My little moggy is very bumpy and hard, and we really fly about even at low speeds over the crazy bumps all over the place.
Its so bad my (pregnant) wife wont go in the moggy
It has "uprated rear suspension" and some kind of fancy shock absorbers fitted - so that the exhaust cant go straight back and comes out at the side instead!
Is there anything I can do that will soften the ride? I don't want to race around, and it would be nice if I could persuade Mrs back into the car!
We need to know what this 'uprated' suspension is!! Count the number of leaves i the rear springs and report back. 5 is normal for Saloon - 7 for Traveller - even the 7 leave springs cannot be decribed as hard!!. Has it been fitted with telescopic dampers - long tube-like things bolted between the base of the spring and the body ? Usual 'hard ride' is caused by suspension sitting too low - so the car is constantly on the bump stops - look to see how much clearance there is between the rubber cone-like lumps sitting on top of the axle - and the chassis. For smooth ride you need 2" or so clearance - if none, well there's the problem !
it sounds as though you have no suspension travel? Has it been lowered so much that the bump stops are nearly touching the chassis? Or the modified damper system has the dampers fitted so there is minimal travel left.
I would look at the first point and if there is sufficient clearance (say 2"+) then disconnect a damper and see how much travel there is?
This is one of the big problems with "modifications"- the car is no longer standard and the next owner doesn't have a clue what the car has. Not that I'm against all modified cars- it just that it causes problems for future owners- as in this case.
A saloon has quite soft comfy suspension- if I was you, I'd ditch the mods and get standard springs and lever arm dampers back on the car. This is how the Minor was designed- as a comfortable (for the time) saloon car- do this and your wife will be happy, I'm sure- to travel in the car again! A standard Minor suspension is fine for standard power output.
thanks - will have a look. Its such a hard ride, it crashes over any bumps even if they are tiny, and is quite unpleasant I'm really glad its not normal and I something can be done about it! I'll have a look underneath and see what I can find out but don't really know what I'm looking at so will try to get some photos to post! thx all!!
Almost certainly it's just worn out rear springs and/or bushes - or maybe even broken leaves in the springs - unless the previous owner has intentionally lowered the car by fitting blocks between the axle and the spring seats ? You say 'uprated' suspension - but what's uprated about it ?? Or was this just a puff from the previous owner. Tele dampers should be fine - provided they are not bottoming out - or knackered! I wouldn't necessarily worry about going back to the lever arm dampers - although I don't see anything wrong with lever arms either provided they are in good condition. Both together is ideal.
It was a puff from the previous owner! But I can see it has bright yellow shock absorbers or something. I don't think its lowered at all. I'm slightly clueless about gearboxes etc, but completely clueless when it comes to suspension!
badfelafel wrote: thanks - will have a look. Its such a hard ride, it crashes over any bumps even if they are tiny, and is quite unpleasant I'm really glad its not normal and I something can be done about it! -snip-
no definitely not normal, and yes, something most certainly can be done about it!
BTW, is there any oil leaking from these yellow dampers (unless gas filled types), and have you done a bounce test at the rear corners of the car?
Not noticed anything leaking - the only patches on the driveway are small oil drips from under the engine (!)... Will have a chance after work to have a look and bounce it a bit
Leak from engine is good - indicates there is still some oil in it!
I have a pair of 5 leaf saloon springs Barry - condition unknown, off a 'little old lady' car - so not raced or rallied - if yours are broken or otherwise knackered you can have them for the taking away!-
As had been pointed out it is necessary to check the clearance between the
rear rubber bump stops and the chassis, if you look directly above the axle
casing in line with the springs you will see a large rubber moulding on each
side this travels upwards with the movement of the axle and should have at
least one and three quarters of an inch free space before it will hit the underside of the chassis. Too little space equals a harsh ride. If the space is
ok then you could try disconnecting one end of each shock absorber to see
if the harshmess lessens although this would give you a very bouncy ride.
If the dampers are nice and yellow - i would guess they are fairly new - and no matter how hard they are set - it's the springs (and in this case probably the bump stops) that determine how hard the ride is. Dampers just damp - they have v little effect on the apparent spring rate.
it is worth checking the dampers to ensure that the installation is correct, i.e. that there is sufficient free travel when loaded, if there is adequate clearance between the bump stop and chassis.
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