The truth is the rear springs Morgan fitted to Monty when they made the car were an absolute joke, they had gone soft in under 10,000 miles so clearly weren't tempered correctly, if at all!
Yes. I understand your frustration. I had to toss or install 4 different sets* of Morgan leaf springs from 2005 to 2007 on my UK +8.
Yet my 2002 +8 in Canada, fit with the older traditional 5 leafs, has resisted time and mileage and dropped only 6 mm at the rear in 21 years. *one original (1990) set of VERY poorly cared for MMC original 5 leafs, rusted solid and cracked, then two new set of Morgan 4 leafs purchased sourced from the MMC, and finally one set of Morgan 4-leafs, made by the new (then) 4 leaf manufacturer, but not obtained through the MMC. (shh!) The last set has lasted to this date. There are reasons for your and my experience, but this is not the place to voice them
I also strongly suspect the wrong steel used
Correct. BTW,
do you have the all-important spring rate of your current springs?I wouldn't worry about the effects of lowering blocks until you've replaced Morgan's comedy leaf springs
Quite right. No point dealing with that when the springs are iffy anyway. But why would you not simply use anti-tramp bars with decent leaf springs
as has been done since tramp began? AH. I might have just answered that question. You were looking for new leaf springs anyway AND you had a tramp issue.
A leaf spring is also a trailing arm, if you want to improve axle location and limit twist you simply need to make the spring heavier, the issue with this is the heavier you make the leaf the harsher the ride becomes. However, a good compromise can be found if create a hybrid leaf,
But I am curious, why compromise? Anti-tramp bars have been used on powerful Morgans forever. AH! I just saw the light. You had to find new leaf springs anyway and these 2-task in one leaf springs cut costs?
Such hybrid leaf springs are nothing new, they're certainly not an innovation from BCC or even Owen Springs in Sheffield who are the producer, they've been around for decades. However, they are reasonably new in the Morgan world, my understanding is William's Morgan commissioned the first set to circumvent the race regulations that precluded the use of anti-tramp bars.
As I wrote earlier, aside from the Rob Wells evil add-on I mentioned, I have never run across springs made for a Morgans to eliminate tramp.. However, as mentioned, the old 7 leafs eliminated tramp on any trad, at a sacrifice of a suspension.
I can confirm the BCC/Owen Springs anti-tramp springs perform brilliantly, as the name promises I'm experiencing zero tramp in 200hp +
I am pleased for you! But as I said, I have a much lighter Morgan with 300+ and no tramp as well. My 5-leafers (new in 2002) were replaced by the stiffer 6 leaves in 1986 as stock.
I think that was a mistake. The core of your saga is not the leafs you ended up with. The tramp could have been handled traditionally. Always worked, though before Mulberry, they could work brutally.
in my long experience nobody builds a better damper than Bilstein unless you want to start spending a king's ransom on Ohlins kit.
I will try a set...compare them back to back with my Rutherfords. SAdly, I won't be seeing my mog until the next northern hemisphere summer.
All this talk of the negative impacts of lowering blocks really needs to be put in perspective against the dreadful quality springs Morgan used and the super budget dampers they fitted too
You are right. Morgans are not a one-part car and everything interacts. But my opinion is generic. The prejudice they cause is not restricted to Morgans.
Morgan has been using ...er....less-than-proper parts for many years, but this accelerated after the change in management in the early 2000s. That being said, Peter Morgan was right, it is "up to owner to finish the car" and he had a very small, very hands-on buyer's group.
I'm not a fan of rigid anti-tramp bars as they have the potential to introduce harshness.
Agreed, I tried standard anti-tramp bars from two Morgan racing preparers. Unpleasant. It was Peter who convinced me to try his. Sadly, the MMC tried to copy his to cure their early Roadster tramp but used much too hard inserts, causing the same unpleasantness, to the point where the anti-tramp bars would shear at the saddle plate or their front end.
To wind all the way out was highly unlikely but it did happen, Bilstein really should have at least used a thread locking compound on assembly to stop the rod rotation, something I was able to correct when I simply screwed the top mount back in to reassemble the damper. Upon refitting the top bolt I was super pleased to note the significant resistance in the Bilstein damper, this in contrast to the AVO dampers that were on the car when I took ownership of Monty in the summer of last year. These AVOs were completely blown with literally zero resistance, they were damper by name only and pure decoration, in defense of AVO I doubt even a set of quality Bilsteins would have lived long trying to tame those awful original leaf springs..
The problem with "AVOs" is that their are three types. Rutherford AVOs, sold through his small network, the former Motosport AVOs sold by Chas, and AVO sold by AVOs, all with different dampening rates. I only recommend the Rutherfords as I have had sad stories told to me of the competition, similar to the ones you have of the AVOs you know and the set of Bilsteins you experienced. Bilstein apparently uses a KONI-type adjustmentu.
AVO would still do well to move on from their dreadful bubblegum bushes. These Cheesium bushes are nowhere near as durable as the proper suspension grade rubber bushes used by Bilstein, the Bilsteins also came with infinitely superior bumpstops that are essential to save the damper internals and ensure a long operating life.
I shall contact David, haven't spoken to him in ages, and ask for more information. I have never had a problem with my AVO bushes.
My old SPAX bushes (15 years ago) were horrid. l.
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