MAKE SURE YOU HAVE PICKED THE RIGHT GREASING ARTICLE FOR YOUR MODEL YEAR ! YOUR CHOICES CAN BE FOUND HERE UNDER "FRONT SUSPENSION GREASING".

The bushes fit in the stub axle tubes, one at the top and the other at the bottom of the stub axle tube. As they do not fill the entire length of the tube, a grease reservoir or "grease holding area" is formed between the two bushes. As the stub axle slides up and down the kingpin, this reservoir  greases the kingpin (and therefore the bushes). The stub axle has a grease nipple exactly adjacent to the middle of this reservoir to service and fill this area periodically. The Factory manuals in the period suggested this be done every 5000 miles but this has been proven to be insufficient. We recommend 1500 mile intervals (greasing more doesn't do anything beneficial I can think of and makes a mess). [Since 2006 the Factory Manuals reflect our suggested mileage interval.]

Greasing can be done with the car on the ground or on jack stands. A one hand "pistol" greaser can be used. (When I am home, I use a powerful electric grease gun equipped with a flex hose. The device effectively creates an extra hand which makes the job easier.) The grease nipple angle can make it hard to properly center the grease gun but the angle of the grease nipple can be changed to suit, or alternatively buy an angled nose for your grease gun. A slight angle will do.

1. Turn the steering wheel until you have the best angle at the nipple,

2. Pry up the damper plate to allow for a freer flow under the plate. This is the way the Factory Service Department has done it for 60 years. (Confidence in the one-shot oiler was not high amongst the MMC service staff from the start.) There is a little passage from the grease reservoir between the bushes to the "shelf" the damper plate sits on. It is important this shelf be lubricated by the grease and prying it up prevents it from blocking the grease flow. Without it, steering can become heavy and damper plate wear is accelerated, which can force you to a front suspension rebuild prematurely.
 

3. Pump until the grease flows out under the damper plate (which sits on the stub axle shelf.). (That takes a lot of pumps!)  If the grease flows out the bottom of the assembly, it is a sign that your car is due for a front end bush and kingpin renewal. See the articles in this Manual on that. If you see the grease exiting from the lower rungs of the Main Spring above the axle, the likelihood is that you have not greased the underside of the damper plate, a task as important as filling the reservoir. You have either not bothered to lift the damper plate or have not done it sufficiently.

4. Turn the steering wheel and do the other side.

 

AN ADDENDUM (revisited by request on June 10, 2023) by Lorne Goldman, Bill Beck and George Dow. Prying up the plate. (updated in August 2011) Though this element has been a given for many years, I have recently received some inquires on this procedure and whether it is necessary. Worries were expressed as to damaging the damper plate. I take this as evidence that there are many new Morgan owners and/or more people are doing home maintenance. Great!  The answers for the why's of prying the plate up are simple as the Morgan front itself. One has to only see and understand the basics of the suspension and its few components. This is not complicated unless you are wrongly convinced it is so. Far too much is made of this area of the cars. Unlike the rear suspension, there is not much one can do at the front to improve it save to correct minor errors in that crept in at the Factory over time and more importantly, inadequate maintenance after sale. Redesigns in stub axle or the plate solved the problem of inadequate greasing by owners as the later steering races solved the problem of inadequate damper blade adjustment by eliminating them.   Again, prying the plate up is only necessary for Morgans made pre-2000 or those who have kept their damper blades after installing STEERING BEARINGS. The plate can be pried up with a pry up with a "pry" or a big flathead screwdriver. This is the preferred method, the one I used to use when I had damper blades.    Ignore your concern that this will "break something" or "damage" the bottom of the plate. The plate is made of  bronze, a sacrificial metal. At worse, if scratched it will retain more grease, which is a  good thing.  Those with pre-2000 Morgans who wish to forego lifting the plate can buy plates with annular grooves carved in THEM or have a machine shop do so without risk. See the image. (Note the groove's three cuts to the center allowing this groove to be fed from the pre-2000 grease exit at the sub axle tube.)  The consequences of NOT greasing this area properly is heavy steering and a quick wear of the damper plates which will exaggerate the steering difficulty even more. Though these plates are not expensive, the front end must be disassembled completely to change them.

  

WATCHPOINT I: The incorrect grease nipples. have received many notes on the difficulties owners are having pumping grease into the stub axles in front. At first I thought it was the grease gun they chose, but I soon found the problem was even more basic. Many owners change the stub axle grease nipple (zirk) for angled ones which allow an easier time fitting their grease gun onto it. Sadly, they do not notice that the threaded portion of the Morgan grease nipple is short..shorter than most available. When they fit the new nipples they often thread them until they are forced into the kingpin. This blocks the flow of grease despite the use of eye-popping pressure. The front gets little of its needed grease feed and the kingpin can be damaged.