Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Maintenance & Servicing GoMog: Crossframe Stay Adjustment

One for Lorne:
Have had a broken diagonal stay in the past, I always check them when greasing.
However, consulting the relevant section in the Go Mog manual, it appears that the adjustment procedure has been edited since I last looked a few years back.There used to be a reference and sketch to the placing of inner and outer stands prior to jacking at the ends. That seems to have disappeared and the wording has shrunk!
Maybe Lorne can comment and ammend to make it as clear as it used to be?
Thanks.

I'm sure this is what I used when one of mine broke in terms of instructions but yes I thought there was a diagram of the jack etc in action.
https://www.gomog.com/other.html#:~:text=Crossframe%20(aka%20crosshead)%20Stay%20Adjustment,flexing%20during%20bump%20and%20rebound.

ThanksJohn. Yes, that is what currently appears on the site, but not as detailed as it used to be.
As the world spins, expect Lorne will appear before too long. 🫰

I don't see what more you could add to this, illustrated, easily understood and acted upon.

Hi Deejay,

I am not being coy. I am merely continent-hopping at the moment and have no earlier gomog backups with me .I had been working on the crossframe stay area just before I left the Andes many weeks ago. With your post, I will re-link the old advice you like (mine from decades ago) when I am back home at the end of the week. Happily Richard saves gomog stuff so he had the missing link. https://www.gomog.com/other.html In the meanwhile, thank you RichardV6.

Explanation: I refuse to be an expert. They are an inflexible breed. 90% of them learn a way of doing something when they started 30-50 years ago and never change, even though the object of their expertise does with new factory and often community fixes. In this case, as Richard points out, a better explanation than my own appeared. Like Richard, I believe the newer explanation of Jean-Frederic Frot is better.

The inability of most experts to adapt or teach anything other than what they learned 40 years ago is a sad fact. It why I noted that the LR/Rover V8s are normally such a leaking filthy mess.There is not grate harm in a messy engine aside from them being no fun to work with and a sad sight. It took me a while to achieve, but all my Plus 8 engines became bone-dry. It can be done by anyone but most of us rely on experts.

I compliment the attention you give your Morgan.

Lorne

Para. 1 refers to placing the car on two inner stands…doesn’t say exactly where they should be positioned. However, clicking on the “Jackstands” link shows them about half way along each side. I believe that to be a general jacking advice as i seem to recall for checking of tie rods, the inner stands were somewhere around the junctions of the cross brace with the horizontal tubes.
Para. 2 then talks about lifting from the inner stand and the outer stand. Where is that outer stand positioned? It doesn’t say any more.
My point is that I seem to recall that a sketch showing actual stand positions (as referred to in the write up) used to be present, but has since disappeared. I vaguely recall a jackstand close to the cross brace junction and another ( in the original write up it referred to a simple distance piece rather than a stand) placed as far outboard as possible on the tube. Then gently jacking under the kingpin and observing whether it lifted off both jackstand and outer distant piece.
It would just be re assuring to see it back again to confirm my memory.

that is how I remember it also

Yes, me as well!.... inner axle stand 2-3" outside the welds of the central cross piece (wheel side) then a screw jack or some such adjustable means of showing distance from floor to axle tube as close to the hub assembly as possible, I must say that I actually like the hub for this procedure. Then place a jack under the bottom of the king pin. carefully apply pressure to the jack under the king pin which stresses the crosshead axle tube until it literally allows the axle tube to go light on the outboard axle stand on that side but not lifting the the axle tube off the inboard axle stand. You are now able to fit the new crosshead stay which will hold the crosshead tension correctly for your car. The reason there is no torque level for this procedure of fitting the stay is all variants are different weight wise and it's the crosshead flex level you are setting to that car.

Yes, thanks Sewin for confirming my memories. I have replaced one maybe 10 years or so ago using that procedure.
Mine are still fine but when I inspected them recently, it just reminded me of the gomog procedure, so thought i would look it up again as a reminder. It was then that I realised the original notes had been edited down and to someone who might not have done it before, did not quite include the full detail.

To add perspective the cross frame structure should appear as a solid unit enabled by the minimum tension on each diagonal brace to achieve this. It also means that whilst suspension is unloaded (on axle stands) lifting a kingpin one side should lift the other an equal amount and vice versa.