, unless I'm mistaken, had a simple Salisbury-type solid rear axle with leaf springs and a Panhard rod. There are no "trailing arms". The leaf spring mounts do have bushings, but no bad bushing is going to give several inches of height differential between sides. At most you'd see about an inch.

I strongly suspect a broken spring or spring mount. If it's the mount, be sure to check the rear sub-frames on both sides thoroughly for hidden rust, as a catastrophic failure like this on the road could be really dangerous. If it's the spring replace both, for safety and stability's sake.

Edited July 29, 2010 by Dave@Moon (see edit history)