Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Wheel shake

I say:

Vibration at a specific speed that goes away below or above that speed IS WHEEL BALANCE, plain and simple. Shimmy damper vibration can be induced at a range of speeds and does not go away with increased speed.

Sometime prior to 1973 Frank.
Only know that as I was discussing front end wobbles with a chap at Mallory a couple of years ago - his '73 suffered the same way as my '76.
But, exactly when they came in, I'm afraid not.

Cheers,

".....some mention must be made of that alarming phenomenon the dreaded Morgan wheel wobble ....The trouble is associate with the sliding pillar supension system"

This partial quote is from Colin Musgrove's book "Moggie".

"I once drove a Morgan where the Bronze plate had come adrift. At around 35mph there began a shake like the hinges of Hell had come loose. this is called the St Malverns dance, a bit more speed can eliminate the shake..."

This quote is from the legendary Cuthbert J Twillie.

Wheel balance may well be the issue. Or may be a contributing factor. But to say that it is "WHEEL BALANCE plain and simple" is a bit pedantic in the concept of the Morgan front end.

If the OP has indeed eliminated out of balance wheels, then investigation into different areas is required.

Brian

Thanks, Graham. I talked to my friend today who owns a late 1968 4/4 and he is quite sure that his car had them from new. So it seems that it started with the introduction of the 1600 engine, but probably (and as usual with MMC) not on all built cars.

Re wheel shake. I second what Brian writes.

Frank

How hard is quite hard?

Have the wheels actually been balanced by someone who knows how to balance wire wheels? May seem a silly question but I had persistent wheel shake and had the balance checked in UK and France by ordinary tyre companies, made no difference, thought of flat spots as the car had stood for several months unsupported. Spoke to Bob at BHM who checked the wheels and found that the balance was better with all the weights removed!! He then rebalanced the wheels and now no problem.
Just a thought from an amateur.

Andrew

Thanks for all the help and advice guys it is much appreciated. In terms of how hard it shakes, it does scare my 14 year old son a bit when we are out together! I think swapping front and rear wheels is a great start and see where we go from there. I know that the rears are ok as I had the car on a rolling road last week and there were no indications of shaking at all.
Will hopefully get a weekend on the spanners this weekend to sus things out.
Thanks again

Keep us informed Barry.

Cheers,

Eureka!
Swapping the front and rear wheels worked a treat, no shake at all now. There is also no noticable shake from the rear which puzzles me a bit.Is the front end more sensitive to tyre balance than the rear as you can feel it more via the steering wheel? I think i need to get my wheels refurbed/ balanced properly. Anybody got any good contacts in the north west of england who can carry this out?
thanks
Barry

If there's no shake from the rear and the fronts are OK personally I'd leave things how they are. Front wheels are always more sensitive to balance than rears - even more so on a Morgan.