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MG MGB Technical - Rear Spax Conversion.

Hi Everybody
Any opinions on this conversion, I've just put my car [roadster] back on the road after a lengthy lay-up and even on the softest settings I get the feeling they are a bit stiff, I'm thinking of going back to the lever arm ones.
Ron
R. Algie

Your question shows up often on this boad and others. Most who have tried them find the same problem as you, too stiff.On a street driven car, the lever arms are actually quite good.
John H

they are rubbish , ive had three sets and with in a week they rattle ,did you swop the bottom plate over to the other side to make them lower .i went for the uprated lever arm from mg hive dirt cheap .
daz

I have them on my BGT I wish I didn't, they do not adjust to go soft enough and clatter around will be replacing the Parabolics as well as they don't work either..
K Harris

Indeed they are rubbish.

I experimented a lot on my rally GT with springs and shocks.

Best is to go back to standard. If you need to carry more load in the back and want a bit higher ride, go for RB springs.Check the springs that they are straight!!!! Ifnot your axle will not be centered

Keep the shocks standard rating. A soft rear gives the best grip

Cheers

André
André

Thanks for the replies, I've still got the lever arm shocks and linkages so I'll re-fit them.
Ron
R. Algie

GAZ are good. good rep'no complaint on the net, 32 point adjustment and they go much softer than spax about which there are many complaints.
Currently I'm using KYB's
as part of this set up.
http://www.mgbmga.com/tech/mgb14d.htm
Nothing wrong with them, I just happen to have a set of adjustable GAZ that I bought for another purpose.
Peter

Hi, I'm still messing with the rear of my V8 roadster. Currently I have RV8 springs and Spax, it's 100% better than with the "cart" springs, but still not right. The rattling, from the Spax's is the valving, it's noisy, this is the official line from spax themselves! Current ones are supposed to be quieter! Wouldn't like to live on the difference!
Allan

A local guy who races B's recommended fitting the 25%uprated lever arms.

I did this and found the ride nice and soft compared to the SPAX and KONI that I had previously tried. My LSD helps a bit too.

Dave

D M Tetlow

Thirty five years ago I fitted Spax to my MGB and I thought they were fine. But if your in your 50s or 60s like many owners, they are unbearable. My Latest MG came with them fitted and I returned to levers.
c cummins

SPAX were on my 70 rdstr when I bought it - they will be coming off when I've finished painting it. They are too hard. Yes 15% uprated levers on my GT are fine. I fitted Bilsteins to the rear of a customers V8 GT & played around with valving & settled with variable rate valves which gave a slightly better ride & grip than levers but it is expensive. They were on & off about 4 times & $70.00 each time for a valve change.
Garth Bagnall

That's mine now converted back to lever arms, they do seem a bit softer, I've still to try the car on a wet road, it was a bit twitchy with the Spax fitted in the damp, hopefully it'll be better with the lever arms.
I suppose the problem is the inherent damping effect of leaf springs added to the aftermarket shock absorbers makes for too stiff a setting for general road use because I've a TR6 with Spax on the rear with coil springs and it doesn't have the problem.
Ron
R. Algie

My V8 came with them, one failed after a few thousand miles and it cost a fortune to replace both as I couldn't get a single of the same type, compared to replacing a single lever-arm. They were always too hard even on their softest setting. After some 60k or so it did seem to me that they had gone soft, but needless to say the adjusters had seized by now. I went back to lever-arms before they failed again.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed between 15/10/2008 and 21/10/2008

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