Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Steering diagnosis please.

When I get the chance I'll have a good look at the dampers. I quickly expected them the other day visually, and could see grease on the top but not sure about the bottom.

Be careful when you waggle 'em to test for play, the edges can be very sharp

Well, I checked one of my damper blades this morning and there is a good 3 - 4mm play between the shims fore and aft. Any advice on adjusting the shims? Is it a case of loostening the bolts, closing the gap and retightening them?

Yes I believe that is right. I do not have these but attended Keiths workshop at Brands Hatch Morgan last Tuesday and watched him do exactly this, loosen the bolts and adjust until snug. The blades he showed were in various stages of wear, one set were visibly misshapen at the ends and he advised replacement - apparently inexpensive parts but labour will add to the cost. Keith also showed how to raise the bronze bush with a screwdriver to inject thick oil onto the top of the hub, lightly grease the blade where it moves in its sandwich.

See here GoMog damper blades
It is easy to do and makes a massive difference.

Cheers guys. Looks straight forward enough, and hopefully will see a big difference like you suggest.

Richard Thorne once serviced my +4. When I collected it they said there was a steering issue they couldn't trace. Indeed it was nearly undriveable at speed. When I got it home I found they damper blades were totally lose. Problem solved & I changed dealers for servicing.

Wow. I think you're right to steer clear. I have no issue in a straight line at speed, although I did get moved to the right when I went over a slightly raised part of the road which looked like a stretch of tar, with my left wheels.

Just a thought Leroy, assuming all your tyres are the same 'brand' is the wear pretty equal and most importantly, how old are they from the moulded date code ?

Yes, all the same brand, and even wear. They are about 10 years old though so could do with being replaced. I expected the ride comfort from them to be not as good as it could be, but could the age effect the steering? The rears are about 5 years old so I was going to wait till next year to replace all round.