MGA Forum

I have just had a Garage change my steel wheels to a wire wheels, I also changed the tyres, the rear wheel is now close to the wheel arch (moved forward about 30mm 11/2 inch). I now have Firestone F-560 165 R 15 86T tyres fitted.

Does anyone know why the wheel has move forward closer to the wheel arch. The garage have not touch the axle or suspension!

Thanks.

Something is not right.

The springs, spring shackles and u bolt shackles are what orient the axle .

So either the springs are some how temporarily sitting wrong and sitting funny, which I don’t see how, or the u bolt that holds the rear axle to the spring center has loosened and moved.

Perhaps jack the car up by the frame and see if the spring reorients it self , I don’t see how this will happen but I suppose it’s worth a shot

I would be looking to see if the U bolt clamp is still in the center of the spring, and for evidence of its moving



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-30 06:58 AM by bobs77vet.

Frank, could be that you have a broken main leaf in your leaf spring pack - happened to me on my MGB. By the time I figured out what was causing the wheel not to be centered in the wheel well on one side of the car, I had 3/4" separation in the leaf spring.

Good luck, George

I realize that you are speaking of the height but that wheel / axle is totally screwed up. The whole assembly should be centered in the opening.

Did they change the rear end? Did they use wire wheel adapters?

A little more information is needed here.

Perhaps they reversed the springs, end for end? The axle location is not in the centre of the springs.

As Bob & George noted in posts 2 & 3, the axle on that side has shifted either because of a cracked main leaf spring or the axle has shifted on the leaf spring.

Normally the proper position of the axle to the spring is made by alignment of the axle plate with the leaf positioning center bolt / peg, shown below, #3 in Moss UK diagram.

Then the axle is clamped to the spring by the 2 U-bolts and plates and cushion buffers, items 13 to 17.

In rare cases, this peg could be damaged or sheared off but that would equal massive force or huge hit from a bad pothole in the road !

So check that the axle and spring are properly set!

Edit::
I suspect that the top leaf of the springs has broken somewhere forward of the axle, allowing the leaf to overlap the broken end.
The rear shackles have enough lateral freedom of movement to allow the axle to shift forward (or in some cases, to shift to the rear)

If the leaf was broken behind the axle, the unbroken leaf spring between the front eye bolt of the spring and axle clamps would be a firm and fixed distance and hold the axle in place. The height of the body would also look sagging / lowered on that side.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-30 08:06 AM by MG14611.

Not likely, OP stated that the garage didn’t touch the axle or spring and the leaf springs are not reversible as the front eye of the springs have a installed bushing that’s not easily removed to accept the rear shackle hardware, IIRC.

How do you know the suspension wasn't touched? Did you watch them do it?
Take a look at the rear shackles, they will be at different angles = broken spring or missing/broken center bolt.

My thoughts exactly... just how did they do this miraculous "conversion".

I know the OP says they did not touch the axle... I find this impossible to believe as well.

As we all know... wire wheel rear ends are not bolt on rear ends. So either they changed the rear end of they used adapters. pretty important to know which.

Are both sides the same?

---

1978 MGB
When diagnosing issues related to running and stalling, always check to see if you have gas in the tank first.

Did they put it on the lift? And screw something up?

Many thanks for your help, I'm putting it up on the ramp next week and have a knowledgeable friend looking at it, I will show him your input and post the out come.

Hi George, thanks for your comment, I'm putting it up on a lift next week and will check.
Much appreciated.
Frank.

Thanks for the comments, we have used adapters to get the wire wheels fitted and I am putting up on a lift next week, I will show the mechanic your comments.
Many thanks.

Hi David, thanks for your comment, I'll have it up on a lift next week and I'll pass on your comment to the mechanic.
Your comment is much appreciated.