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MG MGA - Wheel clicking

Guy's, I am experiencing a rather distinctive periodic clicking sound from my left front wheel. I have yet to take it apart to investigate, but It was noticed by a inspector at an auto cross I did last week, that there was some play while he was pulling the front wheel in and out. I am thinking maybe the bearings are bad. Any advice?

WMR Bill

Bill,

My car did that on left hand turns at moderate speed.

Turns out it was one of the wheel spokes touching the brake body.
T McCarthy

Bill, Yes it could well be a bearings, you should also hear a "rumbling" noise when you spin the wheel (if needed, remove the brake pads - if it's got front discs or slacken the adjuster for drums). In any case there should be no play, so it probably has to come apart!

It could also be a broken/loose spoke, tap the spokes to hear if any don't "ring", you should be able to see if you remove the wheel and check inside the hub.

BTW, if it's got front drums there's nothing for the spokes to touch.
Neil McGurk

I would expect this also to be loose spokes. If they are loose you should be able to feel it by tugging on each one. I would also expect to find more than one loose.
Robert (Bob) Midget Turbo

Does the wheel move on the splines? Knock off seated correctly?

Check the bearings and verify the bearing spacer orientation is correct and firm.

Is the grease seal that covers the hole in the splined hub in the correct position, not near the hub nut?

As Niel says, check the spokes. Often. Older wheels do change over time and stress so do the splines.

Trouble shoot to the component level by process of elimination.

Nice looking car!
Russ
Russ Carnes

Bill,

I should clarify that the reason my wheels were brushing the brake housing was that they had too much toe out, that dramatically increased the pressure to the outside as the car went around a curve.
T McCarthy

Bill,
How old are your wheels? What make and size? I have a little pinging hammer that I use to tap each spoke (with the wheel off and lying on the floor or bench), with a keen ear you can pick up the broken spokes easily. Sometimes the heads come off the spokes and no break is visible just slight movement where the spoke goes into the wheel. Good luck.
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

I had a "squeaking" rather than clicking noise in one of my front wheels. When I jacked the car up, I was able to move the wheel, with hands on top/bottom, a bit more than seemed "normal" It was the outside bearing - the entire race had come apart. Here's a picture:
- Ken

Ken Doris

I thought I was going to be experiencing a bearing going bad, but it turns out another spoke head popped and the mushroomed head wedged itself down were the hub compresses against the rim. Easy fix but still having a problem with my newly repaired Dayton rim popping spokes again.
WMR Bill

How many spokes do your wheels have? Very difficult to see from the picture, but if they have 48 spokes, then auto cross is probably asking a bit much of them, if they have 60 or more, my appologies!
Lindsay.
Lindsay Sampford

WMR, I am bumping this one as I am interested in the final results. I remember that you had trouble last year with your Dayton wheels and trouble getting service, after some spokes broke. Are the these the same wheels or the repaired/replaced wheels? I wonder all of this, as I look at my Dayton chrome wheels and ponder if I will have the same fate? My recent purchase was not without some incident, so I am even more concerned with your latest report. Let us know. Thanks!
James Johanski

This thread was discussed between 16/07/2009 and 03/08/2009

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