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Modified Suspension

Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:09 pm
by alawrence10360
My saloon has telescopic dampers front and back.
It drives really well in corners and gentle bumps etc
However if I hit poor surface , pot hole etc it bangs and crashes and shakes your teeth out
It feels like there is no "give" at all.
Its been a while since I drove an older car but I dont believe it wastbis harsh
Anyone else experienced this ?

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:07 am
by irmscher
Have you checked they are the correct ones for the car ??

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 7:41 am
by philthehill
Have you enough distance between the bump rubbers and bump stops so that the suspension can move sufficiently so allowing the tele dampers to work adequately?

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 8:04 am
by alawrence10360
I will look at that Phil
its as if its hitting some sort of bump stop

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 8:04 am
by alawrence10360
I will look at that Phil
its as if its hitting some sort of bump stop

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 9:31 am
by IslipMinor
What is the ride height? Whatever it is, you must have bump stops fitted on all 4 corners, but if it is lowered by more than ~1", then the stops need to be shortened and reprofiled to restore the taper shape to give some 'progression'.

What make are the dampers, and are they adjustable? Are all the suspension bushes in good condition? I would also check the telescopic damper mounts, and the original front damper mounts, as they still act as the top suspension arm.

Harshness, crashing and banging should definitely not be part of the ride!

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:08 am
by alawrence10360
Thanks Richard
The suspension was from ESM front and back. Not adjustable
I don't believe it was lowered , certainly not on purpose
It does have wider pick up wheels i believe

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:14 am
by alawrence10360
alawrence10360 wrote: Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:09 pm My saloon has telescopic dampers front and back.
It drives really well in corners and gentle bumps etc
However if I hit poor surface , pot hole etc it bangs and crashes and shakes your teeth out
It feels like there is no "give" at all.
Its been a while since I drove an older car but I dont believe it wastbis harsh
Anyone else experienced this ?

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:38 am
by IslipMinor
Can you tell where the 'crashing and banging' is coming from? Left/right, front/rear?

From the 'side-on' picture the rear of the car definitely looks to be lowered, and that is confirmed by the picture taken of the rear axle. There appear to be 4 leaves in the spring, and there should be 5, AND there is an aluminium lowering block fitted between the spring and the axle case. That has lowered the rear by at least 1", and if there are 4 leaves, by more than that.

The front looks standard(ish) ride height.

What is not known, just from the pictures, is if the telescopic dampers have enough travel to accommodate the additional movement if the 4 leaves have also lowered the rear? The lowering blocks will not affect the damper movement.

As a test, I would remove the aluminium lowering blocks (you will likely need standard 'U' bolts to replace the longer ones in the picture), and see if that makes any difference. Also the rear bump stops would need to be re-shaped if you keep the lowering blocks.

You could also disconnect the rear dampers at the axle mounting and push them up to see what travel is available, and whether it is sufficient to match the suspension?

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:00 pm
by philthehill
As regards the front damper - did you remove the valves from the original lever dampers?

When fitting tele dampers the original dampers with the valves removed just revert to becoming the suspension top links and nothing else.

If you did not remove the original valves you will have double damping that maybe is is what is causing the harsh riding.

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:45 pm
by alawrence10360
philthehill wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:00 pm As regards the front damper - did you remove the valves from the original lever dampers?

When fitting tele dampers the original dampers with the valves removed just revert to becoming the suspension top links and nothing else.

If you did not remove the original valves you will have double damping that maybe is is what is causing the harsh riding.
The rear both sides is definitely where a notice the most impact/noise
Looks like I need to get my sleeves rolled up

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:50 pm
by alawrence10360
philthehill wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 12:00 pm As regards the front damper - did you remove the valves from the original lever dampers?

When fitting tele dampers the original dampers with the valves removed just revert to becoming the suspension top links and nothing else.

If you did not remove the original valves you will have double damping that maybe is is what is causing the harsh riding.
I will.look at that
I did not carry out the mods btw
Thanks

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 1:51 pm
by alawrence10360
IslipMinor wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 11:38 am Can you tell where the 'crashing and banging' is coming from? Left/right, front/rear?

From the 'side-on' picture the rear of the car definitely looks to be lowered, and that is confirmed by the picture taken of the rear axle. There appear to be 4 leaves in the spring, and there should be 5, AND there is an aluminium lowering block fitted between the spring and the axle case. That has lowered the rear by at least 1", and if there are 4 leaves, by more than that.

The front looks standard(ish) ride height.

What is not known, just from the pictures, is if the telescopic dampers have enough travel to accommodate the additional movement if the 4 leaves have also lowered the rear? The lowering blocks will not affect the damper movement.

As a test, I would remove the aluminium lowering blocks (you will likely need standard 'U' bolts to replace the longer ones in the picture), and see if that makes any difference. Also the rear bump stops would need to be re-shaped if you keep the lowering blocks.

You could also disconnect the rear dampers at the axle mounting and push them up to see what travel is available, and whether it is sufficient to match the suspension?
Ok
There are 5 leaves but I can now see the spacer
Why on earth lower a Minor ?? I could inderstand if it was a 17 yearolds Fiesta but a Minor ??
Thats getting sorted ASAP

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 2:35 pm
by philthehill
If the rear has been lowered the front has most likely been lowered too.

Morris 1000's get lowered more often than you may think and they are not all owned by 17 year olds either 8)

Just check against this measurements in the drawings below to determine if has been lowered or not.
img185.jpg
img185.jpg (1.06 MiB) Viewed 1843 times
jpg[/attachment]

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:03 pm
by alawrence10360
philthehill wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 2:35 pm If the rear has been lowered the front has most likely been lowered too.

Morris 1000's get lowered more often than you may think and they are not all owned by 17 year olds either 8)

Just check against this measurements in the drawings below to determine if has been lowered or not.
img185.jpgjpg[/attachment]
thanks Phil

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:03 pm
by alawrence10360
philthehill wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 2:35 pm If the rear has been lowered the front has most likely been lowered too.

Morris 1000's get lowered more often than you may think and they are not all owned by 17 year olds either 8)

Just check against this measurements in the drawings below to determine if has been lowered or not.
img185.jpgjpg[/attachment]
thanks Phil

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 4:00 pm
by alawrence10360
alawrence10360 wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 3:03 pm
philthehill wrote: Sun Feb 17, 2019 2:35 pm If the rear has been lowered the front has most likely been lowered too.

Morris 1000's get lowered more often than you may think and they are not all owned by 17 year olds either 8)

Just check against this measurements in the drawings below to determine if has been lowered or not.
img185.jpgjpg[/attachment]
thanks Phil
Front appears to on spec but as you said the rear is an inch below

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2019 4:43 pm
by philthehill
It was IslipMinor who indicated that the rear was 1" or more lower than standard.

The alloy spacers are normally 1.5" deep so their removal should bring the ride height back to right.

When removing the ally spacers I would be tempted to fit new spring seats/pads in either poly or rubber.

http://www.morrisminorspares.com/rear-s ... ng-p831321

You will need qty 4.

Phil

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 11:50 am
by alawrence10360
Had a good look at this now
What I have noticed is that the bump stop has been cut off straight/ parallel to the axle
I have looked at pictures of new ones and they are shaped similar to a cam which I think would give significantly more give than the current squzre shape.
I was considering trying to shape these closer to what the originals are to see if that was the problem
Any thoughts

Re: Modified Suspension

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 1:55 pm
by philthehill
I would advise that you remove the alloy spacers and fit new rear axle bump stops.

If you remove the spacers and do not replace the bump stops the suspension could flatten out so much that the rear shackles are constantly hitting the bodywork and therefore causing damage. It could be that the rear shackles are already hitting the bodywork.

If your front suspension height is correct (as you stated above) against the diagrams shown your car will have a rear down aspect. Get the car suspension heights back to original as per the above diagrams and all will be satisfactory.

Phil