Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Plus Six Ground Clearance

In the recall thread NZPlusSix noted that his, and other Plus Sixes in New Zealand, have dropped a few cm on their springs since new. Sounds familiar.
My Plus Six used to crest the entrance of my garage with ease, but now scratches the muffler every time. TBH I thought it was my fault - having gained a few pounds in the last couple of years you see...

I'd be very interested to hear if the same issue is affecting other Plus Six owners as well. I've just checked my car - only 7cm under the silencer, which I suspect is an MOT failure.

Anybody else?

I would talk to your dealer ref a warranty claim. It sounds like the rear springs are compressing with age. I discovered yesterday that this is a known issue on some Plus 6 vehicles after a year of use. I am not aware Morgan have broadcast this . This is all starting to feel familiar ref the leaf spring saga the Trad models experienced.

Its a fail in most jurisdictions.....

Interesting to hear that other Plus Six owners are experiencing the same problem of loss of ride height. At first we thought that the only worry was scrapping the muffler and the engine sump however when we sought a solution we were told (I repeat from another thread);

"One issue with the PlusSix, is that the springs, which are good quality, are made to competition principles.
By that I would consider the designs to be inadequately durable for road car use. Put simply they will collapse in service over time."

This could well be more serious than the present potential brake failure as having the suspension collapse when travelling at speed could be a real disaster!

In New Zealand we use our cars mainly for touring with cases on the luggage carrier (blame our wives for the load!) so we, four Plus Six owners, have decided to fit replacement SSL coil over damper units all round. These units are to have adjustable spring platforms so that should we loose ride height again then they can be adjusted back to give the original factory 135mm front and 155mm rear clearances.

I have contacted my UK dealer who passed our concern on to John Bower at MMC, but have not had a response from him. So we have pushed on and order replacement kits from SSL and they should be shipped in a couple of weeks.

It would be interesting to know as to how many Plus Sixes are affected by this problem and what their owners have done.

I am very reluctant to say anything about this. But now comes the but. I thought I was surprised at first, but I must say I am shocked. With the traditional Morgan, I have always had a certain empathy when the rear leaf springs were too soft or when they sagged after far too few years. I always thought, ok, there are too few manufacturers of good leaf springs. It's an exotic component these days. We kind of help ourselves along. We have quite excellent third party suppliers like it was Peter Mulberry. We are helping ourselves.
But, stupid, unspectacular, ordinary and unexciting coil springs to be had from 30 manufacturers... I don't understand that! Every boring Ford Fiesta and also every better sports car from mass production have stable enough coil springs installed that last at least 20 years when they are in their working range. I'm sorry to say that Morgan is elevating an immature development phase to a sales series here, or that they are saving money in the wrong places in an absolutely unintelligent way. Maybe this sounds very harsh, maybe I am completely wrong and in that case I apologize for this post. Just...I can't comprehend it. And that owners (have to) install a different chassis at their own expense after a short time is embarrassing and a calculated masochism. Does Morgan really want to test how far they can provoke the customers? They are not 30K cars but in some countries, as Plus Six, 130 K cars.
Please correct me if I have missed the point and if I am completely wrong. I am only! about the springs.

Didn't they want to favor comfort despite the thin tires at the risk of mounting springs that were too weak?

Heinz, I think you will find there is much more to come on this issue beside the radiator and brake problems....

Must admit that having just had to renew all the springs on my 2011 4/4. The arguments with her indoors have been very difficult. As she says my previous MGB was 30 years old & still on its original springs. Something wrong in the way Morgan approach their suppliers. I entirely agree with Heinz on this. If Morgan disappear well I would not be surprised, you can not treat good customers to inferior products for a superior price & expect to remain in business .

I am a recent owner of a Trad’ 4/4. I am a professional aerospace engineer by background. At first I wasn’t so sure but have now bonded with my car. Ownership and a Factory Tour have left me with an impression of the Factory. I have the impression that they are very fine coach builders but are weak on the automotive, quality, and production engineering side. They are either lacking in engineering skills over all, or those they have are over stretched. On the Tour, looking at the CX cars (and there were very many in build, stacked everywhere) I suspect they have used some external agents to help with design and development which is unsurprising for a small firm trying to make a big step forward on many fronts in one go. But that in itself requires in house expertise to manage the suppliers and product and make sure it all integrates properly. I hope they get through what I suspect is a saga that will run on a bit longer yet.

This saga reminds me on the Jensen Healey, Jensen rushed the car into production, the result was an underdeveloped car with so many problems they released a MK2 version just 18 months later, but it was to late the damage to Jensen's reputation was done and although the MK2 Healey was a decent enough car the company folded just 2 years or so later.