no suspension. bad idea?

[Atill93]

i have a 1978 MGB. stock suspension consists of springs in the front and leaf springs in the rear. I have removed the springs in the front and I drive on bump stops right now. i have had lowering blocks made for the rear that work wonderfully.

my only issue is that the car is not low enough

in order to lower the car more I want to remove the front bump stops and have bigger blocks made to bring the rear down some more. this might be a dumb question but i'm curious, is it a bad idea to ride with literally no suspension up front?

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/atill/6288083570/" title="IMG_4507 by Atill93, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6236/6288083570_0663162586_z.jpg" width="640" height="427" alt="IMG_4507"></a>

[Francois Dillinger]

no shock whatsoever in the front? only spring?

[indytrucks]

You can't be serious.

[Atill93]

no shock whatsoever in the front? only spring?
just springs. no shocks.
You can't be serious.
i'm serious

[exexpat]

Smaller sidewalls. The really low cars go under factory diameter typically.

[rexxdoggy]

Yeah, people disregard smaller side walls when wanting to find different ways to go lower. You've got some FAT tires on there, you can go like two sizes in sidewall down and it will lower the car drastically.

[RCSummers]

Air Ride + Some 15 or 16's with small sidewalls.

[Kielan]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought I'd heard of some air cooled Beetle guys doing this kind of thing.

[audiwark]

I didn't run shocks on my air cooled bug, but might be different on modern suspension

[Francois Dillinger]

Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought I'd heard of some air cooled Beetle guys doing this kind of thing.
aircooled cars have shocks but no spring because of the front beam.

this is opposite...if there's no shock to bottom out, i don't see how cutting your bumpstops would hurt. and smaller sidewalls will get the car lower, but make the wheel gap worse....

[benz88]

as long as theres a spring in the front still

[firelizard3]

Drop spindles.

[audiwark]

aircooled cars have shocks but no spring because of the front beam.

this is opposite...if there's no shock to bottom out, i don't see how cutting your bumpstops would hurt. and smaller sidewalls will get the car lower, but make the wheel gap worse....

Well the beam is full of torsion leafs which act as a spring/ are a type of spring, just no coil spring

[Dibaltic]

Well the beam is full of torsion leafs which act as a spring/ are a type of spring, just no coil spring

this is correct. many aircooleds run no shocks up front (after the beam has been narrowed more then 4" typically) but their front axles are full of little torsion leafs that act like a spring. so i can imagine running only spring in the front of your car would be pretty similar to this

[Jesus Christ]

What do the springs look like?

[PavelK313]

WTF?
Have you ever riden in the car with springs but no shocks?
Not sure if trollin?

[indy510]

WTF?
Have you ever riden in the car with springs but no shocks?
Not sure if trollin?

It's gonna be kinda bouncy ....

it's like spinners for suspension .. when you stop rolling, the car keeps bouncing up and down for 45 seconds .. :rofl

[jacbo]

I ran bottomed out shocks on homemade heater-hose bumps and no springs.

It was fucking fantastic. I could not drive that car more than 20 feet without laughing uncontrollably/shitting my drawers from the uncontrollable bump-steer.

I say go for it, just don't drive it even remotely near any kind of civilization.

[Atill93]

this is the stock suspension spring (currently not on the car)

<a href="http://s788.photobucket.com/albums/yy170/atill93/1978%20MGB/?action=view&amp;current=IMG_6062.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy170/atill93/1978%20MGB/IMG_6062.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

this is the bumpstop which i currently drive on

<a href="http://s788.photobucket.com/albums/yy170/atill93/1978%20MGB/?action=view&amp;current=IMG_6069.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy170/atill93/1978%20MGB/IMG_6069.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

there is no shock on the car. i don't now why but it only comes with a spring. the spring sits in the pan that is here in the picture.

<a href="http://s788.photobucket.com/albums/yy170/atill93/1978%20MGB/?action=view&amp;current=IMG_6071.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy170/atill93/1978%20MGB/IMG_6071.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[loneStar22]

Car without rear shocks - YouTube

[Jorge]

That is just amazing ^^^

[Jesus Christ]

i now want to try that

[CHIF8008]

You want to go low on a old car. You will need smaller sidewall,bigger wheels,and you may need to rethink how the suspension works. You may need to cut and section parts of it/build shock mounts to help with the new low. Ever consider swapping the front suspension with another car? Seems that it will need a bit of modification to get the lowLow you want.

[Francois Dillinger]

i think a lot of people in this thread don't get it...he didn't take the shocks out, the car never had shocks. aircooled vw's are completely irrelevant as they are completely opposite. since there is no shock do bottom out and ruin, i see no difference in removing the bumpstop considering he hasn't been running springs in the front anyway...

[benz88]

i think a lot of people in this thread don't get it...he didn't take the shocks out, the car never had shocks. aircooled vw's are completely irrelevant as they are completely opposite. since there is no shock do bottom out and ruin, i see no difference in removing the bumpstop considering he hasn't been running springs in the front anyway...

So your telling him to run just Control arms and no Spring/Leaf or Shocks? or bumpstops?

[Francois Dillinger]

i see no difference in removing the bumpstop considering he hasn't been running springs in the front anyway...

like i said.

would i recommend running no suspension? no. do i think removing the bumpstops will do any more harm than running no springs? no.

[motocaddy]

So your telling him to run just Control arms and no Spring/Leaf or Shocks? or bumpstops?No. That's what OP is currently doing. Except he now wants to remove the bumpstops.

From the pics, it looks like the bumpstops are the only thing preventing metal-on-metal contact. Seems to me that all this is unsafe and you need to redesign (cut, weld, etc.) this front setup to get the lows you want and be driveable.

[ratmog]

OP, these old brit cars are great, but they will fall apart at the seams if you let them, which I'm sure you're aware of. I suggest you have a look for wind down coilover conversion kits - the MGB is a cult car and is likely to have something made for the racing scene, but probably not the modification scene. I don't know a lot about the actual structure, but I assume it is almost as simple as the morris, in which case some cutting and welding can get you as low as you want, but it will take work.
I don't even have springs on the front, and only leafsprings on the back and my ride is rubbish.

If you need any help shipping from the UK, let me know.

[firelizard3]

Drop spindles.

:shifty

[vr6vr6]

I haven't been able to read anything past the Camry from LOLing.

[jcflowers]

Without bumpstops, you'll be running metal against metal. Surely you need to have AT LEAST a tiny bit of bump stop to absorb some sort of shock.

I ride bottomed out front shocks and my car bumps and rattles all over the place. It's tons of fun! but it isn't a daily driver.

[89325iturbo]

Mgb's do have shocks, just not a traditional one.they have lever arms with springs. You can run a shorter spring with drop spindles. Except drop spindles are only offered from a couple people. I have an mgb and have been trying to think of ways to get it low. Something to act simulate a drop spindle without modifying the ones on the car. Or modify the front crossmember to get it to sit up higher. Or if you want to spend the money there's redesigned modern front set-ups that use coilovers..

[TheArkitekt]

if you want to do it right, and have the car last you need to call these guys

http://www.fastcarsinc.com/ifs.htm

They have a tube redesign drop in for the front setup, and could probably work out an IRS system for the rear (looks like they have before)

If you explain your needs they should be able to modify their existing setup for "moar low" since they do everything custom.

i would also be sure to build a protector for the oil pan, since that can be a problem with these cars lowered.

I'm very excited to see this lower, i had a 71 B that I recently restored and have a soft spot for MGs

[DragginWagonII]

I can see the news report now. "Crash involving a small green convertible today, witnesses said it bounced clear through the intersection and hit a building"
Just weld the control arm to the metal under the bumpstop. Hardtail stylez.

[joshyman]

well, judging by that video, id do it in a heartbeat...

[seffer]

smaller wheel and tire, and yes i think if your going to think about it you should do it, or just steel your neibors fence post and make that shit rigid

[kboers]

The only thing I would say to research thoroughly is the safety of driving without suspension. Is your car going to be able to corner safely at any speed without skidding out of control?

Besides that I would say go for it. You'll never know how it works until you try it, and if it doesn't work out then try something else

[yotatuner]

ive been riding on my bump stops for the past year up front, only worry is a balljoint giving out or lower control arm breaking .And i **** the ride ,so i had lowering spindels fab up and in the process of using a qa1 adjustable suspension from a 69 camaro. I drive a 99 tacoma single cab