Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing GAZ shock settings

Also known as 'brake reaction bars'...

Hello all,

I've posted some suspension photos this afternoon, showing a lot of what we are talking bout on this thread.

Also, specially for Heinz really, a set of photos of a Plus 4 SS in build at MMC.

Hope they help OZ 4/4 too re the 'brake reaction bars' as Graham clarified above.

MZ

Great picture for now and future reference.

Well I picked up the car today. Borghi have been fantastic. They have re-mounted the silencer brackets, removed all the too-long protruding bolt threads. Reversed the direction of the crossmember bolts so the heads are on the underside and then they have replaced all the springs (five leaf at he rear instead of the new 4 leaf). I was advised that I would find the ride a bit harder and told that if I found the front too hard it would be possible to fit a spring a little softer. At the same time they fitted the panhard rod and brake reaction stays at the front. All wheels were balanced and fronts aligned.

Also while in the workshop exhaust wrap was fitted to The Aero Racing exhaust system.

First the good news:

The ride height problem is definitely fixed. I have not measured it yet but I was told they have gained 2 cm. I can now get down the ramp to my garage without trying to do diagonal manoeuvres and without touching anything

A different issue but the exhaust wrap has eliminated the metallic pinging that was occasionally coming from the extractor tubes, seems to have made the catalyser function correctly by keeping it hot enough, and seems to have reduced, but not eliminated, the popping on the over-run. All in all the exhaust note sounds more mellow

The bad news:

The ride felt reasonably good on a test run around town but out on the highway at speeds of 110 km/h I felt I was being jolted around quite a bit. The car seems to turn in fairly quickly with a slight tendency to oversteer and the back skipped out easily on a bump mid corner (mind you I was pushing it). The shocks have all been set to zero so I will now do a careful check of tyre pressure and then start to see if I can improve things with the shock settings. I think it can take two or three clicks at the front without making the ride any harsher but it should take out some of the rebound that is, I think, the main cause of the jolting. I will then consider if I need to tune in 1 or two clicks on the rear. I definitely don't want to make it any harsher but the conventional logic is that if you increase the spring load you also need to increase the damping to control the rebound.

Naturally in resolving the ride height problem the wheel arches have been lifted away from the tyres increasing the gap. Having become accustomed to the closer fit I don't really like the change in appearance. I still have the option of fitting 190/65 R15 tyres which have a radius of 1 cm more than the 190/60 R15 tyres fitted at the factory and will fill the gap better. Down side of that is that it will also raise the gearing a little. All other models including the +4 SS are fitted with even taller tyres so it should not really be a problem.

Depending on the weather I will see if I can do some fine tuning tomorrow and take some pictures.

PS. Sorry about the long saga, but if you're you should not have read this far

You might find that the Panhard Rod has stiffened up the rear end a bit....mine certainly felt that way but I soon got use to it.

I wonder how complicated it is to change the rear springs? Watching the guys at the factory with their long wooden pole compressing the rear end of the springs to fit the rear shackle...on a bare chassis made me think how it would be done with the body on!

Changing the 4 leafs for 5 leafs is exactly what i though has to be done on my 4/4 sport to be more confortable.Now the "best ride" is with konis at the rear and avo at the front (set at zero).I also wonder if it is possible to remove the block between the leaf and the rear axle and adjust the height of the front suspension.I see that it is not only the 4/4 sport wich has problems with the very hard suspension.My first 4/4 was much more confortable and i dont understand why it is not possible to
do the same on my 4/4 sport.

My understanding is that the factory changed from 5 leaf to 4 leaf to get a more comfortable ride. Unfortunately I seem to have had a defective pair on the rear but it also seems that the 4 leaf springs have lowered the ride height too. In my case too much. So far my impression is that the 5 leaf springs are harder but it could also be the stiffening effect of the panhard rod. Some 4/4 Sports do have a lowering block that can be removed. The effect would be to raise the car and increase the availble travle of the rear suspension. Best to talk with your dealer.

How are the suspension mods going Peter? Have you settled on the shock settings yet? Do you like the PH rod?
MZ

Still early days. I am currently running two clicks at the front and zero at the rear. I plan to try 3 clicks at the front as I think the front is still a little too underdamped.

General impression, also from Alis, is that the car feels better planted on the road but that the ride is a little harder.

On Saturday we are going on a run the Piemonte, a round trip of 500 km, to meet some friends, buy some wine and enjoy some excellent food

I think we will have a better idea after that trip.

A week later.

I am reasonably satisfied that 3 clicks at the front and 0 at the back is ok with the current setup. The car feels very planted on the road and steers well. The current setup has changed both front springs and the rears are now 5 leaf with a panhard rod.

I do feel that the suspension is much harder though and I think I will change to slightly softer springs at the front. Not much can be done at the rear however. Using softer springs at the front will lower the front a little and I will put a spacer plate at the rear. I then plan to fit 195/65 R15 tyres which will not only look better but regain the ride height lost.