Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Spax adjustable set-up.

I have just had a nice new shiny set of Spax adjustable shocks fitted to my 3-wheeler. Having no experience in setting up adjustable suspension I would be interested in the experience of anyone who has these fitted and how best to go about finding the best set-up for me.

Thanks

Richard

Im glued to this one, mine are in boxes at the moment.

That's the best place for them. They are already adjusted for that application.

I recommend any race car suspension book. Shock settings is one of those things that is a large part black art, especially on a 3 wheeler. It depends on what you are looking for on any given conditions. Example , on a rough road, soft is good as the shock will let the suspension rise and fall quickly with the bumps. Or on a smooth road, a stiff setting will give you crisper handling as the car has less tendency to roll and dive with sudden inputs such as turning and braking. Mostly you will need to just try different sittings and see what feels best for your driving style. I recommend starting soft, as did Colin Chapman with his Lotuses.

What Inge said, and not so much the commentary from people who think bone stock is perfect and pooh pooh anyone who wants different.

As in any application where you're dealing with coil overs they are adjustable so the driver can tune them to their preference. I also agree with starting them dialed out so they offer the most amount of dampening, then take them in until you feel they're just right. Which is usually found by when they get too harsh and backing them off a bit.

Also it's handy to make note of the adjustments on them, either by measuring distance with calipers or counting full turns, etc. I know some guys who will have a daily driving setting on their coil overs, but then stiffen them up for more vigorous track days. That is part of the benefit of the adjustable shocks.

After reviewing GTG's comments, I may have misspoke. My comments on soft vs. hard are based on the assumption that you can change the damping on the shock via a small screw on the side of the shock, or by pushing the rod all the way in and turning it slightly to move an internal valve (ie Carrera). The really old Spax shocks that were on my car had the adjusting screw on the side. Regarding springs, if you want to change the spring rate, you need to change springs. This will give you a softer ride or harder ride. The perch adjustment on a coil over is used to set ride height, and weight distribution on a 4 wheel car. You will not change the weight distribution on a 3 wheel car. The spring rate is constant no matter where you set the perch. If you screw the perch up tighter it simply raises the car, it does not compress the spring further to give a harder ride.
The soft vs. hard damping and soft vs. hard spring rate are 2 different animals, but work together to give different handling characteristics and grip for a given road condition.

Inge right on all counts, the spax adjustibles have a ride height adjustment, and a knob for adjusting the amount of damping.

May be a daft question but which way does the spax adjustment work, Is it screw in clockwise for a firmer ride or screw in anti clockwise for this effect? Just wondering where to start.

Am I wrong in believing that all these Aero sport items(dampers exhaust etc.) can be ordered and installed on the car from the factory? Or are they aftermarket parts, to be installed by the dealers?

A morgan dealer/shop should be able to provide the base-line settings if they are not already set in the box.