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MG MGB Technical - Suspension Upgrades

I have a 1977 MGB GT 1800 and would like to upgrade the suspension to make the car handle better. However I do not want to replace the lever arms as these as relatively new. I am think off uprated springs but any suggests on length, spring rates and other suggestions would be appricated

Many thanks
Mark Peasey

Hi,

I don't think that there is a lot of improvement to be had, as one of the short comings of the suspension design, is the relatively short suspension travel available to control the unsprung weight of the wheel and brake. You can install coilovers and maybe that will be a little better than stock, but you are not going to make a Lotus out of it. The car was designed as a basic 2 seater in the lower price range. No Ferrari Dino suspension underneath some pretty sheetmetal. But I guess its all relative to what you expect to get for the dough you want to spend. Just my 2 Cents. ALAN
Alan

there used to be a couple companies that produced ford cobra replica kits and they used the mgb front end. There are kits that modify the entire front system including the cross member and convert it to a ball joint system with internal telescopic shocks. The stock front end really works pretty good as is.
Barry
Barry Parkinson

Lots in the archives!

cheers
Ian Buckley

I don't want to make a Lotus out of the car or a track day tear away just to tighten the handling for some B road fun
Mark Peasey

Mark. The first step is to note what problems you have with the MGB suspension. My experience is with US spec cars of that era. I purchased a 79 B, new, in Bitburg, Germany and found that it tended to "float" a little at about 85 mph on the autobahns. At 80 mph, it would handle quite well when crusing. I currently have another 79 MGB which has had the "A" arm bushings replaced with the V-8 bushings. The maximum speed limit, in town, is 65 mph and the average speed is about 70 mph to 80 mph. The car handles quite well and seems to be much more stable than my first 79 B. (This may be due to the fact that I have an LE which has a front spoiler on it.) Thus, it is difficult to know what your problem is. If you regularly travel above 80 mph, the use of the V-8 bushings seems to help. If you are going to tour in an area where there are are unlimited speeds, the switch to poly bushings may be of use. Steve S has posted on this in the past using bushings from a UK company. But, not knowing how the car is used makes it difficult to make recommenations. Les
Les Bengtson

Mark,

A Frontline midget (K powered) but similar suspension to B was quicker round Knockhill than a Lotus, so the antiquated suspension works OK, maybe not so well on our potholed UK roads but you need IRS for this which is available but expensive and no levers.

Handling is effected by ride height and depends whether you wish to lower car?

RB weigh a ton and act like a pendulum, remove?

Balance between over and understeer effected by ARB's Springs and tyre pressures.

Frontline sell a rear traction control link, which allows suspension movement but locates rear axle and roll axis can be adjusted.

Superflex (prefer these as have SS insets where necessary) bushes (normally blue for road, red will be very harsh for road use) will tighten up suspension compared to rubber.

Wider tyres and increasing alloys from 14 to 15ins will improve cornering force available but will increase unsprung weight.

Lever valves can be uprated usually front by 20%

Paul
Paul

Mark: I also have a '77 and I've found the best thing you can do is lower your suspension with a kit from one of the well known vendors. These kits come with uprated front springs. Use polyurethane suspension bushes all around including the sway bars. These 2 things will transform your handling without breaking the bank. You could also get uprated valves for the lever shocks. Wider wheels with performance 185/70 tires (I use Yokohama) will add to the package but should come after the other upgrades.
Terry

Another quick and low cost upgrade is a switch to 3/4" anti-roll bar. Stiff front and flexible rear. I think post 76 cars had a rear arb too, my 1980 GT has.
I have fitted recon dampers, poly bushes, 3/4" arb, c/b front springs and the handling seems much tighter. I have a set of lowering blocks to go on the rear, but will consider dropping the rear some more. I have also de-r/bumpered the car to lose the 40kg mass Paul mentions for both improved power:weight ratio and the pendulum effect.
Martin
Martin ZT

Mark-
Properly set up, your car should handle reasonably well. Chances are, all your car needs is a good reconditioning of its standard suspension. First, replace the springs with new ones and install Superflex bushings front and rear. These have as much give as standard rubber bushings, but retain their "like new" feel far longer. Superflex has a website at http://www.superflex.co.uk/ Next, install a pair of uprated damper valves into your front lever arm dampers. These are available from Moss Motors. The front end will ride a little stiffer on bad roads, but you'll adapt to it in a few days and no longer notice the difference in ride. However, the improvement is worthwhile. If this isn't good enough. a Panhard rod will keep the rear wheels properly aligned with the front ones under hard cornering forces. Still not good enough? Install 15" wheels with high performance tires.
Steve S.

Cheers Chaps this is these were the ideas I was looking for!! :)
Mark Peasey

Be careful about replacing those rear leaf springs - many aftermarket springs are of poor quality and will leave you with a car that gives you a hard bounce over the smallest crack in the road.
Adam Birnbaum

Not to mention one with its rear sticking up in the air like a submissive monkey.
Paul Hunt

Paul mentioned Frontline's RTL axle location setup. Has anyone here got one of these on a B? Looks ideal to me, don't know what the price is though...

Submissive monkey... nice :o)

Cheers,
--
Olly
Oliver Stephenson

Mark- Doug Jackson is still selling his composite rear leaf set to lower 1 inch or more. I just rebuilt the front end of the RB MGB and the transformation is amazing using the lowered front end springs and neg cam wishbones. I went back to the stock rebuilt dampers and threw the tube Gabriels in the round file. Previously I too was "floating: at 75 + mph, but now with the whole car down an inch to 1 1/4, and removal of the rear roll bar, she handles like my 71 splittail and sticks to the road, in corner, at 80 or so. Years ago, still afflicted then with the "must-fiddle" syndrome, I converted all the cars to tube shocks. What a mistake and waste of doe!. Finally, I read some testimonials on the "Hopkinson" or the like coil over "Dynamic" front end conversion and was firmly convinced, bang-buck, you can do better spending $350-400 on a complete stock suspension rebuild. One guy in FLA, said he thought his $1700 system was no-better than the stock OE setup!!!!! I've not tried SteveS super-bushes, but imagine-given his thorough nature- they could be a better mousetrap. Vic
vem myers

Vem: I've done a similar rebuild with Energy Suspension poly bushes (including sway bar bushes)from Brit-Tek and am very satisfied with the results. What is your thinking on removing the rear anti-sway bar? I still have mine and am open to any further improvement that removal may bring. Thanks.
Terry

My 71 B has lowered suspension, not anything that I have done just the effect of time (middle box of exhaust hits ground all the time). I have superflex bushes and 185 tyres. The handling and grip are pretty good on smooth roads, but it is easily upset by bumps cats eyes etc. You can't get away from the fact that it has a 1950's suspension design. I have also heard that the 3/4" anti roll bar is the first mod that should be considered and everyone seems to agree that stiff front and flexible rear is the way to go. I don't have an issue with the lever arm dampers on mine, but I don't know whether they have been uprated. I have never been over 85 mph but no floatiness is evident.
Paul Hollingworth

Terry- With the neg camb wish, and the back sway, after lowering, I found understeer pert insistent. I left the front sway stock diameter and removed the rear. Drives like a dream now. Vic
vem myers

My 2 cents on upgrades.
I'ved done negative camber A-arms, bigger front sway bar, wider tires and wheels, V8 bushings up front, poly urethane bushings in the back, and converted to rear tube shocks.
All in all this setup has been great. Turn in is crisp, and it pulls enough to give me oil pressure problems under hard prolonged cornering.
Basically it handles much better than it used to.
Bill Mertz


Terry have a look at Paul Walbran Motors and he explains why taking off the rear bar helps handling.
http://www.mgparts.co.nz DENIS
denis hill

Denis

Excellant article, although re Telescopics Koni appear to be only ones that are soft enough for B.

Paul

Paul Wiley

Standard,original set-up with Ron Hopkinson front and rear antiroll bars. More tnan adequate.
Bumpkin

I just finished installing a 3/4 sway-bar on the front of my 70 B. Prior to this I had replaced all bushing with prothane type from Moss along with new rear shock links. The car was good before the new sway-bar and now it's great.
Bob R.

Are there uprated valves available for the rear shocks? I put the glass springs on the rear and they dramatically improve the ride and reduce rear end skittering in rough corners. But the springs don't resist large bumps as well and bottom out more easily. They are not progressive in their resistance as is a multi leaf spring. Doug Jackson reccomends stiffer tube shocks. I would like to try uprating the original stocks to see how that works.
Barry
Barry Parkinson

This thread was discussed between 07/02/2004 and 18/02/2004

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGB Technical BBS is active now.