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MG MGB Technical - Loose front end

I just replaced my tie rod ends and steering rack gaitors on my 73B. I did everthing my Haynes manual told to do. Now it seems that my front end floats and the steering is loose. What did I do wrong, HELP!
Charles Owen

Charles, it's possible that you got the toe-in wrong on reassembly.
Ken Lessig

Charles. What do you mean by "my front end floats and my steering is loose"? To me, front end float is the fact that, under conditions of high speed, some cars tend to lift the front of the body, producing less down force and making the steering feel lighter. This used to be called front end float and was corrected with a front end spoiler. Having just worked on your front end, I would start by making sure that all of the nuts or bolts are tight and that the tire alignment is correct. As I remember, this is a car you have just began working on after a several year lay off. Perfectly possible that other things were affected when you did the front end work. Things that you did not notice before. Worn kingpins and having the holes in the lower A arms become oval could cause some of what you describe. Have you checked the shocks to ensure they are tight on their mounts? That the upper trunion is secured tightly to the shock arm? Is the steering rack still bolted tightly to the cross member? Is the cross member tight? All worth checking to see what might be causing the problem by itself or in combination with other things. Les
Les Bengtson

After reading Ken and Les's comments, I went out and inspected the alignment. I noticed that the left wheel was point outward when the steering wheel was centered and the measurement between the wheels was 1" wider than when I first started this. Les, that's is why I wanted to know the thread size of the tie rod so I can attempt to pull the wheel in. I don't know what caused this since I was extremely careful in putting the tie rod end and locknut in the same position.
Charles Owen

Charlie. There is a learning curve in anything you do and most of us do not do this job with any form of frequency. I have posted the thread size on the General BBS along with some cautions. Good luck with the project. Les
Les Bengtson

This thread was discussed on 26/11/2001

MG MGB Technical index

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