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 TD TF 1500 - Leaf spring lubrication

The WSM advises against putting any lubrication between the leaves of the leaf spring. On old American cars mechanics used gaiters (wraps) to get lubrication into the leaf springs. What is the reasoning behind leaving the MG TD leaf springs dry?

Tim
TD12524
TW Burchfield

There are rubber pads between the leaves. The leaves move about and flex at different arcs etc. They should not touch or scrape.

I suspect they were worried about lubricants attracting dirt and then filling the gaps which could increase corrosion and wear, but this is just speculation.
Christopher Couper

You are probably right. Although all of the leaves touch at the center and continue to touch until the near the rubber pads. When I reconditioned my springs the only thing left of the rubber pads was a black smudge. Incidentally, I did place a thin coating of grease between each spring leaf. If I notice any detrimental effects I'll report back.

Tim
TD12524
TW Burchfield

In various tutorials about leaf springs, people advise against normal grease because of the dirt it attracts and the subsequent sandpaper effect.
Recommended is motorcycle chain grease or teflon spray (which is what I used).

Rgds Mike
Mike Fritsch

Years ago our first workshop was sited next to a spring maker. He was always making a particular leaf spring for the S Model Bedford trucks of 1950 to 1960 period. The only spring he made was the one directly below the steering box that leaked oil.

It was assumed the oil work hardened or some how made the spring brittle and break.

We have never greased springs just painted each leaf individually.
Rod Brayshaw

Thanks. The attraction of dirt to grease as a reason not to lube the springs makes sense. I did learn that over the years manufactures that lubed their springs provided gaiters to keep the lube in and the dirt out. For example Jaguar and Rolls Royce provided leather gaiters for their leaf springs.

Tim
TD12524
TW Burchfield

A good friend had a collection of vintage English cars, and several of them had gaiters. They were continual bothers. They leaked (on his garage floor), the leather was old and required maintenance and new gaiters were expensive.

His final solution was to dismantle the springs and thoroughly clean them. Then apply some Teflon tape - the kind with an adhesive backing, between the leaves. I have a small roll of this stuff - I used to put it on the soles of my curling boots - and its very effective. In any event, that solved the problem for his 1934 Rolls P1, and his Riley RMB, too. Hard stuff to find, though.

Gaiters on MGs is nothing new. The SWV cars were all fitted with them. Gaiters are still available for T-Series. Contact www.wefco-gaiters.com/

Gord Clark
Rockburn, Qué.
Gord Clark

I wrapped my springs in Denso tape, this is a sticky, waxy and gloopy protective tape for underground pipework. I taped in place the cut off end of a toothpaste tube top. Every now and again I put a couple of drops of oil in. My springs are replacements and have no interleaving. My TF has TD springs as I tow a trailer, with a full tank and a trailer it bottomed out a lot until I replaced the springs.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

Good solution. Here's an example of leather gaiters on another British (?) car. The red arrow is just showing the attachment method.

TW Burchfield

I used latex satin black paint on my leaf(s) as to be slightly more compatible with the rubbers. I also lubed with silicone grease, which is fairly compatible with the rubbers. 24,000 miles later they seem to be fine.

As an aside, any grease will attract dirt, which could impede the movement and wear the rubbers. I used only enough to do the job and wiped off the excess.

Warmly,
dave
Dave Braun

This thread was discussed between 04/07/2015 and 09/07/2015

MG TD TF 1500 index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG TD TF 1500 BBS now