Dear All,
Some time ago in a private discussion with Dave Vodden of ThamesMog
I believe he suggested the use of modern motorcycle chain lube for this
application. I admit that this seems to me a brilliant solution to the problem
as the chain lube comes out of the spray-can in a thin, penetrating liquid
and, in a short time, sets up as a sticky and waterproof grease with high
pressure properties. The chain lube is formulated to stick to the chain and
sprockets so as not to be flung all over the motorcycle at high RPM and
would seem to be ideal. I also remember being told that this treatment
drastically improves the "ride".
William G. Lamb, III
Land Rover Specialist
At 12:33 AM 10/29/98 -0800, SOLOW GREG wrote:
>Malcolm, In the owners manuals that come with Morgans, there are
instructions to regularly "paint the leaf springs with motor oil" to keep
them lubricated. That sounded a little messy to me, so we usually pry the
leaves apart by driving a screw driver between them as a wedge, and then
squirt in some 90 EP gear oil. Doing a good job of lubing the springs
absolutly and dramatically improves the ride on a street car. It also
increases the load on the shocks ( or as they are more accurately called
dampers). Since the friction between the leaves has a damping effect on
the motion or the springs, when you remove this friction you have lost some
damping action. The shock's damping action is very velocity sensitive.
This means that the greater the bump or movement the more resistance the
shock should offer. This will occur if the shocks are set up and are
operating properly. On a Morgan, when we lubricate the spring, we also
stiffen the shock. This actually results in a smoother ride over small
road irregularities and better resistance to "bottoming" the suspension on
big bumps.
> Regards,
Greg Solow ( blue Morgan # 45)
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Malcolm Cox [SMTP:malcox@napanet.net]
>Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 1998 7:55 PM
>To: vintage-race@Autox.Team.Net
>Subject: Leaf springs
>
>Looking for advice on what to do about old leaf springs on my MGA
>project.
>They seem to be dry, with rust between leafs. Is this bad?, should
>there be inter-leaf lubrication, if so what lubricant. Does inter leaf
>friction have any bearing on the effectiveness of the shocks?
>Malcolm Cox, Napa
>
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