So I put the car up in the air, unbolted the coil over, and proceeded to raise and lower the wheel. I did this to confirm bump steer. The bump steer was epic.
Here is a video for your viewing pleasure(?) <<<Evidently I can't attach a .mp4 movie to this post, can anyone help me with this?>>>
In the video you can see the wheel undergo several degrees of steering angle change as it passes through a couple of inches of suspension travel. The range of motion shown here is representative (ish) of the usual ride height of the car. The effect is worse when the suspension drops further into droop travel or bounces further into bump travel. In droop travel the geometry exhibits severe toe out while in bump travel it exhibits toe in.
Many of use M3W folks have noticed the weird way that the car seems to turn into turns more than you would expect. You turn in and hold the wheel steady and the car turns in, then it sort of turns in again. This is because right after turn in the car rolls into the turn. This roll involves the inside suspension going into droop travel (toe out). This means that the inside tire ends up turning into the turn even more as the car rolls. The exact opposite happens on the outside of the car, where the suspension goes into bump travel and exhibits toe in.
I'm working on replacing the Morgan control arms and uprights with generic racing tubular control arms from Summit racing or some other supplier. I think I can fix the whole problem.
If the steering could be fixed, it would be the perfect car. Oh, no, I remember, we then have to put the little thing on a diet and persuade her to lose 100kgs.
Keep up the good work Gaius49, we're all rooting for you.
BTW, if the ride height was dropped by an inch or two, would that help?
This is interesting! Living as I do in Vermont where the roads are generally considered crap, this issue is in my face every time I take the Morgan out.
I heartily endorse m3boy's suggestion for a Kit!
What's your mileage? Who cares. Is it practical? See #1. What happens when it rains? You get wet.
"Morgan need to employ someone at the factory who understands steering and suspension"
In fairness, it has never been necesary on the traditonal 4 wheelers with slilding pillar, but how they sorted out the Aeros without a suspension consultant, I don't know - or do they have one? If so, he doesn't appear to know the three wheeler exists.
I think it's a compromise given the exhaust route, and the angle of the dampers. The track rods have to thread through somewhere. I still think those dampers would be more effective at a more vertical alignment. Ironically, sliding pillar would have given more options for track rod alignment.
DaveW '05 Red Roadster S1 '16 Yellow (Not the only) Narrow AR GDI Plus 4
Oh yes, certainly a compromise, and not easy to fit it all into the limited space available, given that the rack has to sit on top of the bellhousing/cush drive cover too, so can't be brought any lower.
Do the steering arms have to be at the centre of the upright? Can they be raised to stop the drop on the tie rods, which would mean the bump and droop would amount to a less pronounced change in toe.
I mentioned lowering the ride height earlier, there does seem to be plenty of space available under the car, if the shock absorbers had an adjustable spring seat, probably not too difficult to engineer.
And, yes, I would indeed be very interested in buying a kit to transform the steering.
