OK. Fronts first. Jack up, onto axle stands, no need to take wheels off. Turn wheel outward. Top and bottom nuts easily accessible, both take a 9/16" spanner. With damper off, which takes some wiggling, access to kingpin grease nipple is easy so in goes some grease. Due to the longer bottom bushes which have an internal sleeve, it is very difficult to get the bottom bush onto the stud as there is insufficient clearacne between the end of the stud and the track rod. Solution is somewhat counterintuitive (well to me it was) - turn wheel inwards, increasing gap, fitting is then easy. The top stud of the AVO damper is supplied with two thin (about 4mm) nuts instead of a nyloc nut, so used those and snugged them up to lock. Nothing overtightened to allow the bushes to move. Oh, and then I had to take it off and start again - as I realise that fitting it with the adjuster wheel facing inwards results in the grease nipple being obstructed - no gun would get in the small gap remaining. So I refitted it with the adjuster facing the disc - still reachable. Repeat on other side. Quick test drive - much plusher!
Nigel
Recommendation sought:
I am about to do the same and have a set of front only AVO's on their way to me along with brake reaction stays, all from Sifab. I have rudimentary tools, no 14mm, 20mm sockets or ring spanners, no torque wrench and not much clue so the above post is a godsend and Simon also provided some valuable tips. I'm hoping that those of you who have experience in this can recommend a torque wrench and sockets/spanners, I have some 1/2 inch sockets already and so that size would be convenient but tell me if I need 3/8 for example. I do not intend this to become a hobby and so will not need the wrench and sockets to last me forever, just a decent and dependable brand is all I will need. Why am I doing this? For the interest and challenge and to keep me from tinkering with something I can really bugger-up.
Well yesterday I managed to fit new AVO adjustable dampers and Brake Reaction Bars, all by myself. It went well as a result of all the good advice offered up. JohnV6's tip about the folding card to mark where to drill the chassis for the BRB was great as was Simon Hall's advice on supporting the kingpin plate from below and so it all went without incident. My signature foolishness kicked in as I discarded the large washer that holds the lower damper bush in place thinking that the small washer would be sufficient, a test drive showed the bush migrating off it's shaft and so up went the car and on went the large washer. Despite Nigel's note I also managed to fit one of them the wrong way obscuring the grease nipple, but I'm an old hand now and that was swapped around in no time at all.
Another couple of drives were made to decide what settings to adjust the dampers to and I have settled on 2 clicks up from zero for now, Zero was a little soft and 4 clicks up was a little firm. The AVO dampers really work well and demonstrated what the trad Morgan suspension was capable of, the front end seems to be better integrated with the back end, the car is less troubled by potholes and rough surfaces and feels more comfortable - a BIG win.
I would say that fitting the BRBs has made at least the same improvement and perhaps more so. the steering has tightened up and the accuracy improved by a good measure, the car feels more confident over rougher surfaces and under braking, the understeer on lift off and has diminished, the car tracks better and driving is a lot more relaxed. I would say that, for me, this is the single most important modification I have made and would recommend ti to everyone who owns a trad, it really makes a big improvement to the handling.
