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

Hey guys,
Just got my car back from having a couple of upgrades.
My car is a 2003 +8. I purchased it last year and soon discovered it had an overheating problem. I ordered a new radiator from mulfab advertised to about 20% greater heating capacity. It works great. The car now runs about 20% cooler with the fan rarely coming on.
At the same time it was in the shop, I had the kingpins replaced with hardened chrome pins. I could see no difference in this addition. Secondly I had the SSL suspension upgrade installed. It was poorly done. I took it bacc but when I got it back, was still a mess.
I thought I was going to have to drive the car down to my nearest Morgan dealer here in Florida, Christopher John’s but I was lucky to find an excellent shop here in Tallahassee who reinstalled the system and successfully removed the “bonk” every time I went across a speed hump..
Although it’s better than it was before the first shop originally installed it,it’s far from what I expected. Every pothole or imperfection in the road feels like an explosion. If I had to be honest, I would say it’s worse than before I spent over $2000 on the kit and mechanics.
Don’t get me wrong, I love this car. I love driving it but the suspension robs much of the joy.
I don’t relish spending thousands of dollars more to get it “right” but I spent so much to buy this car buying it, I’ve no choice but to dive ahead.
Having said that, I’ve been reading about the Nitron suspension upgrade. I don’t know if this system will give me what I need but at this point I just don’t know what else to do.
I’ve reached out to the Nitron suspension company but have yet to hear back from them.
Richard

I thought Nitrons were only for CX cars

SSL do both a front & rear conversion (although the majority just have the front done) even with just the front on a 2003 car you should feel an improvement

I suspect it is not set up correctly, as this does involve a bit of bedding in and re-adjusting which is a little time consuming - but is not beyond the skills of most owners (even things like overtightened front shock absorbers [dampers] can adversely effect the ride)

It sounds like your SSL RS front suspension kit is still not set up correctly Richard. When you bought this kit it would have been supplied with a plasticised instruction sheet. The same kit caters for a range of Morgan's with a variety of engines, your Plus 8 being the heaviest so requiring greatest main spring pre-load. Suggest you and/or your fitter reading this and maybe referring to a previous thread starting here.

Thanks for the replies everyone.
So the Nitron kits are for the CX cars only.
My first set of mechanics threw away the instructions! My new guy was able to get a copy somewhere but my first mechanics also threw away the 2 C spanners. I have a C spanner set but of course it only has one spanner the right size!
I was hoping the Nitron kits would fit my car as I’m concerned I’m just throwing more money into a system that never will work properly.
I guess I’ll go back to the fellow who worked on it last and give him a chance to get it sorted.
BTW, my mechanic had to fabricate two extra bushings to get the “bonk” out. One for each side.
Complaints; loose feeling in the front end, bouncy and very noisy “rattley”over any bumps in the road.
Richard

If you send me a PM Richard I will be happy to send back scans of each side of instruction sheet for SSL RS kit.

Going back to basics when new kingpins are fitted the readily available two phosphor bronze bushes within sliding stub axle each side must also be renewed. Once pressed in these then need to be lightly reamed to size such that the lubed kingpins just drop through stub axle with no discernable play. Sounds like your fitter decided to make his own noting correct ones have a spiral groove to allow grease to be distributed. Once reamed correctly and assembled they take around 1000 miles to loosen up. It would do no harm to leave the dampers off altogether initially to speed this process as there will initially be enough stiction in the suspension assembly to stop excessive bouncing.

It's important the front suspension is greased with a gun via the grease nipples (zerks) top and bottom every 800 - 1200 miles and of course particularly important when new kingpins fitted. Better there is too much grease which can easily be removed than too little, noting in your pictures on previous thread everything looked very dry.

After fitting SSL kit the previously mentioned main spring pre load needs to be wound in via the lower threaded collar, the second one just to lock the final adjustment. This is performed with car on a ramp or jacked up with front wheels removed and two C spanners are required! As mentioned your Plus 8, being the heaviest of the Classic Morgan models requires, as a starting point for the pre-load, 50mm of thread showing above the two collars (60mm if higher ride height chosen via 20mm spacer placement). I've already mentioned the final goal for pre-load which must be performed with car on the ground, and its fully described on instruction sheet anyway.

To sum up you and/or fitter need SSL instruction sheet, two C spanners and a grease gun.

I don't think fitting new king pins make things feel better unless your old one were completely knackered.......!😁🤷🏻‍♂️

I've driven 2 cars with SSL suspension, one was Peter Ballard's 4/4, the bloke who invented/developed the system..... it was, as you'd expect, incredible...! It had the front and rear set up's, and as the designers development mule it had been fettled to total perfection......😁

The other car was a +8....... it was by a long way the worst driving Morgan I've ever driven (and I've driven/owned a lot..!!).....!!! It had the front and rear systems fitted, a lot of money and time had been spent on the car and it was rubbish....!!🤷🏻‍♂️

I'm sure those who have it on their cars will say how amazing it is, and if set up well, it probably is....... however........ I wouldn't bother fitting it.......🤷🏻‍♂️

The law of diminishing returns comes in to play for me...... there are some relatively inexpensive 'no brainer' Morgan upgrades which make a real difference, after that it's personal preference, budget and desire to fit every option.......

A trad is what it is...... it's never going to ride like a Bentley.......😂🤷🏻‍♂️........100 years of factory bodging, lack of development and stubbornness resulted in a fantastically outdated suspension system..... it's perfectly imperfect.........😂

🇬🇧🇬🇧

Thought it prudent to show scans of SSL RS kit instructions here. Hopefully enough definition to read and maybe print off.

Great info! I’ll print it out and take to my fitter for this next adjustment.
Since my first installer threw away my C spanners, can anyone tell me what size they are. I can order 2 from Amazon to take to my fitter for my next adjustment.
Thanks again.

Looking at the age of your Mog it could be within the era of when MMC tried using nylon bushes within the kingpin setup

If that is the case & new kingpins were fitted it requires an oversize bronze bush set (still needs reaming) this could be where your 'bodge' lies