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MG MGA - Help: Wire wheel balancing in the UK?

Hi guys,
"Geri" is now fully operational. Took her on a shake down run from Bristol to the New Forest this week and she goes like a dream, pulls like a train from 40mph in 5th. That said, she gets a bit of a shake on at about 85mph. For legal reasons that was quite obviously on a racing track and not one of Her Majesty's roads ;-). Wheel bearings are fine, new and have done about 100 miles, no wobble and no wobble in the front suspension and the wheels were on nice and tight.

I had the wire wheels balanced a while back when the tyres were fitted, but that was a long way away. As such I was wondering if anyone can recommend a good wire wheel balancer in either the Bristol / Bath or New Forest region. I have heard that "on car" balancing is better - any thoughts?

Huge thanks in advance,

Grant :-)
G Hudson

Grant

MGA wheels are very difficult to balance on the typical 'Quikfit' machines, because of the chamfered rear face on the MGA wheel. They can never get the hubs to fit true on their machines. The only person who has ever been able to do it to my total satisfaction is Bob West. Unfortunately he is way up north in Pontefract. He has adapted a standard machine with a complete MGA hub assembly. Everyone in his neck of the woods, including Healey owners, go to Bob for their balancing. When mine next need doing I will make a weekend of it and go back up there.

I think there are a couple of guys down here in Hants (on this BBS) who have made some suitable MGA hub adapter plates that will slide on to the Quikfit machines.

I have often wondered about getting an old balancing machine and adapting it. It is just a question of space in the garage!

You will be lucky to find an 'on car' balancer these days. Yes, I used to have mine done that way. Very good results.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Ps. This is Bob's balancing kit:

Steve

Steve Gyles

Grant:

Interesting that the shake doesn't show up until around 85... I would have expected wheel imbalance to become evident around 70. Perhaps you have a problem further back in the driveline?

You could try these people:

www.vibrationfree.co.uk/our-services/wheel-balancing/

Tho they are not cheap. Good luck!

Alex

Alexander R

Hi guys,

thanks for your responses. I got chatting to a guy in the office who just happened to have an A. He suggested Cabot Tyres in Bristol, apparantly they've got all the kit and a setup like Bob West's and he's been using them for years. I'm hoping to give them a go on Saturday as they're only 15 minutes away and I'll report back.

Cheers,

Grant :-)
G Hudson

Grant

Good to hear. If it is the same set-up as Bob's, Bristol is closer to me than Pontefract.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Hi guys,

just reporting back on Cabot Tyres in Bristol.

Unfortunately I couldn't take Geri to get her wheels checked as it was raining and she doesn't have a roof at the moment. However, I took the spare wheel, as it had no tyre and they were one of the few garages around that stocked a 165R15 and at a reasonable price too. The garage was a proper "old school" back-street garage, busy, and marginally chaotic. All the customers I spoke to had travelled quite a way to get their tyres fitted there (they'd grown up nearby and then moved away, but kept coming back), which was reassuring.

So, onto the wire wheel balancing...

Yes, they had a setup like Bob's, yes they knew what they were doing (or seemed to at least as they had wire wheel balancing information next to the balancer), they checked the wheel for trueness (or lack thereof for my spare), and took their time to balanced it (as in they didn't rush through and churn me out). Tyre fitting plus balancing plus the dreaded VAT came to £48.

Hoping for some dryness so I can get the 4 road wheel balanced.

All the best,

Grant :-)
G Hudson

Anyone have experiences of 'scuttle shake' in roadsters?
Is it a 'feature' of MGAs? (Not a feature of coupes)
David
D Brown

David. None on mine. Wheels superbly balanced up to 100mph. Internal and external windscreen mirrors have no shake either. Definitely worth getting the wheel balancing done properly.

Grant, what's all this about getting wet?! I have not had a hood for 5 years now. All you need is a set of waterproofs; an elongated MGA umbrella from the MGA Register; and a towel across your lap! That is what MGA driving is all about.

Steve
Steve Gyles

Steve,

More worried about the car getting we than myself - over 40mph and the rain just goes over my head ;-)

cheers,

Grant :-)
G Hudson

Summer rain isn't really a problem for the car (when the car will quickly dry out). Obviously avoid wet mud!

Paul
Paul Dean

The latest MGOC magazine has an article on wire wheel balancing cones that it now stocks for all MGs. It seems these cone fit on standard UK wheel balancing machines, such as Qwik Fit etc. £65.

http://www.mgocspares.co.uk/acatalog/MGOC_SPARES_Spinners___Ancillaries_878.html#a35174W_2dW179

Steve
Steve Gyles

This thread was discussed between 18/08/2013 and 05/09/2013

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