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 MGB Technical - Something to think about

when I service my car I always check to spokes this is the third broken one I have found in the last 9 years, these are something a lot of people forget about on service.A.T

andy tilney

I found one this year for the first time for several years, after having a spate. With a full wheel-off clean it is easy to check, just look for missing heads. When I'm only giving the wheels a quick clean on-car then I 'ping' each one with a finger-nail, it's very obvious when you have a broken one. I've only ever broken long ones i.e. going to the outer rim, which is convenient as they are easy to change and you don't have to disturb the protective band over the ones in the centre.
paulh4

I notice that you have chrome wire wheels. My original painted Dunlop wire wheels only broke one spoke in 25 years, while both sets of the chrome wire wheels, that I had, have gone through numerous spokes. The chrome plating, of the spokes, reduces their strength. I contacted the manufacturer and was told that it was my "driving style" that was causing the spoke failure. When I told them that I rarely had the problem with my painted Dunlops, they became mute on the subject and told me that the only way to get replacement spokes was to purchase a complete set. Having worked on motorcycles, for many years, I've laced up my share of wire wheels. When I confronted them with this, they sent me two spokes and nipples in the mail the next day. RAY
rjm RAY

The bit about the chroming process making those spokes brittle has been repeated many times, but when I had a wheel respoked in stainless that broke it's first spoke much sooner than the first chrome spoke breakage. So far only one, so could be a rogue spoke, but then I've only had one chrome spoke break in several years as well.

I had ten stainless made up by a motor cycle wheel specialist using one I removed from a wheel as a pattern. They are OK, but the nipples are very soft and distort before they are fully tight - going by the 'ping' compared to adjacent spokes - so I reuse the originals.
paulh4

There's stainless steel and there's hardened stainless steel. For instance, almost all nuts and bolts made in stainless steel, have no strength grade markings. These are for general purpose use. However, where high loading is to be expected, graded stainless steel is a must. RAY
rjm RAY

Are you sure they are not chromed steel spokes? Chroming process weakens the spoke, thus making it resplendent in fractile crystalline structure seen under my electron microscope and I can tell you it is not for wheels. We can speak about fair play all day, but at the end of the day all that matters is the market sales a spokes.
S Nott

Ok, one thing missing from all the posts. What brand of chrome wires are you running? Dunlop or Dayton?

It would be helpful to identify if this is common in both or just one brand.
Bruce TD4139 Cunha

I not sure what relevance the post on stainless bolts has.

Mine wheels are Dunlops, which originally had chromed steel spokes, until I had one wheel respoked in stainless, at which point I had some stainless made up and have been changing them myself since then. After quite a few years with no breakages of the originals I had a spate, which led to the one wheel being respoked. Since then I've maybe had three chromed steel and one stainless break over the same period, and I do have three times as many chromed steel as stainless of course. On that small survey the chroming process is not relevant.



paulh4

I purchased a set of Dunlop licensed chrome wire wheels, made in India, back in '94. They constantly ate spokes. I purchased a set of Dayton chrome wire wheels, in 2000, to replace the ones made in India. Unfortunately, I encountered the same problem. I'm currently running a set of Minator Minilite knockoff wheels that were manufactured in England. Now, they're made in china. My only real complaint with them is that the chromed center of one wheel is beginning to show sign of rusting. RAY
rjm RAY

A pal has a supercharged MGB, with chrome wires, and uses the extra power, including track-days, so much so that he has wound up two sets of parabolic springs and had to fit an extra helper spring. In discussions I can't recall him saying he has ever had a spoke break, but he does have 72 spoke wheels.
paulh4

The Dunlop wheels now are made in india using reproduction molds made in chiner. Those little chinerman good at making all those little holes fro the spokes, or course, but they dont get the little stubby part where the ends of those spokes enter the wheel. it sticks upsorta a bit. Those little india guys make bad steel stainless or other. Never trust those foreign wheels. never unless they are foreign Canada made as Canada does everything best and Canada is king of wheels these days
S Nott

This thread was discussed between 19/05/2016 and 24/05/2016

MG MGB Technical index

This thread is from the archives. Join the live MG MGB Technical BBS now