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 - Steering rack

The steering on my TD is good, but perhaps not as good as it should be. On an uneven surface at over about 40mph I experience what I would describe as a sort of kickback or bump-steer. During the rebuild the steering rack was reconditioned and all the bushes were replaced. Hopefully, that side of things should be OK. Looking at the car head-on, the near side is about 3/4 of an inch lower than the off side and the track rod ends are not parallel to the ground. I have not replaced the coil springs. All I did was to clean and paint them. I do not know if they are the original springs or whether they were replaced by a previous owner. I am thinking that perhaps the near side spring has become compressed thereby lowering the near side and causing the kickback/bump-steer. What do you experts think? Lionel TD3490.
L.F. Thorne

It is very normal for the rear springs to be different and cause a sag on the drivers side. Most of the TD drive time is with a single occupant so this is to be expected.

You can change (re-arc) the leaves or some like intermix the leaves between the two sets to "distribute" the good/bad arced springs amongst the sets.
Christopher Couper

Pet peeve: the terms nearside and offside are not well understood and are confusing on an international forum with cars that drive both on the right and left side of the roadway. Could we just standardize on, left side and right side as one is sitting in the car?
John Quilter (TD8986)

On level ground, jack the car up on the centre of the diff till the rears are just off the ground.. The the front spring pan arms should be parallel to the ground with the car level.
Move the jack to the front and jack again the car should be level.
If either end is uneven and the ride height is normal and the drivers side is low swap the offending springs left to right.
As to the steering, check the track rods are the same length left to right it does make a difference.
Ray TF2884
Ray Lee

Thank you for your comments. I will investigate further. My TD is the only TD that I have driven, so it is difficult for me to know how they should drive. Maybe my steering is as good as it gets. I would have thought it should be much the same as an MGB or Morris 1000-,both of which I know quite well.
The problem with old cars is that when you speak to people, they will say " well it's an old car, what do you expect?" What should the steering on a TD be like? Should it be like an MGB or Morris 1000? Lionel TD3490.
L.F. Thorne

ASay Lee says the front wishbones should be parallel to the ground. Often people tighten up the fulcrums without the car being on the ground and the suspension fully loaded.
Bob Marshall
Stockbridge Hampshire
R J Marshall

My TF bump steers, I am led to believe that a roll bar will help, but I think a wheel alignment is done that will help.

Toe-in the only adjustment available, with radials around 1/8” toe-in recommended. But any other caster/camber being out of whack needs investigation.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

Peter. Interesting that you experience bump steer with your TF. As I said in my earlier post I don't really know how well these cars should handle. My TD is the only one that I have ever driven. I have driven a lot of MGBs and Morris 1000s and the steering on those is generally very good. I had hoped that Bruce Cunha {who I think has an MGB} or Declan Burns { Morris 1000} might chime in with their experiences. My gut feeling is that the TD/TF should be just as good as either the MGB or Morris 1000. But it would be nice to know! Lionel TD3490.

L.F. Thorne

It is not severe, nothing I cannot be prepared for when driving. I could probably do with a toe-in setup. Let me say, worse the bump, worse the symptom.

An uneducated thought, the MGB has a sway/roll bar which would restrict suspension travel compared to a car without a roll bar. I have all the bits to fit a roll bar, except the time.

I had a TD in a past life, it was very similar to drive, but the roads were better, here in western NY the roads suffer from winter demise.

Good luck in your quest.

Peter
P G Gilvarry

See http://www.ttalk.info/ARB_systems.htm for some info on installing Anti roll bar systems in TD/TFs. They're not difficult to install and are well worth the effort, IMHO. Bud
Bud Krueger

This thread was discussed between 15/09/2023 and 22/10/2023

MG TD TF 1500 index

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