Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing Fitting Brake reaction bars

Hi all,

Firstly, I apologise if any of these questions are stupid or have already been asked and answered a thousand times before. But I could do with an up to date and latest view on this.

I going to be fitting brake reaction bars this weekend (hopefully, assuming they arrive in time). I have read many posts and other blogs about fitting them, and it all seems fairly straightforward.

I have 2 hopefully straightforward questions:-

1. Should the top mount be fitted to the kingpin oiler bolt or the wing support mount. There seems to be contradictory advice on this. I also appreciate this might be governed by the bars themselves which is yet to be determined. But I would appreciate the recommended best practice (if there is one).

2. When aligning, positioning and drilling the lower mount, is it best practice to have the car resting on the floor on all 4 wheels, in order to find it's natural and perfect alignment. Or is it best to do this whilst jacked up (ignoring all access considerations). Or does it not matter?

My engineering head tells me that doing point 2 in its natural position will make sure to remove any misalignment caused by chassis flex whilst raised, but I could be over thinking it.

Thanks for all your help

The brake reaction bars fit above the shock absorber upper mount plate. It cannot be fitted any other way since the shock bracket has to sit flush to the top cross arm fitting. More important is that the kingpin bolt has it's washer(s) directly underneath it and therefore above the BRB. Note the wing mount bracket fits to the shock absorber plate so has no direct bearing on this issue. The BRB may need trimming so it has clearance to the wing bracket though. See below.



On later models with camber adjustment as above, a self adjusting pair of convex/concave washers (as above) are used and they need to fit directly under the kingpin bolt in order to function. These washers need to be lubricated on assembly (thinner convex upper) and have been known to explode if fitted incorrectly!

For chassis mounting location it's fine to drill with the car jacked up or on a chassis supporting ramp.

BTW I would highly recommend replacing kingpin bolts with these inexpensive shouldered ones sold by Wolf Performance. Link below.



The OE ones have only the hex corners of bolt bearing on the washer below!

Also, make sure the brb doesn’t foul the flexible brake pipe on full lock

Good point although it's likely the brake hoses will foul the BRB on full lock. From new I found shiny witness marks on mine both sides. I added spiral plastic cable support to the braided hoses and they have been fine for nearly 30,000 miles since. Worth a check when greasing though.

You may also find that the inside of the tyre rubs on the stay on full lock. Doesn't do it on every car.

Doesn't seem to cause a problem but it will squeak when manoeuvring at full lock.

MOT testers usually view the rubbing as acceptable but IIRC some have failed because of it.

If you don't like the rubbing consider the chassis lock stops or slightly squashing the tube where it rubs can sometimes be enough.

Thanks Richard,

Very helpful. I contacted Wolf and those bolts are only for hard chrome kingpins and not avaliable for the factory fitted version.

The threads are different for the different kingpins.

Do you or anyone else know if there is an equivalent type bolt for the standard factory kingpins?

The 4/4 wheels have the most inset, and I had to oval the bars in my vice, and cut a triangle off the bottom corner of the stay to get clearance. Even now it's paper thin, but does clear.

My Roadster didn't need any of that and clears easily.

Apologies I should have realised. Never thought to compare threads with old ones.

I doubt the shouldered version are made with OE imperial threads. MMC managed with the plain hex ones for 80 years so they were not going to change in a hurry.

An extra washer a snug fit to the bolt threads might be almost as good.

Thanks for all the help and advice.

Does anyone know the correct torque spec for the oiler bolt when refitting?

PM previously sent: oiler bolt torque, there is one but for the life of me I can't remember it as I haven't used it for some time. Cain at wolf might state it in his fitting instructions but I have always found you can tighten them by hand very effectively as the threading is long and will take more punishment than you are likely to give it. I use a standard spanner and tighten it as hard as I can and have never had a problem! If I can lay my hands on my old note book I'll look it up for you.