Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Re-adjusting SSL front suspension

Personally, I would drop Peter Ballard an email. We communicated on an almost daily basis while sorting out my rear end, and he can offer excellent advice and support.

design@suspensionsupplies.co.uk

When my +4 was converted It started to do that after a while. The set up guide then I seem to remember suggested resetting as described above.

Thank you TBM. I have contacted Peter Ballard this morning and have received very helpful advice.

Excellent - I certainly owe him a few pints for the help and advice he gave me. Helped to seperate the 'wheat from the chaff' when it came to online advice

With my +8 , I find that I am having to make small adjustments to the front ride height quite often.

There is a lot more "stiction" in the system with the wide tyres (205/60 x 15) of the +8, and sometimes it appears quite difficult to hit the "sweet spot"

Once achieved it is then a case of just keeping a watchful eye on it. Sometimes the ride height appears to lower (rebound spring tight) and at others it goes the other way (rebound spring too loose)

Rather than dropping the car off the jack I generally give the steering a few lock to lock turns with the tyres fully loaded, that seems to give the most consistent results.

When it is perfect the result is really very pleasing , no (or very minimal) roll , nice ride (for a trad Morgan) , and a nice "tight feel" to the turn in. Over time one of these factors goes just "off" a little, so then it is time get out the spanners and make a few adjustments. No big deal , and it is worth it to me for the improvement I can detect when it is perfect.

It's been a while but I've been too busy out on the road over the Summer. In the end I realised that I'd gone beyond the point of really knowing what I was doing.

However, while messing around I had noticed that the SSL kit has a long spacer (~20mm) below the stub axle. Going back to Peter B's notes these say that this can be mounted below or above the stub axle to adjust the ride height. Now a beef I'd had since I bought my 4/4 was the frequent contact with speed bumps - on one occasion even a rock in the road.
So I returned to Berrybrook and asked them to re-arrange the spacer to increase the ground clearance and while they were at it to kindly re-adjust the suspension which had somehow gone wrong

The results are amazing. The suspension behaves as expected (not surprisingly) but speed bumps - what are they for? I put my foot down and still no crunch of metal on tarmac. A bit of a bounce, certainly, but that's the grin factor

Great news Jack.

This is partly why I did the original post because the SSL can initially go out of adjustment and it can make a big difference to the handling when it is set up correctly.

Many people who have had the SSL fitted by a dealer may not consider the re-adjustment or the fact that the ride height can be altered to suit the driving style and conditions.

I would hope that the fitting dealer would fully explain the system and offer to re-adjust after say 500 - 1000 miles especially if new king pins were fitted at the same time.

I set up my 4/4 to give the higher ride height as I enjoy going a bit off A roads and Motorways and some of my B and unclassified roads can be a bit variable to say the least.

As cars have become more and more 'technical' I've found that traditional mechanics and engineers have been replaced by 'fitters'. Perfectly able to replace parts, and bolt things on and off, but often lacking the skills required to fix/repair broken things, or to do the correct technical set up.

I know there are several examples of brilliant engineers within the Morgan world, but perhaps not at every dealership.

The 20mm spacer seems an anomaly and dare I suggest provided to offer a one size fits all aspect to the the SSL RS kit. The instructions suggest its location above or below stub axle are chosen to best suit the OE ride height. The main spring pre-load initial setting table then lists above or below spacer location for all models from 4/4 Sport and Kent engines to +8, so clearly its acceptable fitted either side of axle. I did wonder for lighter models if it could be left out altogether with the slack taken up by main spring pre-load collar to acheive zero static rebound spring pre-load whilst allowing higher ride height. One for Peter B maybe?

My GDI +4 has the SSL front suspension and sits very low at the front with the spacer below the stub axel. I have been in contact with Dan White, of SSL, about raising the front by 10mm. He said "So, if you reduce the spacer by say 10mm you must add 10mm above the rate riser. Or of course go the whole 20mm and put the spacer above the rate riser. See the instruction"
Edit: If you miss the spacer out it will change the relationship of the rate riser spring to the main spring, I think? Edit again:No, sorry it's the rate riser spring to the stub axel.

I shall put this on my winter job list.
Cheers
John