These have been a sadly misunderstood components, as much by the Factory as by the community of owners and dealers. It was not part of the original HFS front suspension design. It was a later add on a couple of decades later. When I first rebuilt my front end 20 years ago, they seemed an odd item. I consulted John Sheally II, the legendary Morgan racer, and he advised me to cut them down two rungs for a more compliant front end. It was not a matter of moment at the time but times and fashions change.

The community has been lately fired up about little thingies. Yet there is not much mystery to them. The now-styled "rebound springs" were originally added to act as a safety stop. At the start, they were probably never supposed to play an active part in the suspension dynamics, only a benign one. However, as been seen over and over again, those charged with MMC production do not always understand the intention of MMC designers that supposedly guide them. Designer intention gets lost in production, sometimes to the detriment of the car. As well, dynamically active rebound springs can muchly stiffen the front end at a very low cost. For example, Morgan racers lean towards a very stiff front suspension, often going so far as to fit much firmer main springs than standard as well.

For whatever the reasons, the length of the production rebound springs became such that they played anything but a benign role in the Production Department's setup. The effect of any combination of springs acting on the same point, in this case the stub axle, must be added together. An easy way of visualizing this is to steady an item with one hand/arm from one side. If you hold it with your other hand/arm from its other side as well, it will become even steadier and more resistant to movement. That resistance is a function of the force of both arms even though they are applied from different directions. Just so, the overlong rebound springs made the front suspension less compliant (aka much stiffer), often to the point where the rebounds would split.

Bill Beck, formerly Morgan Service Manager and Development Chief, noted to me that by the 1970s, the Works was removing the rebounds on their Trials cars to better manage tough terrain!  Though owners remained unaware of the now errant rebound spring effect, the cognoscenti quietly made adjustments after much experience and personal testing. John Sheally II menitoned often on eMog that he had been using shortened rebounds since the 1970s. 

At one point, Peter Ballard stated to eMog that he had spoken with the Factory fellows and they would adopt shorter rebound springs. However, it seems they continued on with the older ones, a great pity. If you wish more compliance, I recommend, next time your front end is due for a rebuild, that you shorten your rebounds.The cost is negligible and the ride more compliant. Peter later used a much longer rebound spring with his Suplex Kit. This  progressive spring (shown below) is relatively weak when extended and unlikely to prejudice comportment while its contact is sufficient to stop unwanted rebound spring movement. Happily, these types of springs are available everywhere in the world locally in any  spring rate and length desired, at very low cost. 

THE SUPLEX SUSPENSION
by Lorne Goldman 2013 August, updated  January 2018

I am a BIG fan of any doodad that forces owners to re-examine their Morgan suspension. Too often, less-than-perfect maintenance and long wear prejudices its functioning. Most of us will incrementally and unknowingly adjust to a fault. Many even come to believe that Morgans are naturally uncomfortable and poor handling is inherent.  For that reason, even if a new gadget costs a bit and has little real effect on its own, the end result of the refurbishing involved in its installation will often reverse years of neglect, errors and anomalies . And the process increases owner knowledge and awareness. For all these reasons I am invariably for it, whatever it is, as long as it causes no grave prejudice to the car or pocketbook. The credit for the latest "miracle transformation" might be mistakenly placed, but who cares? The suspension system is functioning again and moggers are happy.

For the most part, these "enhancements" are relatively costless. However, a striking exception is a new package of components being marketed by a new entry to the Morgan aftermarket, THE SUPLEX SUSPENSION (though, the package was put together at home by a new Morgan owner with a 1980s 4/4, of the name of Peter Ballard. He has professional design experience with modern automobiles and apparently enjoys working on his Morgan. There ARE a few of us left!) 
 

Suplex is a German company, founded in 1991 and now situate in Willich, near Dusseldorf in the North Rhine Westphalia. They opened a separate UK division under the name of Suplex (UK) Limited in 2008 in Sheffield and began marketing suspension components and packages to the UK aftermarket, notably MG. They are primarily known for a product they have dubbed Strut-Kit, a device designed to prevent coil springs from breaking when bottoming out.

This is written after having the opportunity of trying Morgans fitted with the kit and immediately comparing it to another (same model and era) without. Both cars are very well-maintained and by the same Agent. Both cars have shortened rebounds (Suplex 2013 for one and Tudor Motors 2009 for the other)  and steering races (Suplex 2013 for one and Mulberry 2006 for the other). But there are too many components in the package to give a simple nay or yea. The theories have been exhaustively reported and I will not burden the reader further with more on this (unless there is a demand for a clearer (objective?) explanation than what they have heard to date).  But here are some practical observations and questions that should be addressed prior to purchase.

ELEMENTS OF THE PACKAGE

PROGRESSIVE REBOUND SPRINGS , a very good idea! Uncompressed Morgan rebounds allow for a more compliant front end as there is an effectively lower combined spring rate created with the main spring. N.B. It is of interest that the Suplex rebounds are longer than traditional Morgan fare. This is because they have a much lower spring rate than the very stiff Morgan-supplied rebounds.

STEERING RACES The kit is sold with optional steering races (aka "roller bearings") that mitigate steering effort, especially for older pre-R&P cars. These were popularized by eMog in the early part of the last decade (designed by Lorne Goldman,, John Sheally II, Roger Shawyer and Peter Mulberry) and hundreds of sets, made for that forum's members were installed without ill effect. Different versions are available widely. The MMC finally followed the eMog lead and has been using them on current production since 2008.

BILSTEIN DAMPERS. They are fine dampers, but other fine makes, British, have been made and tested for Morgans for decades, (notably Rutherford/MogSport AVOs and KONIs) when properly adjusted. (Bilsteins have been used by the factory though MMC stock damper choices have never been definitive or the best for community. (The Bilstein Catalogue does not even list any dampers for Morgans.) So why is it recommended that one purchase replacement shockers with the kit..and why Bilstein? When I have an answer, I will post it here. 

SPRING RATE CHOICES The Suplex Kit offers none.. This is very odd on the face of it. A Morgan suspension specialists traditionally carries approximately eight (8) spring rate choices in stock to properly service his customers on the spot. (He often must order others.) The wide variation in Morgan classics specifications and driving styles demand this. Yet the Suplex kit purports to be a one-size-fits-all regardless of the subject Morgan's weight (which will range from 600-1100 kilos!), steering systems,  horsepower (from 34 to 308 bhp!) or the owner driving style. How can that be possible? Is this package being sold with components created and tested for a 1980s 4/4? When I have an answer, I will post it here. 

THE NEED FOR EXTRA STEERING DAMPENING It is reported that many of the package's users, including the designer himself, have created a strong front end vibration only curable with extra addon steering dampening. There is no surer sign than something is very amiss up front than the need to use any steering dampers on a Morgan. None of components included in the package and previously supplied by others have ever caused a wave of problems requiring extra steering dampening. Why are these so often needed with the Suplex kit?  When I have an answer, I will post it here. 

COMPLEXITY OF THE INSTRUCTIONS The instructions are reportedly complex. I should mention this as there is not a week (originally) and now a month that has gone by since  the kit became available that I have not been walking someone through an effort to correct installation issues that make the subject car undrivable. Cases such as these have happily almost disappeared in the UK where the country is blanketed with Morgan dealers. But it has continued unabated everywhere else despite a higher incidence of ex-UK owner mechanical expertise. To this date, I get calls from sad Jaguar dealers in Houston and frustrated garagistes in France! 

PRICE is extraordinary, £595 and far more outside the UK. With installation, figure on £1000 +. Yet if the same components are priced ex-Suplex separately..the kit's pricing is utterly inexplicable. How was the pricing calculated?

It would be prudent to get these unanswered questions answered before you make your decision to purchase. If you succeed in this, please contact me. 

FRONT SPRING RATES
by Lorne Goldman 2009 February

Morgan front springs rates stayed constant for decades, until about 2002. They stayed constant for so long that the information was hard-to-come-by! The Plus 4 and the Plus 8, being the same weight, used 140 lbft/in springs and the light 4/4 used 95 lbft. In 2002/3 the Works began to try different rates from those used earlier. The first were colored light blue and were soon dubbed the "the blues" and often swapped by dealers before first delivery. They seem to allow the car to "wallow" in corners. Other new springs followed..each coated with a gay new color! I have not kept up with all the rates since 2003. If there are those who wish them added to this Manual, I shall post them on receipt. I have them somewhere in GoMoG archives. These days, a Morgan suspension specialist will normally carry as many as 8 different rates for his customers on his shelves and/or will order other rates as required.

It is suspected this wave of ever-changing springs is a result of new suppliers AND a lack of understanding of how the classic Morgan chassis functions. Unlike modern automobiles, the Morgan chassis flexes (a lot!). In effect, it acts like a spring itself (and is, accordingly, a wear part). In a properly suspension-tuned Morgan, it conveys a delightful sensuous ride but over time even the best of us have learned that it is not susceptible to theoretical calculations, only trial and error. Beware of those who try to tell you different.

MAKING YOUR CLASSIC MORGAN "MODERN" (MYCMM) ;-)
by Lorne Goldman August 2013
 

Modernizing your Morgan has become a basic issue and point of discussion amongst owners. Of course, this issue was settled decades ago amongst vintage car enthusiasts and Morgan owners and buyers used to primarily come from their ranks. Lately, with buyers of a different demographic coming to the fore with Morgan purchases, the issue has come back into high relief. It is a constant topic amongst the Morgan cognoscenti whenever products appear that purport to alter the Morgan driving experience. These naysayers present the following perspective. Many of  the new Morgan owners will go to great lengths to change their Morgan so that it feels and acts more like a modern car, while retaining its other-era outward appearance that. They will quickly abandon the original designs rather than understanding them and making sure that they are functioning as they were designed to do. Vintage design is confused with bad design and vintage feel (with the much greater driver control and simplicity it provides) is unsettling to them, and a "sure" sign that something must be wrong. Modern automobile offerings along with their very limited demands for driver skill and mechanical understanding have shaped their expectations of how a car should feel.  But then if that is the case, with respect, why spend so much on a Classic Morgan and then alter it? A kit car or retromobile will do. It was no mistake that Henry and Peter Morgan resisted the trend of constantly "upgrading" their cars since 1910. They tried to preserve the Golden Age of Automobiles and the precious hand-manufacturing skills that made it possible. Their Morgans were not for everyone. They required a hands-on person search for a full automobile experience. An universal suspension must, of necessity, divorce owners from the car and the road. This sadly creates a homogenized car, for the same reason a McDonald's hamburger is spiced to be acceptable to the greatest number of palates. If this is the goal for one's Morgan, why not simply buy a modern pretty sports car?!   Surprisingly, Morgan designs, properly understood and tweaked to each individual's taste, can keep up and surpass most vehicles without denying the driver full expression of his skills (and mood).  Unlike modern sport car enthusiasts, you will never hear a true mogger happily exclaiming that his Morgan "drives itself".