>It's time that I start rebuilding my front suspension (or at least
>thinking about it). I bought my car with about 80,000 miles on it,
>previous history unknown. I presently have steering wheel shake at about
>60 mph. I have eliminated wheel balance as a cause. I have new lever
>shocks. Wheel bearings appear to be adjusted correctly.
>
>Maybe someone could diagnose the cause of this problem?
>
>Any tips or tricks I need to know about the process of renewing the
>suspension?
>
>Any upgrades that could be recommended, or not recommended?
>
> Negative camber?
> Performance springs?
>Cheers,
>.
>Larry Hoy
>1969 MGB Roadster
>==========================
My car ('74 B) had a similar problem. After days of trying to figure out the
problem and getting the wheels balanced, my dad drove the car very slowly
down our street and noticed that the steering wheel would bob from side to
side. It turned out, when we took off the front wheels (for the umpteenth
time), that one of the tires had a huge "bubble" in it. Every revolution of
the wheel, this bubble would hit the ground, and subsequently, the car would
have an awful vibration at speeds of 45+ mph. Since fixing that (put on the
spare!), the car had been a joy to drive. I have since bought new tires and
that has made all the difference in the world.
BTW- The bad tire was a Firestone 721 which was older than me! When my dad
bought a new Bonneville a long time ago, it had Firestone 721's on it, and
each tire had several random flats before he finally bought new tires and
never had another problem! The guy at the tire store said the 721 was the
worst tire Firestone ever made.
Since it needed it anyways, I rebuilt the front suspension. I bought
the inch-lowered springs from Victoria British with the upgraded (really
hard) bushings. (I didn't buy the shorter rebound buffers.) (Page 28 spring
1997 catalog) I also bought the negative camber A-Arms, although from a
different source. With the lowered springs, the car looks very good, but it
has a hard ride. Go over speed bumps very slowly!! If you don't, the car
will bottom out for a second while the spring compresses from going over the
bump too quickly!! Otherwise, there are no clearance problems.
Don't get the negative camber A-Arms unless you're building a race
car. I think it's just too much for the street. You have to be Hercules to
steer, especially when at a stop. And, the old wire wheels clunked a lot
from the weight of the car being on them at a unusual angle. I ended up
taking them off after a week or two.
I am very happy with the results of the rebuild with the lowered springs and
hard bushings, however, I wouldn't get the A-Arms.
Happy Motoring,
Greg (GregMGB@aol.com)
‘74 B
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