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MG MGB Technical - frontlinecastor wedges

do they reduce steering effort very much
a.d fisher

Hi,

I fitted a set a couple of years ago. They do make a worthwhile reduction in the the steering effort (for the price). Just make sure that you've got modern tyres fitted, otherwise you will notice no difference at all. It was worth the punt for around �70-00 and doing the job myself.

HTH

willyphixitt
W A Nixson

I have the Brown and Gammons caster reduction kit, which is a much better design than the wedges IMO. They reduce the caster from about 7 degrees to around 4 degrees. It probably does make a small difference to the weight of the steering, but don't expect miracles.
Mike Howlett

I bought the Brown and Gammons caster reduction kit some time ago because I was not happy with the heavy steering on my �63 roadster. But when I replaced the old Kumho 165/80 tyres with new Vredestein Classic tyres in the same size, the steering was so much lighter that I don�t need to install it.

Tyres are important. I also notice that many of my MG friends that complain about heavy steering have very small steering wheels on their cars. Anything smaller than 14" will make the steering heavy - personally I prefer a 15" wheel. It really makes a difference.

Another important factor is to keep the steering rack well filled with EP90 oil. Use an oil can and pump oil slowly in through the outer end of a steering gaiter, until the rack will not take any more.

I agree with Mike that the B&G kit is a better design than the wedges, but of course it takes a lot more work to install it.

http://www.v8register.net/subpages/RV8NOTE232.htm

Tore
Tore

You've got to be moving to see a difference, when parking there will be almost none, none at all when stationary. I've seen it said that the change from 7 degrees to 4 degrees *must* make a difference when stationary as you aren't lifting the front of the car so much. But 3 degrees? Compared to the effect of radial tyres on tarmac?
Paul Hunt

Paul,

I agree! The difference in "lift" is infinitesimal and probably totally swallowed by the distortion of the tyre carcass when being twisted against the road surface.

Fitting the wedges does bring the castor angle close to the RV8 - and that must be a good thing? - I prefer to keep straight line stability with 7 degrees and keep the pins & rack well serviced to minimise effort at all speeds, including zero!
Chris at Octarine Services

thanks for the response to my query on frontline castors.I think comments on tyres was very relevent,particulary tyre pressures.
a.d fisher

Perhaps not an apples-to-apples comparison, but I just installed a set of Targett Motorsports wedges in my '69, and wow! The steering is light and responsive -- and I did not consider it heavy before! The turnin seems to be improved, and straightline stability is still quite good. I heartily recommend them. Just off-centre the effort is not much different, but the difference becomes more and more noticeable as you get farther off centre and more towards lock.

These wedges took me down to ~2.4� caster. I'm running Yokohama 175/70HR14 tyres. The rest of my front end is in good repair -- no slop in the kingpins or tie rods, etc.
Rob Edwards

Having fitted them, I called them "nice to have - not need to have".......Short answer is not much difference in use-tho I'm sure the underlying physics is corect!
Michael Beswick

This thread was discussed between 05/10/2009 and 10/10/2009

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