Talk Morgan Forums Community General Photo Gallery Leaf Springs & the Frame

Expand image & you can see the telltale mark.

Much of this already covered. But here goes:-
The four leaf springs for the 4 seaters are the same rate/stiffness as the springs for the 2 seaters so will ride the same, but the 4 seater springs just have more camber so they sit higher. Indeed there should be around 10mm clearance between the axle and the rebound rubber that is on the chassis unladen, depending on powertrain etc.
Leaf springs should be flat at laden ride height, that is how they are designed to be, as they then have maximum lateral stiffness, so reducing the need for a Panhard Rod.
Bump stops on the rear (& front) dampers are essential, the AVOs often come with no bump stops. Easy to add, either remove the top eye and slip them on or split you bump stop with a clean knife, coat cut surfaces with 'superglue' then push them over the damper rod and wrap them in that rubber self amalgamating tape. OK the loads through the damper bracket on the hub will increase and the early ones were not that robust. Check for cracks anyway.
To check for sagged leaf springs; jack under the exact middle of the front lower chassis cross tube to lift the front wheels just off the ground. Then without putting your weight on the car, reach through the parcel shelf opening and feel the gap below the axle and the rebound rubber. Should be the same both sides, one finger in is good, two or three fingers in that gap and the springs have sagged.
Cheers Peter (Director SSL)

I'm quoting the above from a different thread because I'm struggling what was said where! Many thanks to Peter Ballard for adding his comments to two similar threads.


My rear suspension off the ground


and on the ground

So, the springs are very close to the chassis on full extension (wheels off the ground). However there is a hole below the front end of the outer U bolt so it doesn't contact (see second picture).

With the front wheels off the ground (as per Peter's suggestion) the gap between axle and rebound rubber on the chassis is 15-18mm LHS and 22-25mm RHS (approximately - more like can't/can get second knuckle under - not sure if my knuckles are imperial or ISO).

The original isue was the gap for the 'bump stop' being too big on the LHSrunning at full adjustment. So I take Roger's suggestion that I do have 4 seater/4 leaf springs although no explanation about why or when they were fitted.

I remain bothered that the RHS of the car is some 12mm lower (closer to the spring) and lower still when I get in. But elsewhere on the forum I've seen comments the factory regards this as within tolerance so maybe I just need to get used to it.

Returning to this thread after a Summer sorting other things.

Having increased the ground clearance at the front-end - see Re-adjusting SSL front suspension - I decided that the sagging rear spring beneath the driver had to go and while I was at it do what I could about ride height at the back.
New Elms did the work and were very helpful as were BCC.

All I asked for was to get the car level and to increase ground clearance as much as possible. The car was fitted with four leaf springs and lowering blocks so I said that the blocks could go and, bearing in mind Rog's comments in this thread, suggested that the factory option of thinner rebound bump stops (between the frame and axle) are fitted. We talked about the 4seater version of replacement springs but neither New Elms nor BCC thought they were needed.

However in the end the 4 seater, anti-tramp springs were fitted. The transformation was marked: it comes very close to the difference the SSL kit up front made. The old springs were clearly soft (or had become so) and would regularly hit the woodwork when I first bought the car (see epilogue). The new springs respond to bumps but they don't give in to them. The car feels more stable, much like a heavier car, with less sway & bounce.

Together with the final tuning of the front-end Matilda is now what I was hoping for.

Epilogue - this is not criticism but it comes with a caveat

I fiitted Rog's estimable spring assists (bump stops) last year to tame the springs crashing into the woodwork. I've now removed them and never notice they've gone.

But, they are well priced and easy for an amateur to fit in an afternoon. And they solved my immediate problem last year. If I hadn't been bothered by the sagging RH spring I might have left them in place and never changed the springs.

If, however, you do a lot of miles on your Mog and (sometimes) drive with 'elan' then talk to a workshop that specialises in suspension.

Caveat - my car is a 2012/13 Morgan 4/4 which had not been changed since it left the factory. This isn't a recommendation to make the same changes to your car.

There's a lot of talk about 4 seater four leaf springs on this forum with little mention of who makes them or what cars they're being fitted to. Mulfab used to supply them but it seems this source has now dried up. BCC make them now (though not cheap) & I don't know where the factory sourced the four leaf springs fitted to the last of the 4 seaters five years ago.

Chassis have changed over the years too together with axles & shock absorbers; until 2000 4/4s & Plus 4s had much more ground clearance. If you want to change the rear springs do the ground work thoroughly.
Good Luck

Much earlier than yours, but I fitted the BCC 4 leaf (standard) replacing the old 7 leaf. Peter Ballard recommended BCC. Only done about 3000 since fitting earlier this year but the improvement is marked.

It's easy to speak too soon....
Having sorted the suspension (or so I thought) I wanted to have a go at my own tool tray. But wanted to know how much travel to allow for the rear axle...
After much measuring & re-measuring I concluded that the axle only had 55mm of vertical movement. Which is way too small by anyone's standard. This results from a sequence of events.

• When the springs were changed I also asked that the lowering blocks were removed
• But I also asked that the rebound rubbers (that sit on the chassis below the axle) were changed to the thin option (6mm instead of 25mm) to maintain clearance
• This meant that the axle had 19mm more vertical movement - which meant that the dampers were too short...
• Longer dampers were fitted to accommodate this
• But now I find that the long dampers have a minimum length of 240mm so 30mm of movement has been lost

so I've lost 30mm of movement. The factory fitted dampers are 210/298mm. I know that AVO 1183s are too short - 210/280mm and that AVO 1181s are too long - 240/325mm

Can anyone tell me the compressed/extended length of AVO 1260s?

Or the dimensions of any other suitable damper

Thanks

Suggest you have a chat to Tim Ayres at New Elms near Shaftesbury. They are suppliers of Rutherford Avos and have sorted different dimensions of said dampers.