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MG MGF Technical - Crappy tire wear :-(

Hi All,

It was a perfect day here in Sydney today, so decided to do a little external house painting and then treat myself to a topless ride in the sun. AAAaaahhh, bring on the good times.

Anyway, parked the car to grab a quick bite and noticed some really bad tire wear on the inside edge of my front tires. When I mean bad, I mean really bad!

I'm getting a little nervous about what the problem could be. I'm hoping it's something as simple as badly aligned wheels or unbalanced tires. At any rate, it's cost me a set of front tires.

So, any advice on what I should do?

Cheers

Sonny
Sonny Foster

If it is an *F* then this is a well known problem when the suspension is too low/high and the toe in/out needs adjustment.

Check the archives or Rob Bells site for pages of explanations.
Ted Newman

yeah sounds like the wheel alignment to me
A SWAN

Sonny, Been there done that. Look at www.mgf.ultimatemg.com this will give you all the answers. It's a pitty you are in Sydney, I only have sources here in Melbourne.
Andrew Regens

Andrew, Did the reading and it looks like it's two fold. Have to check the front suspension height and also the toe in?

I'm guessing adding the hydragas won't be a problem for most places, but will adjusting the toe be a problem for the local non-MG garage?

Cheers

Sonny
Sonny Foster

You should get the 4 wheel alignment checked. Misaligned rear to front wheels can cause wear on the inside of the front tyres. Rover weren't too good at getting it correct out of the factory with the early cars like mine. Getting it set right transforms the car. As the F essentially has two front Metro subframes the rear is adjustable like the front, it is also possible for the rear tie bars to get bent due to kerbing, which is worth checking for.
Dave

Sonny
Had the same issue, 4 wheel alignment sorted out the problem, caught it just in time and saved the tyres. However I've yet to play with the hydragas, not too sure if it's worth tampering with

Les
Les Lewis

Sonny, Any old Mini garage can pump up the suspension, but don't go to high. Finding someone good to do the 4 wheel alignment could be harder. Try going by a recomendation.
Andrew Regens

I checked the ride height today and all 4 wheels are around 4 cms too low. I'm guessing this is my problem.

Doing some reading, I can be amybe upto 10 mm out, but after that, I'm going to experience bad tyre wear.

So fair conclusion to say I'm a little too low on my height and need to be "gassed up".

Might get the wheel alignment looked at the same time.

Cheers

Sonny
Sonny Foster

My dealer still recommends the 4-wheel alignment and ride height are checked every 6 months, but the problem is nothing like as bad as it was when my car was new.

Chris
Chris

Sonny, What is the height fom the centre of the wheel to the lip of the wheel arch.
Andrew Regens

Andrew,
With the car and outside air temperature normal it should be 368mm +/- 10mm from the wheel centre to the lower edge of the wing. Just give it a run first to warm it up then measure.

Adrian
Adrian Clifford

Sonny, the whole ride height question is frequently over-stated. A lower ride height certainly contributes to negative camber, which is a cause of inner edge tyre wear, but in cases of extreme wear, like that you're seeing, it is almost always the toe-angle that is at fault.

Some cars simply do wear their front tyres quickly using the standard toe-settings: 0 degrees 10 minutes of toe-out is quite a lot, and in itself, places a good deal of stress on the inner edge of the tyre.

The solution, if this is the problem you're seeing, is to wind-off some of that toe-out. Perhaps go for parallel or even some toe-in. But if your ride height is comfortably above 350mm, you should be fine (although at the level of 350mm you ought to consider using shorter suspension 'knuckles')

Good luck - hope you can find a decent 4-wheel alignment centre! :o)
Rob Bell

I have mine set at 355mm but with the cold weather the suspension drops a bit below that some days. My tyre wear has been consistant since being set at + 0 5'( have compliance washers ) over the past 3 years and having had a 4 w.a done at each change of tyres, twice. The car handles on both road and track.
Andrew Regens

This thread was discussed between 10/09/2005 and 12/09/2005

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