HJP, thanks for your initial view of the 5L. I had nothing to do with the suspension design on the M3W except test driving various suspension configurations and writing the setup instructions. I am sorry if you and others found the rear suspension difficult/impossible to set up. I do know it is not easy. I know you will know a lot of what follows, but others might be interested, possibly.............
There are internal rebound springs in both the front and rear dampers (Made by B.A.D.), trouble is that you can't see if these rebound springs are in contact or not at ride height, like you can on the front of the Traditional 4 wheeler. It is essential to set the rear ride height accurately to get the rebound springs just free. Of course if the rebound springs are compressed the initial rear ride is HARD, and too much clearance at too low a ride height and the rebound spring comes in suddenly on rebound as the rear goes light. I think that the rear system would have been more consistent without the rear suspension rebound springs considering the large load change from one person to two etc. So I appreciate your disappointment, but it was a SUPLEX design that was passed off by Morgan....
A bit of history. The development Morgan M3W cars used coil overs with SUPLEX springs and B.A.D monotube dampers and internal rebound springs. There were also long 'spring assists' (like long bump stops but more durable) on the front damper rods to give significant rising spring rate. Hence the front suspension movement in bump was limited and the suspension movement in rebound was also limited by the rebound springs, THUS the bump steer problems that occurred later with the SPAX units did not occur as the original cars' suspension travel was less. I drove an early demo car with SUPLEX/BAD units on, loved it.
Morgan approved these SUPLEX /BAD units for production. Then when the production volumes built up and were approx. doubled Morgan went to SPAX instead with twin tube dampers and no rebound springs. The dealers' demo cars also had the SUPLEX/BAD units on, so many customers bought cars with SPAX units where they had driven demo cars with SUPLEX/BAD units, I do not know if the customers were told there was a specification change for production, but I would have thought so.
Morgan fitted SUPLEX/BAD units to the M3W instead of SPAX when they drove to the North Cape of Norway because of their superior ride and handling.
When SUPLEX/BAD reintroduced their original units as aftermarket, I was then invited by Morgan to test drive their test car with them fitted. My report to Morgan matched what their test drivers thought, which was a relief! I believed they felt as good as the original SUPLEX/BAD units on the first demo cars and compared with the production SPAX units had less roll, less steering kickback, better road surface isolation and better steering response.
I try to be careful on TalkMorgan, as although I am not an employee of SUPLEX, being an independent automotive consultant, I am naturally viewed as a supplier by TalkMorgan and Morgan Motor Company.
I hope that this blurb has helped a little and given some background. Regards Peter. PJB.
