17-06-2019, 12:29 AM
(This post was last modified: 17-06-2019, 07:57 AM by Tony Press.)
The Austin Seven along with most pre war cars has a so-called 'cart axle' as the front axle and the suspension cannot be compared to later cars with independent suspension, let alone FWD.
I understand the Austin Seven always had vertical king pins with the 'camber' or wheel tilt built into the hub. This camber was as discussed usually arranged to have the king pin pointing at the centre of the tyre contact with the road to allow the wheel to rotate about this point on turning and not cause a 'turning' action when the front wheels were braked (remember front wheel brakes were a novelty when the Seven was built).
The Morgan front end showed a completely different geometry with vertical 'king pins' (spring units) and no camber - must have a very strange feel under braking.
The caster was set by the relationship between the radius arms and the front axle, cunningly adjustable on early cars. The original (was it around 2-3 degrees lean back ?) when new relied on the setting of the rear springs (which obviously changed when driver and passenger added) as the front ball joint position altered.
When the radius arms were fixed on later cars, caster adjustment needed a lot of work especially if the rear springs were too cambered.
See elsewhere for a discussion on toe in.
Cheers, Tony.
I understand the Austin Seven always had vertical king pins with the 'camber' or wheel tilt built into the hub. This camber was as discussed usually arranged to have the king pin pointing at the centre of the tyre contact with the road to allow the wheel to rotate about this point on turning and not cause a 'turning' action when the front wheels were braked (remember front wheel brakes were a novelty when the Seven was built).
The Morgan front end showed a completely different geometry with vertical 'king pins' (spring units) and no camber - must have a very strange feel under braking.
The caster was set by the relationship between the radius arms and the front axle, cunningly adjustable on early cars. The original (was it around 2-3 degrees lean back ?) when new relied on the setting of the rear springs (which obviously changed when driver and passenger added) as the front ball joint position altered.
When the radius arms were fixed on later cars, caster adjustment needed a lot of work especially if the rear springs were too cambered.
See elsewhere for a discussion on toe in.
Cheers, Tony.