Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Hands free driving

I had the interesting experience yesterday of having the steering wheel in both hands but no longer attached to the steering column.
Fortunately the road was clear, dry and flat and the 5 speeder stayed in a straight line under hard braking. I think I had just got into 3rd gear so would have been doing 30+ mph.
The quick release fitting came off once before but this was at low speed and I thought, being new to the car, that I might not have put it on properly. Ever since I have careful to tug the wheel to make sure it is secure. I do find that it takes several attempts before it won't come off. Has any one else experienced this?

If you check the Three Wheeler section you will find this has happened to some other owners. Here

Has anyone established whether the problem is the hub or the column? i am beginning to think myself fortunate to have a Superspoke hub - but maybe not?

I asked the question in another thread....older cars like ours seem to have a Lifeline 14 spline quick release hub that is widely used in motorsport and pretty well impossible to put on in the wrong orientation because of a double width spline (you still need to make sure the lock is fully engaged though). I am getting the impression this may have been changed on more recent cars with a column having many more narrower splines that it is possible to fit the wheel in an incorrect orientation. Parts makers Traven and Supersoke have been mentioned. Is this the case and if so, it would seem that these hubs/ columns need special care in use.

I have a 2019 car fitted with a Traven 20 ish spline but not counted properly yet.
It does have a double spline and will only go on fully and lock when this is properly clocked.
However on my car it will go on in other orientations, not fully to lock, but enough for it to be hard to pull off, this could be mistaken for being locked on and could be driven like this only for the steering wheel to come off and cause an accident.
I think this is unacceptable, the wheel should only go on when properly clocked.
Will get my local dealer to have a look at it when I get a chance.

This is what the 2019 M3W spline system looks like. It is clear that it can only fully engage one way.

Yes it will only fully engage in one position but looking at your excellent picture the double spline on the male part looks to be concave
and could slide over a single spline partway which is what it can do on mine.

It could be forced on out of rotation but it would take a lot of force. I tried to put in on out of rotation and could not slide the wheel on comfortably. The depth of that fat and the groove in the spline is off just enough to make life miserable for the user.

I suppose there are better systems on the market but you would have to change the steering column to change the quick disconnect.

agreed that it would take a lot of force to make it go on out of rotation

My 2/19 production M3W has the Traven hub. Mine had issues. It would go on in the wrong position very easily but so tightly you'd need a puller to get it off. The dealer took care of it under a warranty claim. It is the same part, but they got rid of some burrs and tightness to make it work properly. Now it is incredibly reliable and I am happy.