Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Rear springs

My 2012 must have been one of the last to get the weak rear springs. We toured the Highlands before I really got it. The crashing from the rear with a full load was bone jarring.

Our Feb-14 registered car had them. Now changed to Mulfab 4 seater 4 leaf springs - as per your recommendation. I believe that the new incarnation of Mulfab no longer supplies these springs.

I was recommended the BCC springs. BCC Springs

I did ask Mulfab about the 4 leaf 4 seat springs, but I'd ordered, recieved and fitted the BCC before they replied to my email. They did still supply them.

Many thanks.

BCC look like the go-to people now.

Colin, many thanks for the detailed heads up. Sorry to read of the suspension issues you had to deal with. As I typed earlier I ever thought that "spring assisters" were an after-market solution used as a quick fix for springs that were past their best on old cars..? I think the brand name for assisters circa the sixties and seventies was Aeon..? I can see that once again the Morgan community has as ever come up with their own ideas on modifications to resolve issues that perhaps should not really exist..?

I can fully understand that there has been a sea change in the Morgan fraternity from avid home mechanics to those seeking little or no involvement with the dirty bits of their car, I can sympathise with that as the ageing process has robbed me of a degree of ..err...enthusiasm for rolling around the garage floor. I also understand that in more recent times expectations relative to vehicles in terms of ease of use, comfort and reliability have increased exponentially, thus many who may have come to own a trad in later years seem to feel the need to modify their Morgans to better suit those expectations, and in the case of trads, I suspect there may be a degree of frustration experienced trying to make it match even the basics available in a base level Ford ....?

T`would would seem the solution you found Colin may have perhaps have required no modification other than sourcing the correct grade and quality of leaf springs..? As the Meerkats say..Simples..?

At one time there were a handful of spring manufacturers and repairers in my area, you could drop off a set of old springs and they would run them through the blacksmiths shop and out the other end in a very few days... I do wonder if the majority of that type of work has like all else been off-shored...

Your spot on buddy, Aeon rubbers, we fitted them to many leaf spring cars that were used to pull caravans and trailers, horse boxes etc. They made a big difference with their mainly conical shape giving a degree of progressive assistance. I emailed Roger with a comment about them when I bought a pair of his “Thingies” suggesting they were Spring Assisters.

You have stirred the grey matter and I also recall fitting extra leaves to Marina rear springs that clamped under the rear leaves to stiffen them up somewhat, they also worked for trailer work. We also fitted them to Marina 1.8TC’s where there were complaints from customers about spring wind up. Made no difference whatsoever to the spring wind up 🤣.

Happy days in a BL Main Dealer workshop ;-).

BR
Colin

Ours had huge problems too. First I had 5 leaf springs fitted but the handling was rubish. It was mainly what led me to be an early adopter of the 5 link system.

Colin, many thanks for the update, I had forgotten that spring assisters were used to help out vehicles with up to spec rear springs when used for towing heavy loads... Duh !

Seems a pity Aeons were not a simple fix for the Morgan spring foible, in that on a Trad the axle rides above the chassis, whereas in "normal" situations the axle rides below the chassis and the Aeon could easily be fixed to the chassis above the axle to assist the springs and act as a bump stop if and when needed... As I typed previously the TR2 of 1955 vintage had a hoop mounted to it`s chassis acting as a bump stop given it`s axle also was mounted above the chassis, no doubt manufacturing a straight chassis long-member was easier and less expensive than bending it in a bridge like shape to bend it over the axle..?

Beamed up Aeon, seems they still exist, though perhaps they are now moulded from chineseium these days as the company name has been sold to who knows where..!

https://hallite.com/global/digital_collateral/product_brochures/hallite_aeon_rubber_springs.pdf

Peter, I would not determine my old +8`s handling as rubbish perhaps it has more of a "vintage ride" quality about it..but that is exactly the more involved motoring experience I was in search of when I bought my Morgan circa 2002.

Perhaps also worth considering is that most race cars seem to have little or no suspension travel, which may be why Morgans can hold their own and better on the track on occasion...? I suspect any race car suspension on the pot holed roads of today would be hard pressed to provide comfortable transport for folks of mature years, such as I... That perhaps being the case I can well see that maturing Morganeers are drawn to purveyors of suspension modifications promising a somewhat less jarring ride if they have a somewhat sagging rear end...(-: Though it seems there still some old style Morganeers happy to consider the issue, get the spanners out and have a go at redesigning the suspension to fit their work around.. It was ever thus..

I used Aeons on my BGT for when we were fully loaded. The kit came with aluminium towers, which I still have, unused. The spring assisters were twice the length of original bump stops, with two narrow sections to allow compression.

Before that I played around with Zephyr/Zodiac Mk4 rear bump stops which cost nothing at the scrap yard.

Before that I tried a set of "Auto Ball-ans", which comprised two inflatable rubber balls which were attached to the top of the rear of leaf springs and pressed on the chassis rails.

Guilty as charged Colin and others have also pointed this out to me. I think the name ‘bump stops’ was originally adopted from my first attempt that used those little original hard 1960’s BMC Mini bump stops. They served me well for several years but my MK2’s use bigger more compliant stops with a much better elastomer that hopefully offers a degree of progressive assist as you point out.

A typical trad might have around 55mm of rear bump travel and these are normally set around 35mm above the top of the springs.


But I do much prefer the name thingies or even contraptions