shocks

There is a lot of confusion about shocks..perhaps more so in our community because of their are fewer of them and their super low weight is unusual. As well most shock buyers sadly follow the GoMoG Law of Expenditure: The likelihood of a car enthusiast reviewing anything he has already purchased with passionate approval is directly related to how much money he spent on it."

Firstly, why adjustable shocks and why not? Springs and tyres are the first line of defense against road impacts. Shocks aren't. If you are trying to use shocks to cure suspension problems or stop you from bottoming out forget it, aside from Wolf Performance shocks, though New Elms have internal bumps stopped IIRC). However, shocks can make driving a far more comfortable experience. Shocks are first and foremost harmonic balancers. Their goal is the change the harsh oscillations of a road impact into something we find pleasant..even fun.

Like any instrument, each car model will react and resonate differently as a function of its structural dynamics, springs and tyres. Each car model, depending on its shock angling, will operate well with only few shocks unless it is one of the more widely produced mid-range set-ups. Morgans are not widely produced. Neither are they even close to a standard set-up. There are others like Morgan. In such a case, an adjustable shock becomes wise option for a shock manufacturer can have one type can suit many cars. Adjustable shocks also allow suppliers to mitigate inventory costs.

However, adjustable shocks not originally made to refine suspensions and they can lead to owner silliness. Most manufacturers ease their inventory and manufacturring costs by making their approximate many different cars' needed by allowing their dampening rate to be adjusted. That feature disappears as soon as you bottom out. "Morgan" shocks will normally arrive in whatever setting they have they feel is closest to a Morgan ratd's needs. You should be very reluctant to change. As the ability to adjust disappears after the shocks bottom out the first time or over a short period, you don't get any refinement time. Use the wrong setting and you are stuck with it!

Only two shocks are commercially made for Morgan trads. New Elms and Wolf. They offer a range suited to Morgan trads. AFAIK, and I have tried all but one type here, the rest have adjustability as a production cost saver.

WATCHPOINT: Front Shocks: After 5 sets of shock/damper types tried in the front of my Morgans and the same in back, I have come to a conclusion. The right choice of shocks has far more of an effect at the rear (cabin comfort being the key point) than the front (merely neutral front end behaviour and handling asssuming your front end is working as it should). Once you have the right length shock with the right travel areas and dampening, different front choices (2 choices)don't make much difference in my opinion. However, the wrong or aged shocks can have a great negative effect for the front. Additionally, original-type Morgan rears can vary enormously in behavior, especially after the springs have aged and sagged. So many of us ride on sagged springs at the rear. And there was a long period (appr 2003 to 2015 and continuing to date) where MMC rear springs collapsed in no time. :( I have seen so much owner-contrived weird stuff happen to fix this.

PLEASE NOTE that I only speak here to the following companies offerings for trads .

RECOMMENDED SETTING REAR = SOFTEST SETTING which they will arrive in. Do not change this. If you do, buy other shocks.

RECOMMENDED SETTING FRONT = Whatever you think gives you the least amount of steering wheel feedback. Proper feedback can be defined as a full not and one half after hitting a road anomally.

In the cases of Spax, Koni, Gaz, Biltstein or others, their shocks offered are stock items, not specially made and adjusted to the needs of a Morgan. They all miss the mark slightly. In contrast to this, in 2002/2003, the Morgan famous aftermarket suspension guru, David Rutherford, back then as frustrated with the offerings as I was, spent some time with AVO, then a small but well-respected shock maker to come up with a better "fit". It worked! David made a contract with AVO not to copy his dampening rates. AFAIK know they kept the bargain. I check with them from time to time asking for Rutherford variant. Please note that the shocks that AVO sell for Morgan trads directly are very uncomfortable.

Firstly, the range of extension and compression has been adjusted to meet a Morgan's needs. A rubber stop has been internally incorporated to deal with the impact that CAN happen. The same stop protects the innards of the shock, unlike Koni where the adjustment mechanism is broken forever the first time you bottom out. But please understand that this internal stop is NOT adjustable. If you adjust the shocks to be firmer in hope of preventing bottoming, you simply make your ride less compliant and comfortable.

You can adjust the dampening rate. This is done with a round dial on the shock body, easy to turn by hand without a tool. The shock has 10 dampening levels. HOWEVER, the lowest dampening rate was made to match the KONI's low dampering rate, which the decades have shown is the most comfortable for the Morgan trad rear. The shocks, if properly sourced, will arrive at this setting.

WATCHPOINT:
There are different lengths for the right AVOs (which makes one wonder why the other shocks designed for Morgan do not have three as well!) The answer is likely that Rutherford AVOs were designed by a Morgan suspension specialist for Morgans and suspensions changed along with the difference between the car's shock post. Two different for the front and three different lengths for the trad rears.

I sourced this information directly from KONI (USA). If you have a problem with it please contact them.

RECOMMENDED SETTING REAR = SOFTEST Do not change this. If you do, buy other shocks.

Assuming you are buying their 80-series (their mid-range product), it is a great shock and to my mind, better than the Spax for most of us. It has great "internals" and they can be rebuilt by Koni on request. They are adjustable to 3-4 positions by turning the shock body (which means one end must be detached from its post) WHILE

THE SHOCK IS FULLY COMPRESSED. In my discussions with Koni, they cannot see how a Morgan would require anything more for road use than their SOFTEST setting....always. And their softest setting is softer than the Spax softest setting (therein lies their most important advantage over Spax.

Generally speaking, there are two types of adjustment possible. Rebound and compression. The Koni 80-series adjustment is only for rebound and not for compression. The compression rate is fixed at the factory. Though they do not advertise it, you can ask for Koni shocks to be altered to have a compression adjuster added as well..either before or after purchase (and paying more).

According to the Koni, when rebound is the only thing that can be adjusted, the only thing that will happen if you make the Koni's firmer (feeling that this will help you carry rear luggage) is that you will have an uncomfortable trip. With a adjustable rebound only..don't touch it after you have found your happy spot...unless you are one of the .1 %.. a racer. In that case, at the track, adjust the shocks increase the softness to keep the wheels on the track (and if you have a compression adjuster as well, make it as SOFT as possible.)

Please remember that your ability to adjust your Konis is destroyed after the first bottoming or topping out. There are little teeth that engage the adjustment mechanism in the shock and these bend when the shock goes beyond its extremes. The shock will continue to function perfectly but will remain in the last setting before the teeth were mangled...for then on or until the shock is rebuilt. Frankly, in view of the above and if it is in the right setting, who cares? Many of us will keep fiddling anyway not knowing that we are adjusting nothing.

Remove the shock absorber from the vehicle and hold it vertically with the lower eye or pin attached in a vise. Use clamp plates to prevent damage.

Fully collapse the shock absorber, at the same time turning the dust cap or piston rod slowly to the left (counterclockwise), until it is felt that the cams of the adjustment nut engage in the recesses of the foot valve assembly.

Some shock absorbers include a bump rubber concealed under the dust cover and it must be removed prior to adjusting.

The damper may have already been adjusted. Therefore check whether the shock absorber is in the adjustment position or not by keeping it collapsed and gently turning it further to the left counting at the same time the half turns until a stop is felt. Stop turning then and do not use force.

Keeping the shock absorber collapsed, make 1 half turn (180 degrees) to the right (clockwise). In case of prior adjustment add the number of half the turns previously found. The total range is about 5 half turns.

Pull the shock absorber out vertically without turning for at least 1 cm to disengage the adjusting mechanism. The dust cap or piston rod may now be turned freely.

ADJUSTING DIRECTION

Clockwise = Firmer

Counter Clockwise = Softer.

Instructions on Adjusting the Newer Konis.

IMPORTANT WATCHPOINT: Oil shocks provide much better comfort while gas shocks offer better road holding, cornering and braking. There are no good or bad shock absorbers, there are only shock absorbers that can be happier for your driving style. SEE VIDEO.

This striking difference is more true of the vintage Morgan suspension (until 2019 when the original Morgan design was abandooned by the Company). In short, if you want to have a mellow more compliant ride, subject to your rear leaf spring rate, use oil charged shocks and if you wish a hard racer's (which I have never been able to fathom why) use gas-charged shocks.

SPAX (see the important note on gas charged shocks/dampers)

RECOMMENDED SETTING REAR = SOFTEST Do not change this. If you do, buy other shocks. Even at their softest setting I found them too stiff. I did, however, use them for 2 years before trying Rutherford AVOs. We were both stunned at the Rutherford AVOs

RECOMMENDED SETTING FRONT = Whatever you think gives you the least feedback at the setting wheel.

Spax has gone through a number of hands..and a few insolvencies. Servicing is nowhere near that of Konis when I had them.. On the other hand, their gas shock series are the top of their line and gas is great shock technology, so we are comparing the top of one line to the mid-range in the other.

The adjustment for Spax (14 rear and 5 front) is simply a turn of a screw on the shock body and a feel for the clicks (or simply go to the end and count turns to the other

end and adjust accordingly.) The screw adjusts rebound as well...so much for "firming it for luggage". (I used to do that years ago before each trip and then found myself adjust right back to where I started on the first day's drive showing me my backside was a better judge than my brains). Sadly. the adjustment at the rears is made difficult by the MMC setup as the adjustment knob faces away from easy access.

There was a comment that too many adjustments on Spax was unnecessarily confusing. It isn't..but more importantly when the shock begins to go you have 14

adjustments to keep the shock at that rebound rate you like. Might give you another 10,000 miles on a fading shocks without a sacrifice of any ride quality. In that case, you are adjusting the shock to keep it the SAME firmness.

Spax adjustment is suposedly NOT destroyed by bottoming or topping out. The ideal setting in the rear for Morgans is the most soft to two from the most soft. In front, it is the softest or the one next to it.

It is relatively easy to adjust Spax yourself. Find a stretch of familiar road with familiar bumps and that will be your laboratory. Go up and down and adjust the rear shocks (first) until you go over a bump and react with 1.5 bounces (1.5 bounces is the ticket for any shock and normal driving). Then put on the front Spax and set them to softest and see how it feels, then try one up and do the same..then choose the better one and so on. Koni is even easier..for road driving always the softest both ends. Sounds sensible to me and Koni swears by it. N.B. Spax, even at their softest setting, is firmer than Koni and Rutherford AVOs at the rear.

GAZ SHOCKS (see the important note on gas charged shocks/dampers)

RECOMMENDED SETTING REAR = SOFTEST Do not change this. If you do, buy other shocks.

RECOMMENDED SETTING FRONT = Whatever you think gives you the least feedback at the setting wheel.

GAZ shocks were offered by the Morgan Motor Company as a "suspension upgrade". They have a similar appearance and adjustment method as the AVO shocks now the NEW ELMS. I have tried them on all models up to 2013. Those who have purchased or tried them declare that they are an improvement over the MMC standard shocks but not as good as any of three options cited above. After trying them, I agree. They are up there at the SPAX level but cheaper and as easy to adjust as the AVOs.

Finally got around to trying them this summer (2024) ..for less than a day. They are good company with a fine reputation but these shocks have a major drawback for Morgans IMHO. I sensed it and then researched it. The Bilsteins only control bounce but not rebound, so in effect, they work like an additional spring imparting an unwanted stiffness that other choices do not.