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MG MGF Technical - Tracking settings

Having discovered the dreaded inside edge tyre wear on the front tyres I had the settings checked and it was out by quite a bit!

Toe settings
Nsf: -0deg 27' Osf: -0deg 24'

Nsr: 0 deg 24' Osr: 0deg 12'

Perhaps of more concern is the discovery that the Osf wheel has a caster of 5deg 54' which is outside the max spec limit. The Nsf is 4deg 42'.

I have had the fronts set to 6' and the rears at 3'( he couldn't achieve 5' on the rears apparently)
Before I take issue with Morrisons in Stirling regarding the tracking (my car has only done 2500 miles since it was supposedly checked!) what are the OEM specs for tracking?

Also is it possible to adjust the front suspension cradle to bring the caster angles into spec?

Because of the caster imbalance the car drifts slightly left - not as much as it did before the adjustments however!

The car is 3 years old this year and obviously well outside any warranty claim but given the low mileage I am prepared to have a go at them for failing to adjust the tracking as requested 2 years ago. Any comments chaps?

Ewan R
T515 MLS
Ewan Ramage

Ewan, was the toe angle really over 24 minutes toe out at the front??? Blimey, no wonder the inner edge of the tyres were shot!

OEM settings are 0 deg 10' +/- 6' toe out front and 0 deg 10' +/- 6' rear.

Sadly, not alot can be done about caster- there are no independent adjustments to make there :o( Tony Smith however found that caster was much improved when he had nylon bushes fitted - a rather expensive solution to the problem however.

As an aside there are alternative geometry settings that could be considered, but that's another story ;o)
Rob Bell

Hi Folks,

I know inner tyre wear is a problem, but how about extreme outer tyre wear. Also, does anyone have experience of Goodyear venturas?

Not for me, I'm sticking with the RE720's.

Leigh
Leigh

Sorry Ewan, meant to ask where you had the tracking done?

Had mine done recently and your caster is only just outside max limit (5deg 50min).

If the car is pulling to the left, what's the current thrust angle? Should be 0deg 6 min I believe.

Print out I have shows min toe for front -0deg 4min to +0deg 17min and 0deg 2min at rear to 0deg 17min.

My current settings are NOT even front and rear, but the thrust angle is exactly 0deg 6min and the car doesn't pull.

HTH

Leigh (Might see you sometime on the coast road between musselbugh and north berwick, if this good weather holds out!)
Leigh

Rob,
YES!! They were that far out - not a typo error! I am concerned that with the readings being out by that much and the low mileage, this suggests to me the garage has not set the tracking when I asked them to. Could it drift out by that much of its own accord?

I know there is no recognised independent caster adjustment. But if it can vary by other suspension adjustments e.g. bushes, is there not some other way to bring it into spec. After all - surely it should have been in spec when it left the factory. The car has no accident damage and only covered 5100 miles.

Leigh,

Thrust angle was 6' but after adjustment is 0. Having driven the car a little more the car is only occasionally drifting left which may be down to road camber as it isnt there all the time. The guy said the pull i had before adjustment would have been down to the fronts toeing out, the caster causing the front right wheel to be in front of the left and the backs wanting to pull the car to the right!

I had the car checked a CLCM Autotyre, 11 Bankhead Drive, Sighthill Ind. Est. Tel. 458 5559.

Very knowledgeable and reasonably priced at £46 for the whole job which took about 50 minutes.

Oh, if I pass you on the coast road how will I know it's you!!

ER
T515 MLS
Ewan Ramage

CLCM!

Good stuff. Was there myself to get the Bridgestones fitted, and was back a week later to get the tracking sorted. It was Paul Weatherill that put me on to them, so sounds like they're a popular lot!

'98 Tahiti Blue VVC - S450 MBL (Mable!). Piccie here (hopefully!).

http://www.xycom.demon.co.uk/car/mgf/general/psn00005.jpg

Hard top off for the summer now though! And with clear indicators. Can't believe how easy it is to get sun burnt with the top own though.

Leigh
Leigh

Wow, that is indeed scary Ewan. Sadly, tracking is not a part of the Pre Delivery Inspection. It ought to be!
If you don't have tyre wear, then a Dealership will have absolutely no indication to ever look at it...

Hopely putting all the tracking parameters back to were they ought to be will improve matters significantly. If the wayward suspension behaviour persists, then it may be a good idea to drop the lads at Techspeed a line (http://www.tech-speed.co.uk). Whilst there isn't any formal way of altering camber, these guys have enough experience with the MGF suspension to know a few tricks to get things properly sorted.

Good luck - a bad handling car is absolutely no fun at all :o(
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 09/04/2002 and 13/04/2002

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