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MG MGA - Rear axle check straps

There were many complaints in the past regarding MGA check straps not being able to bear the weight of the axle; this from multiple distributors. The interior woven fabric was rather flimsy and the outer rubber coating could not provide the additional strength needed; only a couple instances of load bearing and they would break.
Has there been any indication that this has been resolved? Anyone fairly certain of a source that provides a quality strap?
Thanks..
Rick deOlazarra

Must be a USA Problem, because i have never seen a bad pair from Moss Europe or elsewhere
Dominic Clancy

There was a time when wrong length straps (midget?) were incorrectly sold for MGAs. I thought that issue had worked its way through the main suppliers, but some low down the chain suppliers may still have old supplies.
Colin Manley

It is still a current problem - not just the USA - I have had bad straps from a couple of UK suppliers, the internal reinforcement is totally inadequate.

Yet another case of penny pinching in the supply chain!
Chris at Octarine Services

Would a chain solve the problem?
Art Pearse

Art
I think there needs to be a small amount of flex (maybe not using the right word here)....But a chain would have no give at all.....
I bought my straps from Cecelia, back in March, and drove the car all Summer and Fall...They still look good....But , I don't drive on bad roads.
Edward
Edward Wesson 60MGA

I bought some from Strapping lad .They look good,but have not driven car enough to give an opinion.. BW
Bob Walker

I'll have to hang onto my second set, although the twenty five year old set on the car still seem fine
Dominic Clancy

I bought a pair from Moss Europe eighteen months ago and they failed instantly. I sent all the information back to Moss. At first I was told they had solved this problem, but EVENTUALLY the agreed to check their stock and found that they were in fact all still faulty. Would they do anything about it? Their answer was that no-one else was selling any better ones!

The big problem is that the internal webbing (if any) breaks and the rubber stretches allowing the axle to move as far as it wants. But when the straps are examined on the car they appear perfect. Most owners will be perfectly happy and totally unaware that there is anything wrong.

The only way to see the problem is to lift the car with the chassis allowing the axle to drop (and snap the middle exhaust mount rubber!)

I attach a picture showing how the strap stretches, note the necking.


Neil McG

This picture shows how it returns to normal afterwards


Neil McG

I have seen some "home-made" straps using nylon webbing...I think that they would be preferable to chains, or anything that has no flex whatsoever....
I don't understand why it is so difficult to have an NOS-like strap manufactured.....
Edward
Edward Wesson 60MGA

Glad I brought it up.. I just got the car back from "On the Road Again", a place in Morgan Hill, Ca., that works on our cars. They replaced my check straps, showing me one of the old ones which was split open at the end where it fits over the stud, He said the MGA straps were crap and that he replaced them with MGB straps, which he said, other than their length being a bit longer, were better. Kind of hard to believe that last one; do these better ones come from a source that's unable to make better ones for an MGA?
At any rate; after getting home, I checked underneath and they look a bit too long; ie: the axle might, just might, not quite reach the exhaust pipe with the axle hanging, whereas over a rough road...
I'll just keep looking for some kind of quality confirmation on a source and keep away from pot holes & rough roads in the meantime.
Rick deOlazarra

I ran a 1600 with no straps for 4 years - motorkhanas, hill climbs etc with no problems, regularly lifting a wheel in tight turns ( supposedly it can damage shockers without any straps but it didn't happen to me)! How would some aircraft cable with swaged ends go - a bit of give but unbreakable?
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Now that it has been mentioned , my Cobra replica does have aircraft cable check straps...They are attached at the bottom of the coil overs, and to the frame at the top.
Edward

Edward Wesson 60MGA

I bought a pair of the nylon straps from "The Strapping Lad" on Ebay, and while they are not correct in appearance, they certainly look like they will do the job. If correctly made MGA check straps are not available, I would rather go with something that is the right length and works (but doesn't look right), than incorrect length MGB straps even if they are better made than the MGA straps that stretch and break.

At some point it should also be recognized that if original appearance is the priority, then the rubberized straps are not "correct" either. All of the original straps I have removed were woven fabric without the rubberization. The rubberized ones were a replacement part. Though they were an improvement, they were not original type for the MGA.
Del Rawlins

I'm inclined to believe that all originals were heavy woven cotton straps with no rubber cover. I know for sure of a lot of originals like that (if not all), and the factory part number did not change throughout production. It seems like adding a rubber cover for environmental protection would be a sufficient enough change to merit s new part number (which doen't show in any of the SPL's).

That said, the rubber cover was definitely a very good idea. When I bought my "current" MGA it was less than 20 years old with 150,00 miles, and the fabric check straps were beyond end of life (broken, no longer serviceable). The replacements I bought from Moss in 1978 are rubber covered and have been in service since late 1986 (28 years 252,000 miles), and are still in good serviceable condition.

Too bad the supplier went bad, and now we are fighting to get good ones again.

Just a couple months ago I received a message from Moss USA saying they had procured new rebound straps with substantially more internal webbing, supposed to be much better, much less stretch. I have yet to hear any complaints about these new parts. It may be too soon to hear such reports, but otherwise I would give them benefit of the doubt (so to speak). If anyone has bought new Moss (USA) check straps in the past couple of months, I would like to hear about it.
Barney Gaylord

Your input from Moss is what I was looking for; I'll order a pair today and replace those MGB straps. If there's any trouble with them down the road, I'll post it here. Thanks for all the comments.
Rick deOlazarra

I have original 1959 straps. Like Barney's, >>200k miles, still going strong.
D Brown

Say What? Original 1959 vintage straps still functional? If they are uncovered cotton webbing I suspect they are shot (unless they have never been wet). If they are rubber covered, I suspect they are not original issue.
Barney Gaylord

Yep, Barney. Car was assembled in November 1959. I bought it in 1970 and worked on it in 72-3 and it's done over 130k miles since then.
Here are the straps - a composite material of woven fibre impregnated with rubbery material (pic attached).
Fraying a bit at the edges and polished by the handbrake cable, but 100% original (while I am tight-fisted, I also like to retain any original parts that are still OK).
Mind you, the left-hand strap is looking very second-hand and probably needs to go. So the discussion is very timely.
David


D Brown

Stretching? You are lucky then - the ones I had snapped instantly - they had 051 moulded on the sides and I have since learned that they were probably of Indian origin.

Midland Sports & Classics have apparently had them re-manufactured - don't know where or how good they are but you might give them a call or drop them an e-mail if you are looking for some.
Chris at Octarine Services

My best reaction is "WOW"! It does my heart good to see this still serviceable part after 55 years. I thought we might never have a good picture of an original check strap. This is what the modern replacement parts are supposed to look like inside, before the rubber cover is molded over it.
Barney Gaylord

These appear to have the composite structure - fabric and rubbery stuff.
Clearly I've not used these, but I have found NTG to be excellent over many years.
... http://www.mgbits.com/contents/en-uk/p5967.html

David
D Brown

I see Todd Clarke of Clarke Spares has them in his latest catalog also.
Rick deOlazarra

I bought mine from Scarborough Faire,
they are very good quality and more robust than the old deteriorated ones I removed. Cecilia is quite proud of the quality and rightly so in my opinion.
Tom
Tom Heath

This thread was discussed between 05/02/2014 and 09/02/2014

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