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MG MGB Technical - Front Wheel Bearings

I hvae just insatalled an MGB front brake set-up on an A and am not satisfied with how the wheel bearings feel. All parts are new or rebuilt from Riverside Motor in Ohio. After tightening thne backing off to the first cotter pin slot (1/12th of a revolution) they still have a wobble which is very noticable with a wheel on. There is one shim on the inside of each hub along with the bearing spacer. Am I missing something here?
Thanks in advance,
Todd C.
Todd C.

Todd; You are probably not adjusting your bearing end float correctly. The following link should take you to the suspension and wheel bearing section of Paul Hunt's web site. He has an excellent writeup explaining how to correctly set front bearing end float. FWIW, Clifton
http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/wn_suspensionframe.htm
Clifton Gordon

Thanks. Now the dumb question. Where do you get shima? Moss?
Todd C.
Todd C.

Right, page 104 in Moss catalog. YOu can get them in .003", .005", .010" and .030". Any other MG parts supplier should have them. I think all MG's had at least one .030" shim and enough smaller shims to get the correct end float. Off the record, I don't use shims or spacers in my cars wheel bearings, however that is not what MG recommended. FWIW, Clifton
Clifton Gordon

Clifton, thanks. Since you don't use shims, do you get a loose feel in yours?
Todd
Todd C.

Clifton,

I'm glad you mention that you don't use the shims or spacers. I've only been told by one mechanic to leave those bits out.

I did just that when I rebuilt the front on my V8 project. Still a while before I get it on the road but it's been nagging me that maybe I should have put them in.

The same guy told me that only the MGB uses the spacers; any idea why just this car?

Cheers
Simon
Simon Austin

Clifton and Simon,
I have not used spacers or shims in 27 years. I have never had a problem either. Clifton, I believe that you know Bob Thompson in Statesville. Back in 1976 he told me to chunk those things and just treat the wheel bearings like the American ones. My wife, daughter and I visited him two weeks ago and he showed me pics that he took at the show at Lake Norman and pointed your car out to me. Very nice.
David
David

Todd; Done properly you will not get a loose feel. You need to preload the bearing and back off to the nearest cotter slot. If it's too loose tighten to the next slot and spin the wheel, if it doesn't feel like it's binding it will be ok.

Simon; I'm not sure why just the MGB, but my son and I had midgets a few years ago and their front wheel bearings are ball instead of the tapered roller bearings. With the ball bearing a spacer and shims is required for proper adjustment. My guess is it is a carryover from the the roller bearing era. I have lubricated several hundred sets of front wheel bearings in US and import cars other than MGB and the MGB is the only one I have seen using the shims, yet there is no difference in design.

David; I have known Bob a couple of years since joining the Piedmont British Motor Club. Thanks for the complement on my car.

For the record I'm not recommending you chunk the spacers and shims. It's an individual decision, and it's contrary to the MGB shop manual. That said I'm comfortable with my decision and it's much easier and quicker. Whatever method you use the bearings must be adjusted properly or they will fail. About three years ago I bought a front crossmember with hubs on it. It had shims and one side had the stack too thin but the hub nut was torqued and the bearings were blue from over heating. The other side had the shims of either the correct thickness or too thick and the bearings were ok.

Cheers, Clifton



Clifton Gordon

Done properly there *will* be slight play in the wheel bearings as the purpose of the shims is to give a slight end-float i.e. play and not a pre-load. The hub nut should be tightened to at least 40ft lb, then onto the next split-pin hole. If you leave out the shims and don't tighten the nut the bearing inners are free to spin on the stub axle, and the effective diameter of the stub axle is also reduced. The shims are available so there is no good reason not to do as the factory manual describes. But in fact when replacing bearings I have put the same shims back in. This did not surprise me as I assumed the bearings would be high-precidion items, the shims are to account for bigger tolerances elsewhere.
Paul Hunt

This thread was discussed on 10/10/2003

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