Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) Front suspension upgrade

Great writeup Sewin, encapsulated everything and put it into context the whole suspension debate. Comes back to my apple and pears analogy comparing tired suspension with rebuilt suspension outcomes and further the role of compliant tyre sidewalls as part of the suspension setup.

My two-penneth.

On my old car I gradually improved the front end until it became bearable. New tyres made a big difference and I did that first because the old ones were 15 years old. Then king pins which improved the feel and accuracy but did nothing for the ride, I fitted ptfe ‘bearings’ at the same time and that made the steering lighter. Finally I played with dampers, standard were rubbish, spax too stiff but AVOs were better than anything. Biggest difference came from fitting brake reaction bars with massively improved the steering and turn in, ironically for the lowest cost. I bought and intended to fit different front springs suitable for needle/roller bearings but didn’t get round to fitting them before I traded the car for a newer one. On the current car the front suspension has ‘softer’ springs and Koni (I think) dampers and is far more compliant the the old car could ever have been. The steering is much much lighter too thanks to the fitted bearings. I intend to fit brake reaction bars but make no other changes. I’ll have to sell the springs/bearings I didn’t use as I’ll never use them, in case anyone fancies experimenting.

All the above is based on my experience and others may find differently.

GMG,

I should clarify that David R whilst servicing my car, rebuilt my front suspension replacing king pins, springs, possibly also the shocks etc., its been 30 years since, so I tend to forget exactly what he did, but it did fundamentally change the feel of front of the car. I picked the car up on the Friday night heading for Austria the next day mostly undertaking motorway/autobahn miles , It was the best money I ever spent on that Morgan.

I assumed no less. Rutherford is great! He has made a lasting contribution to the marque

L.