squeaky midget suspension

[chard]

Hi all

My 74 RWA midget has devloped a load squeak from NSR. all the suspension squeaks a bit but this is load enough to attract passers by!!

Could a bit of silicon spray on the bushes help or could it be a seized shocker or ball joint?

[wadgebeast]

Spray's worth a chance if you can get it to penetrate enough. Cheapest potential solution. Is it front or rear? Could it be the shims on the front pads?

[chard]

When you bounce the car up and down the worst squeaking is from the rear near side
I dont think its the brakes

[wadgebeast]

If it's the back end then it's not the brakes. Sounds like the lever arm damper beginning to seize up. Have a look and see if it's been leaking. Cheap to fix, which is good news. No doubt wild oliver will be along with a better idea in due course.

[MG Mark]

Check the simple things first - Are the spring bushes and shock absorber link arm connections in good nick? Are all the nuts and bolts securing the front and back spring bush mountings/shackles, u-bolts to the axle, shock absorber link arms and shock aborber mountings done up tight? If so, are the spring leaves intact (i.e. not a broken leaf) and are the springs rusty as anything or relatively clean. knackered bushes, loose mounting bolts, a broken leaf, or just cr*p between the leaves can create a squeak. If none of those, disassemble and check that all the mounting holes are round and have not worn oval through bolts previously being loose. Oh, and if it is disconnected from the link arm, does the shock aborber arm move smoothly and quietly with some resistance?

MG Mark

Edited by MG Mark on Thursday 22 January 20:53

Edited by MG Mark on Thursday 22 January 20:54

[chard]

Thanks, I'll start checking

[wildoliver]

It will be the rear springs. Many many years ago you used to be able to get leather bellows to cover the springs on (then new) old cars, basically as Mark suggests above dirt and water penetrate the leaves then cause rust which squeaks. You can oil the leaves however be aware it will change the spring rate (as a degree of the spring rate is from the friction between the leaves) however in the real world I doubt you would notice it. However the flip side is that the oil will attract dust and dirt.

There isn't a perfect solution, personally I tend to underseal them with a good schutz and when I do my yearly scrub of the underneath and re-schutz do the springs at the same time, however if your springs are now rusty and squeaking well it is probably too late. I would personally give them a good blast with used engine oil (also a very good inner sill treatment) and use them till they break (which being midget springs they will).

[wildoliver]

Oh forgot to mention a couple of other sounds that Midgets can develop is a tinkling sound from usually the rear (engine masks the sound from front) this is often the centres on the wheels that are loose.

Also the rear handbrake rods on 1275 and earlier cars are inevitably well worn (with oval holes) and they rattle/squeak quite well usually as you drive through town at low speeds.

[chard]

Thanks for your comments.

The rear springs look like they were replaced 12-18 months ago. I used the car up until OCT 08 and since then its been in a dry garage. I waxoyled the car last week and took it for a run, its then when I noticed the excessive squeaking. It's proberbly been there all along but maybe got worse and certainly more noticable driving with the hood up now the weather's cold.

Another strange thing the car "lists" 25mm to the drivers side? (no I'm not a fat bd) Could the springs have been replaced with a mismatched pair?

I appreciate your help.

[MG Mark]

Look at the arc formed by the springs on each side when the car is sitting on its wheels on level ground - if it is flatter on the drivers side that would explain your "lean", and even if they were new springs, it's more likely to be that one has either settled or has a broken leaf, than being a mismatched pair. The quality and longevity of new springs is notoriously variable, so even if they are relatively young, it could still be one of them that is the culprit.

Mark

[chard]

Thanks Mark and Oliver,

If I cant sort it with a bit of fiddling around, I notice MGOC do a spring kit with polyurethane bushes for £117.40.

Chard

[wildoliver]

It shouldn't list, check the rear spring hangers, sometimes the rear straps can be fitted so they don't hang but are pressed up in to the boot floor backwards, this causes the car to list if only done on one side and the wheel to sit incorrectly. Also check the top leaves of both springs to see if they have broken, they break around the axle.

Other than that the new springs are rubbish, so it isn't impossible one has just softened.

[chard]

Thanks (again) for your usefull comments the hangers look fine, I will check for broken springs next time I crawl under the car.

The parts from MGOC should be OK do you think??

[MG Mark]

Not wishing to disappoint if you are looking for a "ready-made" kit, but as indicated elsewhere, the "kits" tend to be manufactured and sourced from overseas, quality can be variable, and it is not unknown for them to be pretty flat within a year. I've always found it much better to go somewhere like these for the springs that I have put on MGBs owned in the past, and the MGA which I've had for more years than I care to remember:

http://www.rossroadsprings.co.uk/Main%20frame%20pa...
http://www.british-springs.co.uk/index.html

Might cost you a bit more, but they last better and longer in my experience, and such companies know what they're doing - try them. And I'd be a little wary of putting poly bushes on the back end - it depends on what you're aiming to achieve - they're great for sharpening up the front end in terms of turn-in and steering, but the back end does benefit from having a little give from its rubber bushes, which help with the "feel" of it going round corners and the ride comfort.

MG Mark

[MG Mark]

Oh and if anyone is looking for traditional spring gaiters to keep the muck and rubbish out, Wefco still make the leather ones.....

http://wefcogaiters.com/web/html/product/product_b...


MG Mark

[chard]

Thanks all, very helpfull and usefull

[chard]

SORTED

Turns out to be the link to the shock absorber!!! Freed ot off and loads of lube we are back to normal.

[SB - Nigel]

Good that you got it sorted

Lever arm shocks are a bit of a worry to me as I wonder how many times and how well they've been reconned before you get them - I'm told you can top-up the fluid yourself if that's all that's required to fix them - but at £32 for an uprated reconned pair (£30 standard) you can't really moan

FYI - I've had fitted the (yellow, Fast Road) Urethane front and rear suspension bush sets and I don't find them hard or harsh at all

With the uprated front lever arm dampers I'm glad I took the advice given to me from the MGOC spares counter and did not fit uprated front springs as the standard are easily stiff enough (£24 for the pair of standard front springs)

All my own opinion but my Midget is my daily drive which I also use for tours (sometimes over rough roads) so I have the year round experience of it's use

[MG Mark]

Excellent - glad to hear that the squeak is sorted. Did that also fix the ride height?

As long a lever arms don't leak from the arm seals, there is little that goes wrong with them. Checking the fluid level is advisable, and top up if required, but like the brake system, if it needs topping up, there's generally fluid escaping somewhere....

Uprated lever arm shock absorbers are interesting, depending upon whether they are actually uprated to change the internals to actually change the bump and rebound rates. Otherwise, if it is just to mke them firmer, exactly the same effect is achieved by putting an appropriate grade of thicker oil into a standard shock absorber. Midget and B racers I know go just as well round corners as telescopically conerted cars, using standard kit with EP90 gear oil.......

MG Mark

[chard]

The car is still 25mm lower on the offside (measuring from the wheel arch to the ground).
The leaf springs look OK, nothing is broken and both seem to have the same arc.
When there is no load on the springs the axel is 10mm higher on the offside (measuring from the wheel arch to the drum)
I'm tempted to pack it out to correct, or is this solution a complete no no.