MG-Cars.net

Welcome to our resource for MG Car Information.

Recommendations

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Steering Wheel Slop

If I push/pull my steering wheel on my 58 roadster, I feel some slop in the steering column. In other words, the steering wheel moves in and out with the movement of the steering column. This is an adjustable wheel.

I can trace the slop to the coupling joint assembly (U-Joint). If I pull on the assembly toward the firewall, there is free motion between the shaft coming from the rack (pinion shaft)at the U-Joint. The shaft does not move, but the U-Joint moves on the shaft. Of course, this movement is transferred to the steering wheel.

Would this be a sign of a faulty U-Joint, needs for shims at the pinion gear, or some other symptom?

Fran



F Valenzano

The U joint might be just loose on one or other of the shafts. This is your best scenario- just tighten the pinch bolts. If it is loose in the swivels, you will need new bearings and cups - quite cheap parts and not hard to install. To remove the joint take out the pinch bolts entirely or it will not come off.
Art Pearse

I had the same thing once, tighten the pinch bolt and it still slides on the splines. There is a factory fix for this condition, fairly easy actually, but you have to remove the u-joint assembly to do it. See here:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/care/csm/mg214.pdf
Barney Gaylord

I cranked down on the pinch bolt and that solved the problem.
F Valenzano

This thread was discussed between 09/12/2009 and 10/12/2009

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGA BBS is active now.