Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Steering damper - experience

Thought I would share my experience putting on steering damper (SD). I had a moderate vibration at aprox. 80 km/h, thought to be the infamous St. Malverns dance.I got the wheels balanced which improved the matter to some degree, but it was still there. Next step was putting on a SD. Quite fiddly as my car has overriders with thick metal brackets, but got it done thanks to DaveW's instructions - even without taking the bracket off. However, I was disappointed with the result - the vibration was still there, although once again a little better. So I got the wheels balanced once again. It turned out they were quite off balance, either because the workshop I used last time did a bad job or because the wheels had become of balance with time. Anyway, now they got way better, with the vibration almost gone. And now the SD came to it's right, although different to what I had expected. Due to the excessive feedback from an uneven road and also bump steer I had aquired the habit of clenching the steering wheel with both hands, not driving very relaxed. This liveliness of the steering wheel now disappeared, and little by little I learned to trust the steering, loosing my grip, lowering my shoulders and just let my hands rest relaxed on the wheel. It took some weeks though, untill I got used to the new-gained stability and permitted myself to let go. The steering is not heavier, and the self-righting is unchanged. Two close friends have done the same ting. One is a +8 with rack-and pinion, he reports the same result. The other is a 4/4 with steering box/Pitman arm, and he really is exited - seems like a SD has more effect with a steering box. Recommended!

That’s interesting Robbie and something that I have been pondering. I don’t have the dance but have just moved from a non-roller bearing damper blade car to a car with roller bearings (and SSL kit). Don’t get me wrong I do like some steering wheel feedback but one of my first impressions whilst driving the car was the increased feedback and how lively the steering wheel was on bad road surfaces.

Which SD did you install?

Thanks for interesting report Robbie. Although facts cannot be denied I'm still sceptical of the need and use of steering dampers. Off road vehicles including my Land Rover have them for obvious reasons but for road only use I cannot help but imagine they just hide a steering problem, not fix it at source.

You didn't mention in your search for improved steering comfort if you had camber, toe in and maybe castor checked. None should have induced wheel vibrations but may have accounted for tyre wear between the wheel balance sessions.

Modern Classic Morgans don't generally seem to need them, nor do they suffer from bump steer given the long track rods, so I have to wonder at the ones that do benefit from the fitting of steering dampers

Looking at the age of Robbie's Roadster he may have the earlier stub axle / susp geometry which I had on my '04 - I spent years tweaking & trying things like SD, but the feedback & twitch were always there in the background

Glad you have found some improvement Robbie

DW may be along to comment as his S1 did have the stub axles changed early in it's life, due to this issue

Actually I do have the early suspension geometry Cooperman is referring to. So I do not know what difference I would have noticed if I had the later version. I have not checked castor/ camber/toe in, but there are no signs of irregular tyre wear. And as I mentioned, the 80km/h vibrtaion was 95% resolved by a good balance job. I think DaveW fitted a damper not long ago, so changing the stub axels possibly did not lead to full satisfaction? Would be interesting to hear his viewpoints. My damper is the one delivered by MulFab. As for my two fellow Morganeers, I just quote them being very happy. I also enjoy feedback from the road, but it can be too much. As a cruising man who wants relaxed driving, I am now quite content with the result.

All I can say is my 06 roadster is far better than my 97 +4 or my 94 4/4 in terms of handling.

I recently installed a SD. This one came from Australia. As I had no damper at all and thrust bearings under the main spring it helped a lot to get the steering to settle down.

Our series 1 flat rad 1947 car had terrible handing and we found the car had toe out...this is mainly used for race cars to give flighty handling...adjusted to toe in and the cars a dream to handle ....