MG-Cars.info

Welcome to our Site for MG, Triumph and Austin-Healey Car Information.

Parts

MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG MGA - Clunck - Worn Splines

After a full front suspension rebuild I too the car for a nice drive with my wife, and started to notice a more pronounce 'Clunck' that seems to be coming from the rear of the vehicle when I press the gas and 'suddenly' release it.
Originally when I got the car I thought this was the differential backlash, however after checking it at different points and also the prop-shaft, the does not seem to be considerable play.

However I check the wheels on the splines and this is where the problem seem to lie. The rear wheel is able to move 5degrees on the spline with the handbrake on (brake drum locked) and the wheel off the ground.

Reading Baney's section on this I realise i need to inspect whether it is the male or female splines which are worn. My guess is the male splines....

Looking at Moss and other sources of hubs they seem to be awfully expensive (i.e. $140 per hub). I was wondering if you guy know of a cheaper source o if I can use MGB hubs which seem to be poping up more often on ebay.
Have any of you have performed this replacement recently and done all of this research?
Gonzalo Ramos

Gonzalo, just a cautionary note about the splines. Check the shape of the hub splines but also the shape of the wheel splines for wear. Its not good practice to put wheels with worn splines onto good hubs or vice versa. They work best as a 'matched pair' in reasonably condition.
J H Cole

I guess this means I will probably need to buy new hubs and new wheels! ;S Ooouch!
Gonzalo Ramos

The bad news is that indeed the rear splines are VERY worn and VERY sharp, maybe to the point of a safety risk.

See the pictures here;
http://picasaweb.google.com/gramosgarzon/MGASplines22June10824AM#

The good news is that the front hub splines look good and have no play. also the wheel's female spline look good.

I saw they are on sale at Little British Car Company for $111.
If any of you can suggest where to get cheaper rear hubs (2) with good splines for a 1600 please let me know. Maybe one of you has a pair lying around.... ; )


Gonzalo Ramos

Gonzalo, the way you are going you will end up with a pretty good car soon!
Regards
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

Gonzalo, As has been said, the only permanent cure is to replace both wheel centre (eg wheel) and hub. You had better not tell your wife, but this old car hobby can get expensive!
Barry Bahnisch

The hubs are indeed expensive but traveling on worn splines is dangerous and the results will end up costing you much more than the price of two hubs.

Be careful where you buy these because I had problems with new rear hubs that were cadmium plated. The tolerance is very close on the splines and the thickness of the Cadmium created a major fitment problem with the wheels. This is especially true when installing new wheels. I ordered another pair of hubs from Moss and they worked perfectly.

Good luck - Fran
F Valenzano

Mike, indeed that is the idea, to get a good car that I can drive regularly! ; )

I have ordered 2 rear wheel hubs from LBCar Company as they are currently on sale. I will see how tight the splines are on the wheels when they arrive.
I understand I may have to end up changing the wheels too, but I was hoping that if the fit is snug, then I can wait a bit to recover economically...

BTW my wife is actually quite supportive of repairing these kind of issues which are safety related...SHOCKED!
Gonzalo Ramos

This thread was discussed between 21/06/2010 and 23/06/2010

MG MGA index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG MGA BBS now