Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) brake reaction stays, anti-tramp etc. do they work

Hei Robbie!
My S1 Roadster had all the listed items fitted, except for the brbs, when I bought the car in 2012. Last year I added brbs based on a recommendation from my Morgan service workshop, but I honestly can´t tell any difference before and after fitting these. Nor have I ever been in any "shock-braking" situation. If any of the other add ons improve the handling I have no idea. Maybe I will notice if I have all these removed
A Panhard rod might be my recommendation if you should choose any add ons

When I had my 4/4 it was standard. It would zip along quite merrily and on the odd occasion when it was a bumpy country road it would buck up in the air if I hit any bumps, and when it came down there was a moment or two when I was never exactly sure which way it would twitch. All part of the fun of owning a newish 'vintage' car that employs cart springs etc.

I just used to make allowances for it and not bother, it wasn't anything drastic, just an awareness that it wasn't a modern car. However, it was something that was part of the performance parameters, and something to bear in mind when pressing on or playing at being Fangio.

All was well until Cain from Wolf Performance lent me his car.. What a difference..! No eery feelings, no queasiness, just...normal I guess. Cain's Cafe Racer is still on leaf springs, but fitted with a Panhard rod, and I was amazed at the difference.

It's one of those things that no-one maybe 'needs' but it was a very noticeable difference in control, and that for me proved it.

Ultimately of course, the 4/4 was swapped out for my Brooklands, which had been fitted with the full five link rear setup, a completely different ball game.

If the question was which item would I have chosen to improve the handling, I'd have no hesitation in starting with a Panhard rod.

Reminds me of the line in a song: “If I hadn’t seen such riches I could live with being poor”. I’ve just got back from my old motorbike test circuit and like you with your 4/4 Steve, I’m happy operating within it’s parameters. Took the front wheels off when I got back to grease the kingpins and check everything’s ok under there and noticed (yes, a bit late) that mine’s fitted with Spax dampers. No idea if they’re any good but they seem to keep things in check mostly!

Just one observation about panhard rods. I've been looking into this recently.
If your Morgan has the old arrangement where the fuel tank rests on the floor boards there's plenty of room for a panhard rod.

But where the fuel tank sits on a steel framed cradle, still on wood, there is significantly less space between the diff cover and the tank. On my Plus 4 its a hand thickness, whereas on my Roadster its more like a hand width.The rod lies below the diff centreline, but with tight clearance there's a potential for knocking.

I'll be fitting a panhard rod to my Roadster over winter, all being well, along with some other stuff.

Not sure about the Plus 4 yet..........

Hi John, front and rear shocks are different. Here is what my garage writes:

The front and rear shock absorbers are different, but completely adjustable. The rear shock absorbers are available in three lengths and must be measured completely "compressed" and "pulled apart" from eye centre to eye centre.

Your vehicle has TB1183 in the front and TB1260 (medium) in the rear.


John I have not found the shocks on Peter Mulberrys page. But here at NewElms.
The part numbers given by my dealer obviously mean that I have Rutherford AVOs.

http://www.newelms.com/wp-content/upload...ontinuation.pdf

Alternatively I found it also on this page.
http://www.heartofenglandmorgans.co.uk

May be other users have different types of shocks but I must say that in my car the shocks work very well the way my dealer had selected them.

Hi Heinz, thank you for looking all that up for me and for supplying the links too. I will follow the links now and take a look. 👍🏻

Cheers John

Robbie, lots of comments both for & against various upgrades - I owned an S1 Roadster (2004) for over ten years and gradually refined it, my personal findings were...

Brake reaction bars, you may not feel much difference under normal driving but based on the very low price & additional triangulation it gives, it's a yes

Anti-tramp bars, during your build era MMC were using a good grade of rear spring on the Roadster, unless you are doing hard standing starts, which are NOT mechanically sympathetic to a Morgan, I wouldn't bother

Panhard Rod, I did eventually fit one after about 5yrs, personally it did not harden the ride, but did markedly sharpen up the rear end accuracy in corners

Your Sachs dampers, from memory are likely to be the original fit items and are very basic & a bit low grade, they are most likely very worn out by now, many TM'ers recommend AVO adjustable

Steering bearings will lighten your steering & you may still have damper blades which you may wish to remove, for me the most significant upgrade for driver comfort / confidence was to fit a SSL (suplex) front kit

The original S1 Roadster is a great Morgan, enjoy !

You are welcome:)
If still of interest, here is an old post link about installing the shock absorbers.

http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/29996/2

Perfect mind reading, thanks Heinz, that was going to be my next search, to see if anyone had any tips

Can't see why it won't fit, Cain fitted one to my 2013 NB +4. Think it's two different types for Roadster and NB+4