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MG MGF Technical - High Speed Shake

Only had my '97 F since December 99. Nice bit of open road, no cameras, so I thought I'd have a bit of a whiz.
All fine up to 85 mph, then the car started to shake particularly through the steering wheel. I then tried to accelerate through it thinking it could be wheel imbalance ( the dealer had fitted 2 new front tyres). As speed increased so did the shuddering. At 100 it became so violent my teeth were shaking.
I eased off and the shudder stopped as I dropped below 85 mph
.
The road was dry and well surfaced, the roof was up. Suspension is set close to the minimum hight.

Any thoughts what the cause could be, would be much appreciated. It's nice to have a bit of a whiz now and again, but I daren't take her over 80 in case I cause damage to the car.

Mike.
Mike King

Mike,
was suspension aligned at this low hight ?

If not it could be that you got to much toe out.
But at first try to change the front tyres side to side.
Then if not better, change the rear tyres side to side.

Was it really the first time you tried the 100 mph ?
and ist it a early 97 registered car ?

dk
Dieter

Thanks Dieter
>was suspension aligned at this low hight ? Umm, I suppose so, the car was serviced prior to the sale. Does thisalighnment have to be carried out by an mg specialist or a general tyre fitting company?
Would changing the front tyres around help? I'll give it a try. I'll have to check whether the treads should rotate in a certain direction, The car was first registered in March 97.

Yep, it was the first time I had taken her up to 100. Daren't do it again though until this problem has been diagnosed.

Mike.
Mike King

Mike,

>Does this alignment have to be carried out by an MG specialist or a general tyre fitting company?

Hard to say ...
Some garages (MG too!!) or tyre shops special in the UK and Netherlands, Swiss i.e use only simple equipment for one axle.

That isn't enough for our wobbly damped MGF.
The chassis is weak assembled on two subframes, 'like a train', and the wishbones are damped too with rubber parts. This is for isolating the compartmentroom from noise and rattles.

So I hope with this simple description you can imagine hopefully that if you lift the car only at the front or only at the rear it is impossible to find the position on that no force gets to the opposite axle.
Smallest force on one axle shifts the whole car out of the 'straight ahead' line.

And the straight ahead line of the MGF is vital to align the 4 wheels standing parallel. In this case the system starts to swing at high speed.

Vital for the MGF is a 4 wheel-alignment. Nothing else, special if thus problems occur.

So, you need to look for someone who knows about the effords of MGF alignement.

Ask for help on suggestions for such a specialist near your location.

Probably Pauls dealer guide contents some.?

dk


Dieter

This sounds like a balance problem, get the wheels balanced again. Happend to me after I let a cowboy fit some new tyres. Tracking problems are usually felt throughout the speed range and more of a side to side feel on the steering wheel (in my experience).
Tony Smith

Thanks chaps for your advice. I've had the whells balanced, they were only slightly out. I can't change left to right because the direction of revolution is indicated on each tyre.

The shake is still present at 90mph really does spoil the fun.
Mike.
Mike King

This thread was discussed between 13/02/2000 and 19/02/2000

MG MGF Technical index

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