Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Rear Suspension . 2006 +4

Felt it is about time for me to contribute, rather than just reading talkmorgan!
I bought my 2011 +4, 4 seater 5 years ago and it always sagged on the driver's side. This got progressively worse, eventually becoming unacceptable over the next couple of years. I didn't want to go to MMC for new springs as they would have supplied some standard replacement from whoever their cheapest supplier was at the time. I went to Peter Ballard of SSL with a carefully worded specification. In short it stated that the springs were to give a more compliant ride and that the car was to have equal ride heights across the rear!
The first couple of sets of springs SSL supplied (from Owens, if I remember correctly) didn't crack the problem, the car still sagged.
Peter came to my house and put the car on load cells which showed that with no persons on board it is about 60lbs heavier on the driver's side than the passenger side, If one looks carefully at the Duratec engine it is apparent that it is mounted very slightly over to the driver's side (RHS). In addition there is all the weight of the exhaust on that side as well.
THIS WHY PLUS 4 REAR ENDS SAG TO THE RIGHT.
So Peter had a special set of springs made for me that have the same rate but different starting cambers - the greater camber being for the driver's side.
I put these in about 3 years ago and the car is still level and doesn't drag its rear end over every speed hump, or matchstick for that matter and the ride is much improved.
I have to give SSL due credit they stuck with the problem until a resolution was found and I would thoroughly recommend them. Over this period I did become very adept at changing rear springs!

Dou J> this is a really interesting read. Is this the same SSL that provides the 5 link suspension? Also can you give me Peter's Surname so I can atlk to him.. I am particularly interested in the fact that you changed the rear leaf springs yourself. Do you have access to a full lift for the car. Also did you use and/or develop any special tools to allow you to compress the springs to get the springs mounted onto chassis. I would appreciate a chat with you if possible. I am away for a couple of weeks but on my return I would like to give you a call. If thats OK can you PM your telephone number.

regards
Ian

In all the years I have been fussing with rear springs I have never heard of this. Good for Peter Ballard for sorting this out.

Button

Ian,
I put the front wheels on ramps and jacked up the rear end 18" or so, which gave plenty of access.
I did make a leverage bar to force the front of the spring into the correct position to get the pivot bolt through. It was based on what I'd seen on TM but modified to suit my 4 seater.
By about spring no.4 I could do the whole job myself by standing on the bar and 'encouraging' the pin with gentle taps of a lump hammer. To fit the final high camber spring to the RHS I had to get someone else heavier than me to stand on the end of the lever.
There is not much space above the rear hangers in a four seater and the trickiest job by far was persuading the washers on either side to remain in place while the bolt was pushed through. The solution was highly technical - 12" of 5mm dowel with a strip of gaffer tape hanging down to hold the upper face of the washer.
I have lots more details and photos, which when I've worked out how to do it, will post on here.
Am away on holiday at present but will PM you when I've worked out how to do that!
Peter's surname is Ballard and yes it's SSL of 5 link fame.
Regards,
Doug

Good work. Well done

Your 17 stones is more than 10% of the cars weight so you can expect it to list. I would be very uncertain what would be the effect of putting stiffer string on the drivers side - it might level the car up on a flat road but the two sides would be behaving differently when you hit a bump. At the least it would flex the structure of the car.

Howard,
The whole point of the exercise was to avoid having a 'stiffer' spring because it would cause exactly the problems you describe.
So it is not a stiffer spring. It has the same spring rate as the LHS, but has a greater starting camber to counter act the extra weight on the RHS of the car. SSL went to some trouble to achieve this.
Doug

All, as Director of SSL, I have an interest. A few points to note in an order that is a bit random:-
1. SSL did supply a range of cambers of leaf springs to Douglas to get his car level to counter the offset mass, mostly at our cost but with great support and patience from Douglas. Glad we got there in the end. It is now indeed level.
2. The leaf springs SSL supply are from BCC BritishClassicCarParts https://britishclassiccarparts.com and are made by Owen Springs in Rotherham. BCC can retail as can SSL. Owens do not retail as they are the manufacturer.
3. I believe that Owens are the only manufacturer of Morgan leaf springs in UK, unless there is a very small other supplier.
4. I believe MMC buy in from the Indian SubContinent for cost reasons through a UK importer company.
5. SSL also design and get made special leaf springs, for example 30 car sets of race springs (stiffer and lower) for race Morgans available through Techniques.
6. Just changing the camber of a leaf spring only affects the ride height not the stiffness, so ride is not affected.
7. To check listing of the car to left or right, jack under the centre of the front lower cross tube to get the front wheels just off the ground. Rock the car to get it to settle. Then feel the gap between the axle and the rebound rubber that sits on the chassis below the axle. Gap should be same both sides (within say 5mm) and should be at least 10mm and max 30mm. Spring ideally should be flat unladen to give maximum lateral stiffness, so will go a little negative camber when laden.
8. The axisymmetric leaf springs were designed by Dan White (now joint SSL Director) and have the leaves biased towards the front to minimise wind up, then most compliance is rear of the axle.
9. Morgan leaf springs only fit one way round as the distance from the pin to the front eye is less than the distance to the rear eye.
10. SSL also sell the RS front suspension system for better ride and handling and the 5L five link rear as well as adjustable dampers, leaf springs, coil springs, Panhard rods etc etc.

I hope that this helps, as one Morgan enthusiast to many, that also designs and make parts for your cars. Peter J Ballard. Director of http://www.suspensionsupplies.co.uk/

Informative post, thank you

Peter,
Thanks for comprehensive response.
ian