Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Urgent warning Empire kit

Has nobody else taken the simple route of reinstating the stock pre-Comfort track rod ends as I have, thereby restoring that long lost directness of steering, but still benefiting from the properly engineered top wishbone/suspension geometry? It really think it is worth a try folks, just in case you like it better than before... and it's free

I never fitted the risers, they're still in the bubble wrap.

But I have played about with the ride height a bit.

Where possible R1NGAs suggestion would be the best option until I can get over to the Empire HQ and sort out what Bill would like to do. He does know about the problems and I believe he is having some risers made out of stainless steel, but I last spoke to him back at the beginning of December, since then I have been away on holiday for 3 weeks, then christmas, then away for my wifes 'big' birthday, then a funeral 200 miles away, and a business to run as well, so sorry if things have been a little slow, it's not Empire's fault, but me who hasn't had a chance to follow things up yet. I never was good at multi-tasking I'm afraid.

I recently had the LH rear top wishbone rod end bearing snap at the end of the threaded portion on my Empire kit equipped M3W. This happened at slow speed luckily, as I was reversing up a small curb. The rod end type was an Aurora XM6 that has been fitted for 27,000 miles.

The front rod end was bent when the rear one broke and both were replaced with new items at the side of the road in an hour or so. I was a long way from home at the time travelling with a couple of other M3W's and had fortunately put two new rod ends in my small pack of spares. I probably should have bought a lottery ticket as well! We had enough tools to do the job between us. The rest of the trip was done with no trouble although there was always a concern about the RH sides rod ends.

When I got home I removed and checked the RH side rod ends visually and with dye penetrant NDT crack testing, no signs of any cracks were found. Until I get some new rod ends sorted I have removed the Empire kit and refitted the standard top wishbones. The broken rod end looks like it has been cracked for some time and finally gone, I could be wrong as I am no metallurgist. The original Empire supplied bearings were worn after about 15,000 miles and replaced with the Aurora ones. They have been good from a wear perspective but a fractured rod end is not good, particularly as we had been driving some Alpine passes and fast Autobahn in the days before!

It could just be a “bad batch” but it would be worth a close look if you have any Aurora XM6 rod end bearings fitted. Driving on the left, this is the wheel that runs at the edge of the road....and our roads in the UK are terrible now. I have heard of one other case of an Aurora XM6 failing on an Empire/Krazy Horse equipped M3W, this was a front LH one that failed under braking after about 12,000 miles use.

I was the first customer to install the Empire kit and it has been no problem in 42,000 miles of use, until this happened. The solution suggested is to fit NMB rod end bearings, expensive but cheaper than a failure. If I do I will be inspecting them closely on a more regular basis in the future. I am really sorry to have to post on this thread, first time for 8 years though. The Empire kit is still a worthwhile refinement to my mind.

buy a Super 3, the chassis and suspension are very efficient, much more so than on the MTW

An important post planenut......

Looks like you’ve been extremely lucky Planenut.
Mostly with the breakdown but also with the spares you had with you.
Can you describe about the differences between the Aurora XM6 and the NMB ?
Which brand are the originals fitted by Empire?

As I said, I should have bought a lottery ticket as well.... 😁. In addition to the "luck" of actually taking spare rod ends, when I returned home and checked the remaining two rod ends in the packet of four I had bought from Demon Tweaks a couple of years ago, one was a LH thread instead of RH!

As for the differences between the Aurora XM-6 and the NMB ARHT6E(R), it's difficult to find the same comparison figures. I have seen tensile loads of 7180lbs for Aurora and 10900lbs for NMB but difficult to say if these are directly comparable. I asked Bill at Empire for his advice and he said that NMB are "the best" (they were Rose Bearings before NMB took them over), although not the cheapest. He said they don't fracture, just bend (in a crash).

I have got a set of four ARHT6E(R) rod end bearings and intend refitting the Empire kit over the Winter with them. I will probably remove them and check them again after 10,000 miles/ 2 years. Hopefully there will be nothing to report.

I do not know what was originally supplied by Empire/Krazy Horse. I asked Krazy Horse and they would only say that replacements are £30.66 each, I guess they are not even Aurora quality at that price (they are about £40+). The bonus of being "modest" quality is that the bearings will probably wear out before the rod end fractures, my original ones did. Bearing side play was excessive within 15,000 miles.

The chances are that this issue is with a particular Aurora bearing (or batch?), all the others on my car were fine. This is just to make owners aware that there could be a problem and have a check of the rod ends on the Empire kit, if you have one fitted. It's an "aviation" safety culture thing, hiding problems (however limited) is never a good thing, I am not trying to frighten people, just make them aware.

Excellent.....

Here is the homemade kit, made in France :