Morris Minor Owners Club

I notice a few Minor suppliers offering a Spax Coil-Over Damper Conversion Kit for the rear suspension. Has anyone tried one, and what is the reason for having the coils, if the existing leaf springs are retained, or are some of the leaves done away with?

This is the sort of kit I'm on about:

http://www.morrisminorspares.com/rear-s ... fo-p831356

The main reason for fitting coil overs is the ability to change the spring rate of the suspension so that you can have additional spring strength over and above that which is contained in the leaf spring currently fitted to the vehicle. See below as regards reducing the spring rate by removing spring leaves.

There is a limited ability to vary the Minor leaf spring rate by mixing and matching the numbers of spring leaves and their thicknesses whilst there is a good selection of coil springs available to suit all needs.

Personally I can see no reason to fit the additional coil overs unless you require a specific spring rate.

My own leaf springs (7 leaf) have had the bottom leaf removed and professionally reset to lower the car by 2.0" whilst still retaining the spring rate of the 7 leaves which works well with the traction bars and the tele dampers which are fitted in a fore and aft orientation.

If you remove an excess of spring leaves there is a good chance that you will experience spring wind up under acceleration and to a lesser extent under braking.

Only if you fit traction bars are you able to make the most of removing spring leaves and therefore transfering some of the total spring rate to the coil overs.

Phil

Thanks for the reply, and good explanation. I'm amazed that removing or altering just the tiny bottom leaf can alter the suspension height by 2", or do you mean the largest/main leaf?

I'd be interested to see your rear suspension set-up; I'm guessing by fore and aft dampers, you mean similar to those on Dodge RAM pick-up trucks, etc.?

If you remove the largest main leaf you have no location of the rear axle.

The springs as I said above were professionally reset to give a 2" lower ride.

The bottom leaf was removed as it does very little for the rest of the spring - any weight reduction is of a benefit and my Minor is very light compared to a road going car.