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MG TD TF 1500 - Steering Arm Twist

I know the steering arm has a locating key and assumed that both sides would be angled the same. The shop that assembled the bushings and swivel pins also replaced a bent swivel pin and steering arm. Pic 1 shows the passenger side which had the swivel pin and arm replaced. Pic 2 is the driver side. The driver side arm seems almost horizontal as I'd expect while the passenger side has a clear angle to it. That's not the way is should be, is it??




RS Scardamalia

My guess is they have the wrong side arm in that swivel pin. But that is only a guess.
W A Chasser

When installing my Disc Brakes I had a similar issue. It resulted in the steering arm rubbing on the disc on left turns.
Mine was bent in the other direction.
I used a large adjustable and a floor jack to straighten it.
Since yours is bent the other way, that may not work.

Jim B.

JA Benjamin

Twists like that are normally kerb damage but twisted the other way.
it is possible that the arm is wrong, I have seen arms from the wrong side that have been heated and reformed to fit the other side.
The eyes should be horizontal when the car is on the ground.
Just had a closer look, I cannot see the keyway on the first photo. Have they missed out the key and the arm rotated when being tightened?.
Ray TF2884
Ray Lee

One of mine was twisted and after taking advice from a friend more knowledgeable on the properties of steel than I, bent it back to the correct shape cold.
Dave H
Dave Hill

easy to check the key, just take off the nut and poke a wire in the keyway, if it goes in anywhere near halfway, the key is missing.
Ray TF 2884
Ray Lee

I reckon Bill got it --Lh arm in the RH side and they've probably fitted it without the keyway to get it round like that
Out he comes for a look-----
William Revit

If they are a left to right change then the track rod end tapers would be one up and one down as they would be flipped.
Ray
Ray Lee

Thanks for all the comments. Looks like the first step is to check the key way. Also to check the tapers which seems to be the easiest way of determining if it's the wrong side. May have created more challenges than needed. Can't imagine actually bending the arm. Is that really possible?
RS Scardamalia

The tapers will still be on the topside, it would be the orientation of the keyway that would be different between sides.

W A Chasser

Only if they have been reworked. They are mirror images of each other to give the Akerman effect.
Ray
Ray Lee

That’s correct. The keyway orientation will be a mirror image. But that doesn’t mean it is 180°. As an example with the tie rod hole facing perpendicular and if the the keyway is cut say ...15° to the right then the opposite side keyway will be 15° to the left. The taper doesn’t change. That’s is unless they both carry the same PN. I don’t have a pair available to look at
W A Chasser

True,it is just that in 46 years working on TD/TF's I have seen arms on the wrong side (no key} so the TRE ball is under the steering arm not above.Also one on the wrong side but bent like a letter "S" to get the TRE nearly in the right place.The mind boggles at some of the repairs inflicted on our cars.but they keep on going
Ray
Ray Lee

Yes I seen some hideous repairs. Yet for various faults these cars have exhibited over their lifetimes, the cars are rather forgiving of the DPOs shade tree mechanics and WTF(?) fixes. M

W A Chasser

When restoring my TF some years ago I noticed one of my steering arms was bent. I couldn't believe that such a short stiff member could have been bent in a casual accident such as hitting the kerb so I did some measurements on the chassis and found that it was some way off being square. The car must have been involved in a significant accident at some time in it's life as the passenger chassis rail had been pushed back. I concluded that the steering arm had been bent on purpose to get the wheels to align. You can see the degree of bend, it's the middle arm in the image. So I would advise doing a little bit more research to make sure there isn't a reason for this apparent "error".
I had to get my chassis straightened out and procuring another steering arm wasn't easy either as they don't make them any more.

AJ





A R Jones

This thread was discussed between 15/11/2020 and 16/11/2020

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