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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Negative camber bushes

Just out of curiosity, does anyone use negative camber front bushes, the type with the offset hole, such as:

http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/bush-negative-camber-top-trunnion-nylatron-tmg309621.html

Does it have a noticeable positive effect on the handling?

What stops them rotating in the trunnion? Just the friction of the bush?

Cheers,
Malc.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

I tried some once, but they didn't last very long.
Dave O'Neill 2

A more robust alternative is a brass unit giving 1.5 deg neg from PMay but it costs £100 or so. Used by race and rally so will last.
The front line kit gives around 2 deg neg which looks a bit Ott on my car ( cannot upload pics at present for some reason).
Cheaper alt to improve is to lower the front susp a wee bit with a kit or washers.
J Sloan

How much, £15 quid for a single bush?

They are taking the p!

four of those is more than half way to the PM kit albeit you'll get more NVH with that.
Jeremy Cogman

I've used them to adjust one side of the car that was out of line but I probably wouldn't bother with them as a performance upgrade. The pair I fitted showed no wear after 3k miles but as has been pointed out the proper kit from PM isn't a huge amount more.

I glued mine in once I'd found the right position, same as the wishbone ones.
John Payne

We are part way through trials, of our new light alloy, 1deg neg top trunnions, fitted with super flex bushes. I have produced a short batch of 10 sets, and should have these ready to market at Christmas. PTBA nearer the time.
J L HEAP

No negative top bushes here, but instead have -2.5 wishbones. Great increase in cornering power.
Rob Armstrong

your own mod Rob, or the last of Barry King's?
David Smith

Thanks for your thoughts folks. I was just mooching about the interweb and found them. I first assumed they were £15 per side, not £15 a bush. In which case, yeah, they can get stuffed! :-)

Cheers,
Malc.
Malcolm Le Chevalier

One of the last sets of Barry King ones. They've increased the track by about 3/4 inch, which helps too. Don't know what I'll do when they wear out....
Rob Armstrong

I tried Peter Mays negative camber trunnions but I found the solid bushes to hard for a road car, the ride was much too harsh, even on the occasional smooth road which you sometimes find around here among the potholes.
Has anyone tried removing the inserts and fitting ordinary bushes on PM trunnions.

Dave
Dave Barrow

I've got a set of the moss type ones knocking around if anyone wants them....
David k Brenchley

I wouldn't mind them David, that's if Malcolm doesn't want them - it's his thread after all.
John Payne

J.L. you have just answered my requirement for a chrissy pressie - please let us know when available.
David k Brenchley

For road use you could argue that -2.5 is slightly too much. Inside edge of one front tyre has worn more than the others (however, I've since re-set the tracking which was way out) so that might not be purely down to the camber.

However 2. For track & competition use, see picture.

Rob Armstrong

In my experience camber and tyre wear is going to depend on the tyre choice and driving style. When I built my top links with 2 degrees negative camber I was running 165/70 13s and got nice even tyre wear but when changed to 185/60 13s they wore excessively on the inside with normal road use and needed to be rotated from time to time. When I get the car back on the road I'll have to make a choice about tyres and if I keep the wider tyre I would consider making a new set of upper arms with less negative camber to cut tyre wear.
David Billington

A similar experience to me David. Once my 185 tyres are all worn out I will be fitting narrower ones for road use.
Rob Armstrong

My FL front suspension is supposed to have either 1 or 2 neg depending on what they actually sold me or which spec they were supposed to be, they look more on my car but I've never had them measured.

Only last week I rotated my wheels as the front tyres had wear on the outer edges as did the previous set of the same, they're Michelin Energy EB3 145/80/13, I don't know how much having the 145 EB3 on 5" rims makes a difference.
Nigel Atkins

Wear on the outer edges of the tyres is probably nothing to do with the uncertain amount of negative camber on your car, Nigel, but could be a litle too much toe-in on your tracking.

But you probably know that. Tracking is something of a compromise, if you reduce the toe in you may get more even tyre wear but loose a little of the straight line precision when driving.
GuyW

Guy,
you probably right even allowing for permutations/combinations of various contributing factors to the tyre to road position.

My post was more for Rob - not that I ever want to put him off narrower tyres :) - and as part of what David put.

You'll be pleased to know that when I last replaced the steering rack gaiters I actually checked the tracking with a bit of string round the wheels and was quite accurate with how much it was out - but as always I had the tracking professionally adjusted.

The tracking is set as per FL's instruct sheet " ... rest but not to original setting. The tracking must now be set to approximately 1/16" (1-2mm) toe in." I have it set at 1.5mm but my mate thinks it should be nearer zero so next time I might try a lot less toe in and see what difference it makes.
Nigel Atkins

John, drop me a line at scuderiablkhole at aol dot com if you want them -£15 including post.
David k Brenchley

This thread was discussed between 17/10/2017 and 19/10/2017

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