Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) NewElms Rutherford Front Suspension

Does anyone have experience with the King Pin Overhaul Kits from NewElms Rutherford Engineering? Can the $1000 installed price be justified by significantly improving ride and handling for non-spirited, around town driving? It seems as though the Suplex upgrade works as advertised, but the price may not be similarly justified. Your thoughts.

New Elms has an excellent reputation in the Morgan world.

On the Roadster I had the Suplex front suspension setup and the Rutherford rear shocks.
The combination was a significant improvement over the standard setup, but it does seem that pairing the Suplex front end with their multi link rear takes the trad chassis to the best it can be.

The biggest improvement associated with the Suplex front end, on my Roadster, was significantly lighter steering (the car has 205 profile tyres) and elimination of the "Morgan Nod": the price, at Williams Morgan, was the equivalent of about US$650, but that was in 2014.

My only other comment is that the Suplex front (and rear) suspension was developed far more recently than the Rutherford, that may be significant.

I think I paid around £1300 for the Suplex conversion on my Roadster - it certainly improved the ride quality somewhat - but not worth £1300 I'm afraid.

Good Luck

Should have said that the £1300 also included AVO rear shocks.

I think it might be a good idea to do a bit more analysis of what's wrong with your existing setup first, including taking a few measurements. That would help being able to make the judgement as to whether spending the money is going to be worthwhile.

For example:

What year is your car?
What weight is it?
What is the castor angle? - steeper angled cars had 4 degrees and tend to wobble and shake more than the later 6 degree cars
What size wheels and tyres do you have?
Is steering via box or rack? - if it's a rack then you've probably got 6 degrees of castor
What rating are the current main springs? If they are the originals and more than 20 years old, they're probably knackered.
What are the kingpins made of?
When were they last rebored and honed?
What make are the front shocks absorbers/dampers?
Do you have damper blades fitted?
How often do you grease your front suspension?
Is the rebound spring free at static ride height?

What exactly is wrong with the current ride? Do you need more compliance?
What is wrong with the handling? Do you get Malvern dance?
What is wrong with the roadholding? Does it understeer of oversteer?

If your rebound spring is under compression at SRH, then the simplest way to improve your suspension is to simply cut a couple of coils off - crude, but cheap and reasonably effective.

Or, if it's not been touched for a while, it could be that a thorough overhaul of the existing setup might be all that's needed. Or if you are running mild steel kingpins and old shock absorbers, then the Four Elms kit (stainless kingpins, new bushes, AVO shocks) would definitely be worth considering. If it's more compliance and ride comfort you need over rough surfaces, then the Suplex kit AND hard chrome kingpins should sort you out.

How much money you spend is of course up to you, but for me, money spent on improving the way the car goes, handles and stops is always money well spent.

I refurbished the front end on my 2005 Roadster using hard chrome kingpins and spiral grooved bushes, plus Mulfab steering bearings to replace the steering dampers. The steering feel was transformed, being significantly lighter than before. Its much harder to judge comfort, because its very subjective, but with AVO dampers on four clicks, I don't see how the ride could be any better, even with Suplex.

I did the same job more recently on a narrow bodied Plus 4, and in this case replaced the MMC steering bearings with Mulfab bearings. Again, the steering feel was transformed.

Obviously its much less expensive as a DIY proposition, but whatever the model, the addition of Mulfab bearings will make a big difference. Adjustable dampers at least allow a degree of personalisation.

This is a timely thread for me. My front suspension is getting to the point when it will need some work and I've been considering the upgrade alternatives. What I would like is elimination of the "Malvern Dance" and perhaps an improved ride.

However I'm worried by the comments about the steering being lighter. Although I can't claim to be overly endowed in the arm muscle department, I find the standard steering is perfect for me. I think that any lightening of the steering would have a negative impact on the driving experience.

If I were to go for, say, the Suplex replacement what difference in steering would I expect to notice?

~iw

Ian on my 97 +4 it made a big difference on the steering.
But my 06 Roadster is as good if not better than the modified +4.
I guess you need to test a newer car as this is subjective.

Ian, our cars are pretty much the same era, so I would expect your experience would be pretty similar to mine. If your car is prone to suffering the front-end shakes, then I would expect the Suplex conversion should pretty much eliminate it, but you'll still need to retain the damper blades. I wouldn't expect it to massively lighten the steering, especially if you are running 185 section tyres or larger.

Ian,

I presume you definitely have play in the king pins / bushes?
My '76 had none (after rebuild) but after a short while the shakes returned. Turned out to be cracks in chassis, plus the triangulation plate(s) on the chassis legs just ahead of the bulkhead were being pushed out by rust in between them and the chassis legs.
Tim Ayres / Darren Bunn / New Elms sorted it all out, fitting the plates from later chassis (they are longer) plus repairs to chassis. I also had negative camber plates fitted - better for damping out the vibes (and can also give quicker turn-in).
I presume you have checked for play in the damper blades/shims as this can also lead to shimmy.