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Suspension Woes

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Morris

Morris

Yoda
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My 79 Midget is listing hard-a-port! (leaning to the left) The difference between the left and right of the car is easily an inch.

I have replaced the front springs, and swapped the rear springs (putting the left on the right and vice versa) and still she leans.

Any idea what's going on?

Also, is there any real danger to driving her like this? Bear in mind I am a very tame back and forth to work kinda driver.

Thanks,

Morris
 
Morris,
this is the only question i have never really seen the definitive answer to. When i had my 79, spent time and money rebuilding and fixing, got it all done and the left was 3/4 to 1" lower than the right. i tried everything..including 2 sets of springs, the first two came from moss, and the 3rd set from a place in Va. Don't remember the name. Still she leaned. When another midget became available i bought that one and took all my new parts and put them on that car, and yes it still leans about 1/4 to a half depending on how hard i took the last corner. I even added two springs to each side, made it handle a lot better but didn't fix the lean. I think if i took one leaf out of the right it would be very close, and i may do that one day. In my opinion i think the bodies get twisted but i don't really know. when i stripped out my 79 it looked to me like it was twisted when i sighted down the centerline of the car and lined up the rear of the cockpit with the front of the cowl. The shells may take a set over time, i have read on other boards that the folks in the UK say they lean to the right, ours lean to the left, kind of a drivers side thing. The bodies are a monocoque(sp) design, meaning the skin is a stressed member.

as far as it being safe...i wont say one way or the other, I pushed my 79 pretty hard with it leaning, and never felt that i was going to lose it. and aside from an occasional tire rub, i never had a problem other than how i felt knowing the car behind me probably figured i must weighed 400 pounds. And my own embarrassment at knowing what it looked like.

I wish i had a frame machine to put it on so i would have figured out if it was twisted or not, but i never did, and that shell is gone now. I will say that that shell had some rust in it. I repaired both forward spring perches and some of the floorboard an each side near the rockers, its possible that had something to do with it.

Since my 75 doesn't lean a whole lot i have kinda learned to live with it. and while trolling ebay photos i have noticed that most of them tend to have a lean as well.

mark
 
I'm with Mark on this one. My 76 leans as much as an inch on some days. I have done the spring swapping routine as well as replacing all the bushings. I don't think there is much that can be done without trying something dramatic. I thought about some spacer blocks to try and compensate for the lean but have never reached that point of frustration with it yet.
JC
 
Your comments are very reassuring. Thank you.

I did notice one thing while replacing the rear springs. There is a plate welded to the axle where the spring plate mates with the axle. It seemed that the plate on the left side was at an angle where as the plate on the right side was roughly parralel to the ground. Could this cause the car to lean? Could BL (world renowned for its quality control) have had a bad welding jig that caused every 4th midget built from 76 to 79 lean a bit.

Of course, I could be imagining this so-called angle. I won't be taking the springs off anytime soon to confirm this suspicion.

Thanks again,

Morris
 
Certianly worth looking at. my other theory is that the twist from the right rear tends to keep that side higher and arched more........

mark
 
Hi Morris
Leaning isn't necessarily a problem unless it causes different handling on left and right hand corners but it is relatively easy to make the car level by packing under a front spring, 1/4" under the spring makes over 1/2" difference to ride height, but if you want level and good handling, find a racer who has corner weight scales and is prepared to explain how to get the car level and have the load on each wheel correct, the improvement to the handling can be dramatic. If you are interested I can explain the process but in view of the Atlantic between us couldn't really help with the equipment!

John
 
Hoppy,

I am most interested. Maybe this will be a good one for the knowledge base????

morris

ps. My biggest concern with the leaning is the embarrassment it causes me.
 
i am interested as well.


mark
 
There was an excellent article in the latest MOSS MOTORING
where they talked about front end bushings causing problems.
Apparently, if the rubber bushings aren't torqued when the
front end is in compression (ie-NOT on jackstands), the
rubber will 'bond' to the metal in the relaxed state and
cause the suspension to ride high. At least until the
rubber sheers, which *could* cause the problem you're
having. Read the article...they had a better explanation
of whats going on.

The reason this caught my eye is that I made this very
mistake when I put new rubber bushings in the frontend of
my Bugeye. I could not figure out why the front end is
riding at least 1" high in the front. Now I know!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cryin.gif
 
Yes, check rear springs, bushing and shackles to see if they are OK.
Be sure that front shock arm is not bent.
Be sure that you have not developed a crack in one of the lower A-arms (this is more common than it should be).
Mark's correct...these bodies do twist a bit with age.
If nothing seems wrong, you can add spacers between the spring perches and the A-arms in the front end (5/16" washers make good spacers). Add more spacers and car will drop on that side.
 
Thanks for all the good advice.

I have put poly bushings all around the car. The old shackle bushings where non-existant!

I will double check the a-arms, but I did not notice anything when replacing the bushings, and the difference in height is most pronounced in the rear. When I had the rear springs off, I put them side by side, and they looked identical. One was not bowed less than the other. When I replaced the front springs, the left spring was 1/2" shorter than the right. But after replacing them, the lean seems more pronounced. Maybe my vision is blurred by frustration.

The shock arms do not look bent, and I have placed a bullet level on the wheel with the car on stands and and the ground and it shows level. I know that is hardly a scientific measurement, but I can't find a shop in Austin, TX that will even put the car on an alignment rack.

I am pretty sure the bushings are not bonding, because I checed the motion before replacing the spring, and I greased the bushings before installing them.

Any other ideas?

morris
 
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