Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Front suspension

Gary,
Yes it is crude but it works. It did stop most of the "crashing" when hitting pot holes etc. The cut end of the springs were "open & ground" as the spring makers call it. See here http://springipedia.com/compression-end-types.asp

The main springs I measured at 129lb/in. The rebound at 389lb/in before I cut approx .75in off them.

I have not got my Mog now, just too many cars. But if ever I got another I would not bother with modifying the as built suspension, I would ring SSL and just pay up.
It just depends on your circumstances and whether you plan to keep the car or not.
Cheers
John

Something that never comes up in these discussions is the possibility of fitting a different main spring in the SSL kit. I had some discussions with Peter Ballard in the early days on this topic. He assured me that if someone wanted a higher rate on the front compression (main) spring it would be possible to fit the lowest rate spring from the race kit SSL front suspension. It occurs to me that this may be the solution for the heavier Plus 8 front end. It would be important to note that the use of a higher spring rate may require different settings on the dampers to maintain the correct damping of compression and rebound.

I am very happy with the front end on my car and I opted for the non-adjustable Bilsteins. For the rear I have fitted a spring with a slightly higher rate because of our heavy touring loads. It has reduced the ride comfort slightly but the variation to the standard springs is almost imperceptable. I have adjustable Quantum dampers and I can get it a bit better if I spend a little time finding the correct damping for these springs.

I would recommend a call to Peter Ballard to discuss your needs. Not only is he the expert on this suspension he is also very willing and helpful to discuss suspension topics with anyone who shows a sincere interest.

Given the one size fits all nature of the SSL RS kit, I too was concerned by the amount of pre-load needed for the heavier cars. From their own fitting instructions the initial setting for pre-load on main spring, to obtain zero load on rebound spring, is zero for a 4/4 with Kent engine up to 50mm for a plus 8!

That means the main compression spring is in effect 50mm shorter than OE at static ride height on a plus 8.

OK, I think I have a plan.

I've been offered some AVO shocks at a very reasonable price so step 1 will be to try them (I don't expect much improvement with just doing this)

Step 2 will be to cut the rebound springs and at the same time inspect the king pins for wear replacing if necessary. (now I expect to feel an improvement)

Step 3 will be to replace the king pins and bushes (if the result here is still unsatisfactory then onto step 4)

Step 4 will be to fit the SSL kit. I'm a tad concerned about the efficacy of the SSL kit with the plus 8.

Does this seem reasonable or fundamentally flawed?

thanks for your input chaps

Gary

I drove 2,500 miles on varied road on the SSL on 3 of My Morgans. '61 DHC, '63 +4-4STR and My +8 Bitsa. Actually the +8 Bitsa is the lightest Morgan of the 3. I ended up with the Suplex Kit on the DHC and I like it. I preferred the Blue Springs, cut rebounds, AVO shocks on My +8 Bitsa. The way I fitted the rebounds was to assemble the front end without the rebounds and measure the gap. Need a level floor for this and bounce the car a few times to insure it is at static. Cut the rebounds to that measurement and reassemble. I used a Makita Cutoff Tool and cut on a angle and placed the cut foot down.

That being said, My '63 =4-4STR +4 the best handling most compliant of any of My Morgans. Stock springs, Ritherford Modification on rear springs, Koni's on all 4 corners. 1 1/2 loops cut from rebound spring. 72 spoke wires, KUHMO tires at 24 PSI.

BTW: Last Year I drove My +8 Bitsa to Sun Valley, Idaho. 650 miles on old Koni front shocks. 120 of these miles quite rough. In Sun Valley I ordered AVO's from Morgan Spares. I installed them and drove back to Seattle on the same route. Softest setting. I noticed a very definite improvement in the ride and handling. Might of been the Koni's were knackered, they were very old and from another Morgan that I had purchased.

Button,

first class info, thanks

Have you read this Gary

Rebound Springs



And this

Shock Absorbers

Hi Gary.

On my previous Trad, a 1999 +4, I fitted Pete Mulberry’s steering bearings and the recommended 140lb springs, and adjustable AVO’s, along with hard chrome kingpins and new bushes, which improved the ride and steering considerably, but I still felt the front end of the car was far too firm.

After reading the suggestion of shortening the rebound springs I thought well, if my efforts don’t work and it does all go a bit tits-up then I can just buy new ones and everything will be fine again. So with this option as a back-up, I confidently set to work with the angle grinder and took 20mm off each rebound spring.

Not only did it considerably soften the ride and made the steering even easier, but it also gave me an extra 20mm of welcome ground clearance. I’m no racer, and no doubt some spirited driving on a track may come up with some shortfalls of this mod, but for everyday motoring the improvements were considerable. A softer ride, a more ‘settled’ feel on the road, and lighter and more feel to the steering. All for a few hours work and, most importantly, zero cost, too.

There’s a film showing the front suspension in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjh89U3qTN4

In the film the rebound spring does seem to spend a lot of the time not touching the hub at all, and even when static there seems to be minimal compression of the spring. I know that on my +4 the rebound spring was under considerable compression when static, (so much so that it wasn’t possible to turn the spring by hand at all) which led me to believe that things could be improved by reducing its length so allowing the main spring to expand and lose some of its pre-loading, and also reducing the pressure on the steering bearing.

I didn’t want to be too drastic in my actions, so I settled on taking 20mm off the springs with careful use of an angle grinder. With a bit of work I was able to get a pretty good level finish to the cut, and with the spring exerting considerably less force than before I was reasonably confident that no damage would be caused to its mating surface.
The rebound springs could then be turned by hand when static (but only just), so I’m happy that the 20mm taken off is about right. My thoughts are that any more taken off would have left the hub ‘floating’, and any less probably wouldn’t have made that much difference.

Theory is all well and good, but I like to try the practical approach. If it works – fine. If it doesn’t - OK, let’s try something else. For me, this relatively simple (and free!) modification softened the ride, gave increased suspension travel, lightened and improved the feel of the steering, and increased the ground clearance by 20mm. The car still handled very well, and personally I couldn’t really notice any difference in body roll, but that maybe something to do with my driving style. If I was to try hurtling around a track sometime, then maybe I’d think differently. All I can say is that it improved things no-end as far as I’m concerned
So if anyone’s contemplating forking out loads of money on trying to improve the ride quality (and ground clearance) of their Trad, I reckon they could do worse than give this free option a try first.

I've since moved on to a Roadster that came fitted with the Suplex adjustable front suspension, but I feel the ride in my old +4 was as good as, if not better than my current Roadster. However, this may be down to the Roadster still being comparatively new with only 8000 miles on it, so only time will tell, I suppose.

Great post Sid!