On Thu, 11 Jun 1998 16:13:07 +0000 Paul Hunt <paul.hunt1@virgin.net>
writes:
>I was plagued with wheel wobble for the whole of the life of one set
>of
>tyres, bought just after I bought the car. Changed the tyres, wobble
>went, or so I thought. Had occasion to remove and replace a wheel the
>
>other day - and the wobble was back! I have marked one stud and hole
>so
>I am sure the wheel goes back on as it came off (haven't marked the
>nuts, though).
>
>The wheels are on the V8 - the ones with the alloy centres and the
>chrome rims - and the nuts don't have the domed face to ensure
>centering
>but have a cylinder that fits inside the wheel hole, so there must be
>a
>certain amount of clearance.
>
>Took the wheel off again yesterday, didn't seem much play when sitting
>
>on the nuts, but instead of doing up the nuts 'finger tight' then
>dropping the car off the jack to tighten them up I lowered the car
>just
>enough to contact the tyre on the drive a little, tightened the nuts
>as
>much as I could, dropped the car and finally tightened the nuts a
>fraction of a turn.
>
>Result? Wobble gone.
>
>Any thoughts as to whether this was a coincidence, or is the fact that
>I
>always used to tighten the nuts with the car on its wheels to blame?
>
>PaulH.
Paul,
I ran into this little tip in a magazine article several months ago
(sorry, I can't for the life of me remember what mag.) about the various
wheels on MG's
The author when discussing the V-8 style wheels, made mention of the
symptoms you describe. His solution was as follows:
When re installing the V-8 (alloy) wheels, start two Rostyle wheel nuts
on opposite studs. Tighten just enough for the taper to align the wheel
holes to the studs, but not enough to damage the hole edge. Then start
and tighten, on the other two studs, the V-8 wheel nuts. Remove the
Rostyle nuts and replace with the V-8 nuts.
The purpose of the excercise is to "square" up the wheel with the studs
and thus the axle.
In case you don't have any Rostyle nuts handy, a good replacement is
availible from the local auto store. Just ask for an "Acorn stye" 1/2 X
20 wheel nut. Ususal cost is about 5 bucks for a set of 4.
Rick Morrison
72 MGBGT
74 Midget
|