Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing King Pins & bush renewal

This indicates that you originally had the blue plastic Devol bushes. The factory have never offered Vesconite Hi-Lube as either a standards fitment nor as an option. The stub axle tubes were larger than those used for the bronze bushes, so that the Devol bushes could be pushed in to give a resultant fit on the king pins.

Agree 100% that a Suplex front end plus hard chrome king pins with reamed bushes makes a monumental difference, especially at low speed.
My Roadster can be steered as any other modern car, despite the wide tyres and lack of power steering: other than car park manoeuvres one hand steering is easy.

I grease every 1000 to 1200 miles, but I'm not convinced it is really needed especially in dry conditions but it can't do any harm.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with sliding pillar suspension design but it needed a proper understanding of material science and suspension/spring dynamics to make it work properly and last a long time. It has taken over 100 years to get to that point.... In the meantime other, more complex designs have been optimised leaving the Morgan system apparently a historical anomaly. It isn't.

While talking to the guy from the Vesconite Hi-Lube makers SA. I was given to understand that there is someone working to develop these bushes for the Mog kingpins. The Vesconite Hi-Lube is superior to the Devol bushes and newer material that can be lubricated with water alone using slots parallel to the bore. It might be nice to give the Kingpins a regular squirt from a water washer bottle.

My DIY efforts with Hardchrome and bronze took me about 35 hours and cost total in the region of £250 including line boring of the bushes by a machine shop in Exeter.
I guess the same job done by a garage would be well into four figures

I seem to recollect when speaking to Julian Fenn of Vesco Plastics that it was Peter Ballard who was looking at the suitability of Vesconite as a material for Stub Axle Bushes. Do forgive me if I have got my facts wrong

Vesconite (mainly Hi-Lube) is in use by a number of NBC's members across the pond.

No mistake here then, these are indeed the two I understand to be looking into it, but whether matters are progressing today and ongoing I am not clear. If Peter Ballard is listening it would be good to hear what the prospects are of getting this issue nailed.

The replacement of bronze as a bearing material by self lubricating plastics is an area where many offer promises: this website is but one example of many:

Plastic Fantastic

BUT on the Morgan we have a virtually unique set of conditions:
1. Exposed to dirt and grit
2. Sliding and twisting action

Hard chrome plus the right plastic shouldn't need lubrication at all. But this could be like the search for the Holy Grail. The truble is that to be sure you'd need to test each option for 20k miles. That will take years so it probably doesn't make commercial sense.

If you go to the search panel, click on Advanced and then type Vesconite in the Keyword Search Terms and PJB in the Display Name Search, then change the date range to Newer than 2 years you will find 4 entries where PJB (aka Peter Ballard) has discussed Vesconite and other materials. Seems to me that he found Vesconite Hi-Lube to be the best but uses it in conjunction with a lip seal (lip downwards) to keep out dirt. The seal he uses is very thin can just be fitted into the sliding hub by pushing the bush in a little.

I found that very interesting Peter. I read one of the applications which surely must have similarities to the conditions under which Morgan bushes would work.

http://www.igus.com/wpck/7879/potato_planter

I find the whole Vesconite Hi-Lube things interesting from a theoretical point of view, but to be honest I can't help thinking it's a solution in search of a problem. The usual reason given in their favour is that it reduces or removes the need for regular lubrication, but it's only a 10-minute job once every couple of months, and gives the prefect opportunity for a quick visual checkover and spanner check whilst one is under the car.

I am a bit concerned that if one reduced the frequency of greasing too much, then one might also start to neglect other aspects of the car's maintenance schedule. Morgans are not like modern cars, they need and benefit from regular attention. A neglected Mog can quickly become a source of all sorts of niggling problems, especially if not regularly used throughout the year.