Topic

Went and had my new TF 4 wheel alignment done today. Elite in Reading sorted out the toe front and rear but the right front has 0 deg 52' positive camber and the caster is 7 deg 11' which is half about 60' over spec too.



Having only just bought the car I can't say for sure this isn't crash damage but there's nothing that looks out of the ordinary with the wings and subframe.

Some questions for all you forum members who had this before. Is this amount of misalignment a problem as it drives fairly well? I suppose I'll get increased tire wear on the edges. Assuming its not a structural issue where should I look for the problem?

There's a definite clonk when i drop down off a low 1 inch curb and occasionally when hitting a pot hole there's a feeling that the steering feel changes for a while afterwards so I'm thinking that something is moving around. I seem to recall seeing something from CJJ about the strut top bushes wearing oval. Could that cause this?

Phil

I would be looking at your balljoints, especially the bottom one on the wishbone. Also check your wheel bearing.

A collapsed needle roller bearing on the front top radius arm would give that effect, my last and current TF both had needle rollers that had failed due poor or zero maintenance' It's unusual to have grease points on a modern car plus nobody owns a grease gun anymore, anyway it's worth a look.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll have look at the weekend. Based on the rusty colour of the coolant I think maintenance was pretty limited to oil changes.

Any tips on how best to check the ball joints and needle bearings.

Jacking up that wheel safely will allow you to see if there's play in the suspension. If you're unsure of what you're looking for any garage or MOT station will check it for you.

To check the the needle rollers and pivot shaft; slack the wheel nuts jack up on the normal sill point until the wheel is clear of the ground, place some packing (wooden blocks) under the outer side of the front wishbone, lower the jack so the wishbone starts to take the load. This will raise the upper radius arm until it clears the rubber bump stop; you have now taken the load of the pivot shaft so if you push/pull laterally on the disk you can see if there is any play (there should be none at the pivot)

While you're under there and load is off the pivot shaft get your grease gun out, clean the nipple and pump until you see clean grease squeezing out at both ends by the rubber dust shields and wipe away any excess.

Both my TF's had been dealer serviced from new and were bone dry, the only lubrication at those points were when it was first assembled; hence the failures.

Thanks both will have some fun with it on Sunday once I get back inspired from Goodwood.

>get your grease gun out

Said with no irony at all. There's another tool I should have bought long ago

Had a good look at the weekend and the needle rollers seem to be ok although one of them has a split rubber dust cap on it. Grease gun is on order finally for next weekends job list. Had a look at the service sheet and searched the work shop manual but greasing these rollers isn't mentioned as far as I can see so maybe the dealers can be at least partially forgiven for not treating them as part of a service.

Anyway the problem wheel definitely has some play in the bearing. As I don't have access to a press these days I'll have to get someone to sort that out for me and see if it cures the alignment issue. What's a reasonable charge for that job (in the expensive South-East?)

Incidentally I've now cured the worst of my remaining rattles too Turns out a couple of the wheel arch liner clips were missing and it was banging on the subframe. Its impressive how loud it sounded.

Wheel bearing kit from Ebay about £15 (bearing cassette, retaining clips and hub nut) front & rear both the same bearing; in fact the same as the front bearings on an Austin Metro/Maestro/Montego.

However you can get a quality Timkin bearing kit from MG Mania for £24 inc P&P which is worth paying a tad more for the quality, link below;

http://mgmanialtd.com/index.php?id_product=127&controller=product

You are correct about a press to fit; however I have a large engineers vice which I managed to press mine in and out with.

If you were going down the garage route I would estimate 2 - 3 hours labour for fitting.

Quote I got for replacing one wheel bearing was £160 which seemed a bit steep. Anyway I found someone on ebay selling the whole hub assembly for £85 so since I don't have a press I'm going to go that route. I get a spare ABS sensor and the top ball joint replaced into the bargain. It'll also rule out any hub or flange damage at the same time.

The needle rollers seem solid but I may not have been aggressive enough with testing them. Greased them up but I may just get a couple of repair kits and do the problem side when I do the hub swap.

Finally got round to replacing the hub/flange/bearing/top ball joint last week. I also checked out the bottom ball joint and upper arm bearings while I had it apart. Both seem fine. The bearing was definitely faulty and runs much smoother now. In fact on closer inspection someone had tightened and restaked the nut at some point so it clearly wasn't happy.

Unfortunately its not fixed the camber issue. One thing I noticed is that I can't get a socket and ratchet on the nut at the end of the upper arm as it fouls on the bulkhead. On the passenger side arm though it fits fine. I also noticed that the wheel arch liner doesn't fit round the wheel arch very well. I've now concluded that the subframe is probably bent in about half an inch and is pulling the liner away from the wing when its tightened to the crash can.

So its clearly been in a small accident, the bumper is undamaged and had never been removed before this. Is it likely just a bent subframe or could the body have been distorted too. Would that matter much if I just fit a new subframe anyway - assuming it would actually fit still of course?

It would need checking by careful measurement or on a jig to be sure. Although all the suspension is attached to the subframe so it could just be a bent subframe.