Rear Suspension improvements

[markcrossley]

Thanks for the help with the brake judder chaps. I've Polybushed the top trunnions, replaced the tiebar bushes with new rubber and changed the damper oil for lawnmower stuff.
The judder has gone. They seem to be bedding in as well; I've tweaked the adjusters a little and they're performing much better.
As an aside, the steering now has much more precision and the lean through corners is reduced. Its really quite good actually and the thicker damper oil hasn't spoiled the ride quality. In fact I'm becoming a convert. My Midget certainly isn't as comfy and I've been checking on the For Sale section for a Mog of my own!

Now I'm more aware of the rear suspensions shortcomings. Mainly it's just a bit vague, although there doesn't appear to be much travel before it bottoms out. The ride height looks something like. The car is pretty level front to rear. Are there any dimensions I can check with the car on its wheels? Perhaps from the hub centres to the wheel arch lip? Or maybe from the sill to the ground?
Are the springs known to loose their springiness? I think I've read in previous posts about trimming bumpstops. Does that help or do the road shocks that do pass through to the car just get tranferred more fiercely?
I was thinking of polybushing the rear spring shackles and possibly the spring saddles to tighten things up at the back and I'll do the SAE 40 thing with the dampers. (I've just found some Silkolene left over from my Ariel Red Hunter)
Is there anything to be gained by replacing the bush in the front eye of the spring? This is my daughter's first car, so I won't be adding Panhard rods, Mumford links or even oversized tyres.
Are there any other cost effective tweakes worthwhile doing to the back end of a standard 1098 4-door?

Thanks again, Mark

[bmcecosse]

Poly bushing always helps. Cut down the bump stops and change the oil to SAE 40. It all helps!

[oddbod]

I got some longer rear shackles fabricated and put them on, only about 1/2" extra, cost a fiver and fitted longer bolts and nylocks, Did it cos my rear was sagging a bit, but it seems to do the job. Change the oil in the rear dampers, I used sae30, take them off to do it and splash some copper grease on any thing you take off and replace rubbers at the same time. Use Polybushes if you can. DONT try to remove the "elbow" bit, just take off the whole unit and flsh and replace in a vice (or use an unsuspecting teenager to hold it )

[chesney]

Make sure the remade shackles are well made - the extra length will result in more force implemented on the plates themselves.

[bmcecosse]

5/16" flat bar does the job nicely. But I suggest only 1" longer than standard - which lifts the car 1/2".

[GPO_Van]

(I've just found some Silkolene left over from my Ariel Red Hunter)

Just did a search to find the best place to fit an ariel (should have been Aerial ) any way see you have a Red Hunter, mine is a 1958 350cc
Reg