Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 M3W Chassis crack

MOG42, you had the revised chassis with the stronger gussets at the major stress points. The earlier chassis, even with the K brace added were not up to taking the stresses created just by starting the engine. It goes from zero to 100ft/lbs of torque almost in an instant and tries to leave the building. When my chassis finally gave it up there was only one corner of the mounts left. The other three had sheered. The new chassis is far better welded on the front end. I fully expect the newer one to outlast everything else. Morgan has paid the price for a steep learning curve which also has meant very expensive warranty repairs. The chassis, even years later with the earlier ones, is getting fixed on their dime. This car has not been the money maker they envisioned. It some rather extensive long-term costs with it. I'm still grousing over the so-called "comfort kit" for the steering that I paid for which was a recall worthy item that Morgan should have owned up to.

Agree…the early chassis design creates stresses that initiated cracking…the bolt-in brace seems to slow down but not eliminate propagation. Withe cessation of production, I would be wary of buying an early one where the chassis has not been replaced…until we get a Phil B like guru who will create enticing chassis mods/ upgrades perhaps include ding built in geometry improvements ….

Given the number of failures, I'm surprised that Morgan haven't been obliged to change all of the early chassis as a recall.

They're clearly hoping that when sufficient time has passed any future claims will be difficult to uphold. Given that many cars cover limited mileage they'll probably get away with it and a subsequent owner will be stuck with a massive problem.

I'd be surprised if Morgan continue to supply chassis once the car is out of production.

I wouldn't consider buying an earlier car unless it had a new chassis.

So the follow up. an "Aftersale Manager" contacted me via email advising me to contact my local dealer with questions about possible chassis failure, and to keep them advised if a crack does develop. I find the attitude "forget about buying a pre-2014" or "too bad for you for buying a pre-2014" an unacceptable position for the manufacturer or enthusiast. It's a question of road safety due to a recognized flaw in design. I will let everyone know what the dealer says.

All it needs is a group of affected owners to carefully collate the evidence and present it to the various motoring authorities in the UK. Europe and the US
Good luck with this....

Oz, yes that is a plan. Back to my original question, do we know how many pre-14s are affected?

MMC would be the only source for such information & I doubt they will tell. An individual dealer might be able to tell you what proportion of the cars they service/sell had a new chassis. I can confirm that a bolt in brace will not stop the chassis cracking.

1027. That is the number of cars in the only M3W recall that is listed, that being for the early "M3W" laser cut brake pedal box. Morgan were supposed to also check all the early chassis for cracks in the two known locations at the same time, although no mention was made in the recall of this for some reason. I assume that as the number of cars with the faulty brake pedal is much lower than this figure the 1027 relates to the number of pre 2014 spec chassis cars made, many of which have had replacements already.

With the recent increases in M3W values, many early and unmodified or checked cars are coming out of storage with very low mileages and being sold as, "low mileage bargains", that is far from true for many and potential buyers would be advised to check closely what they are looking at. This helps but most new buyers seem to look at it after purchasing for some reason? https://www.mtwc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Final-150.pdf A well maintained and modified early car can be a good buy, most of these have higher mileages as they wouldn't have achieved this without the early problems being fixed.

You need to present the evidence so it is the motoring authorities that start asking the questions.
Crack one jurisdiction and you will get them all......

I suspect there is an increasing appetite to get this matter resolved one and for all.....