Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Charles Morgan and Sliding Pillar

I second that

Quite right Heinz

A low risk way for MMC to test the water is to offer a modern front end like the Librands set up at the same price as the standard suspension and see what the take- up is like. Once they have run both systems along side for a year or two they could then pull the plug on the loser. My money would be on the standard set up, mainly because the biggest seller is the +4 and the owners are probably the most conservative customers.

I would agree with Easter, but I doubt they would do it at the same price. Fitting an independant front end to the current chassis, which we all know can twist doesn't make much sense without attention to the chassis and the rear suspension.

I bet that MMC have considered tooling up a new aluminium box section tub for the trad. That, with independant front & rear suspension would be a giant leap forward, but at the risk of lighting the fire again....... it wouldn't be a proper 'Trad', it would be a modern take on a Trad, and it would open up a new market. I wonder if the Life Car tub has development potential in that direction, because it's the 'right size'.

I went to the Donington Club Lotus event in August and was able to inspect two bare Elise aluminium tubs. They are very impressive. Lotus Engineering were the pioneers in this technology, and if you are interested in this technology, the history books of the Elise make very interesting reading. Without that innovative approach, the Aero would not have appeared when it did.

As one who has just ordered a new Plus 4 with a heap of options I could find such a car very interesting.

Another point is that Morgan can not ship trad bodied cars to the states because, I am told, they do no pass the rear collision test. Such a development may give the American market a trad bodied car.

As I have said before such a car would be a new type, but a Morgan is always a Morgan.

Aluminium tubs on a trad don't float my boat, I love the way you set a a trad up for a fast corner then feel the chassis flex and make the adjustment. Addictive!

With an aluminium tub on your trad, your boat might float rather well ...

Call me pedantic Dave - but we've already got an independent front end, haven't we - strictly speaking? I'm no expert, but I think it's the lack of compliance of the existing setup which is the issue (and possibly the limited amount of wheel travel), wouldn't you say? Maybe it's the combination of a stiff, non-independent rear suspension, a rigid frame, and an independent front (albeit of limited articulation) that causes the chassis flex of which you speak?

To be honest - this being my first experience of Morgan ownership - I've been more than pleasantly surprised by how well the Roadster suspension works on good roads, and by just how involving the driving/handling experience is. But I've also been caught out by just how unsettled it can get on some surfaces. No wonder my horn push repeatedly fell out on my first drive up to Dartmoor!

Maybe the new rising-rate (is that right?) springs will make a difference. It'll sure be a lot cheaper than a newly-engineered ally tub with unequal wishbones and all the rest of it - not to mention re-designed wings to accomodate all that extra travel!

Good point on the wings.

Nick, next time you are lubing the suspension, before you lift the car (assuming you do), just check whether the rebound spring is free to rotate. If it and the main are hard against the stub axle, then the suspension will feel very hard on initial bump, until one spring is free.

Cheers,