[Spridgets] MG Axles

[Ron Soave]

Some guys who race have never broken one.

--- On Fri, 5/21/10, Larry Daniels <ladaniels at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> From: Larry Daniels <ladaniels at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: Re: [Spridgets] MG Axles
> To: "Mike Eldred" <redscirocco at hotmail.com>, spridgets at autox.team.net
> Date: Friday, May 21, 2010, 8:30 AM
> Would heat treating the axles be a
> good idea?  It has to be cheaper than
> buying competition axles for the guy who doesn't race, but
> doesn't baby his
> car, either.
>
> LAD
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "Mike Eldred" <redscirocco at hotmail.com>
> Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 7:33 AM
> To: <spridgets at autox.team.net>
> Subject: Re: [Spridgets] MG Axles
>
> Yup.  It's a weak spot on a lot of MG models.  As
> someone else has already
> noted, it's usually a twist-break, not a stress
> "snap."  I have two TF axle
> stubs that demonstrate that nicely, if you'd like to see
> them.
>
>
>
> In my experience, the number one way to snap an MG axle is
> to let out the
> clutch in a forward gear while rolling backwards. 
> Don't do it.  And guess
> what?  Even if it doesn't break at that moment, it
> might just break two days
> later.  I've also heard of people breaking axles
> spinning their tires on
> pavement or gravel, and generally horsing around.
>
>
>
> Although I don't doubt that the guy you ran into broke a
> rear axle when he
> hit
> a pothole or whatnot, I would bet that the actual damage
> was done sometime
> before he hit the bump.  I bought a parts Midget from
> a guy that swore the
> differential was broken.  All he did, he said, was
> drive down the road and
> turn around in a dirt parking lot.  From experience, I
> knew right away it
> was
> a broken axle.  The break was probably started days
> before it actually
> broke.
>
>
>
> I suppose, if you hit a bump hard enough while
> accelerating, you might get
> enough wheel hop to twist the axle.   I
> don't know.
>
>
>
> At any rate, if you treat your MG like a 30++ year old
> classic car, you can
> still have fun without breaking an axle.  Or drive
> like a maniac and buy
> axles
> every few years.  As someone else noted, there is a
> thriving cottage
> industry
> producing axles, some with "competition grade" (whatever
> that is) hardened
> steel.
>
>
>
> -Mike Eldred
>
> '54 MG TF
>
> '73 Midget
>
>
>
> > > I ran into a guy today who used to have a 64
> Sprite. He told me that he
> > > would break his rear axles. I told him that I
> have never had that
> problem.
> > > He said that he was hard on his car and that if
> you hit the rear down at
> an
> > > angle they are likely to snap at the ends.
> > >
> > > Is this fairly common with our cars or was this
> guy a maniac of some
> > > sort
> > > really pushing his car too hard on bumpy
> surfaces?
> > >
> > > I was not aware that this is a potential weak
> point?
>
>
>
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