Chain and cable lube does indeed work well to lubricate leaf springs =
that have no pads between the leaves, ie. Morgan and MG A, TR-3, etc. =
But because the aerosol discharge is a little difficult to control and =
the resultant lubricant is also sort of sticky, I prefer to use 90 EP =
Gear oil. It works just as well.=20
Regards, =
Greg Solow
a
-----Original Message-----
From: William G. Lamb, III [SMTP:lambroving@worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Thursday, October 29, 1998 6:59 AM
To: SOLOW GREG
Cc: 'Malcolm Cox'; 'vintage-race@Autox.Team.Net'; =
'Morgans@Autox.Team.Net'; Peter Goundry
Subject: RE: Leaf springs
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.=20
> 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. =20
>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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