Indpendant Rear Suspension

[EMGEBE]

Hey Guys!
If anyone has installed IRS in their MG.

Any handling gains at all?

Not sure if other MGB's get this at all...

Sometimes after work i will drive along a stretch of road called Nepean Hwy, and race whatever NA4cyl cars i see.
I find that when i punch it in 1st, the rear end of my car Bounces /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/nonod.gif (theres like bugger all traction for like 2-3 seconds) Its exactly the same in the wet

Is this due to the old crappy mg rear suspension?

Cheers

Jarrod

 

[tony barnhill]

Possibly caused by rear leaf spring
'wind up"....anti-tramp bars will solve that...contact Doug Jackson for his kit

 

[Steve_S]

There is something amiss. I would replace the rear springs and bushings and check that everything is tight.

IRS has been done on a few MGBs. Usually it's a Jaguar unit adapted to the smaller MG. There are also modern kits made by Hoyle, Hawk and Bill Guzman.

 

[Baxter]

It's been done, but for most Bs it's entirely unnecessary. There's nothing inherently WRONG with a live axle from a handling standpoint, and arguably some things are very good (lack of camber shift, for example). The push for IRS comes primarily for marketing and comfort, not necessarily handling.

Something's wrong with your car. The only time you should have any problems with the live axle is when cornering hard over bumpy terrain (say, railroad tracks at the peak of a sweeping corner), in which case the rear will tend to hop sideways a bit. Other than that, it does an admirable job with what it's supposed to do: keep the rear end planted.

Note: most of that goes out the window as the horsepower rises... then you can run into spring windup and other issues.

 

[aeronca65t]

Hoyle (in the UK) sells an IRS kit, but I agree that what your really need is a fix on your existing stuff. The standard rear suspension is fine for street use.
Replace your rear shocks (or at least flush and replace the oil in the present ones) and be sure the leaf springs are in good shape (including the clips and bushings). Tighten the axle-mount U-bolts. I like a panhard rod on these cars (and personally, I do not care for the addition of a rear-sway bar on street MGBs). The cost of repairing the standard stuff is far less than changing everything....but if you really interested, Hoyle does make one (picture below). Go to their website:
https://www.hoyle-engineering.co.uk/

 

[Nunyas]

The rear suspension on the MGB is a "tried and true" technology that many car companies have and still use on many cars and trucks over the many years of it's history. Most commonly you'll see the "live axle" with leaf spring setup on the rear end of the majority of pick up trucks these days. On "sports" type cars this type of suspension was in use on Mustangs, Cameros, and Firebirds well into the early '90s. The only thing that set the MGB apart from all these other cars was the shock absorber that was used. While most others used "telescopic" shocks MG was still using Armstrongs. My knowledge on the history of shock absorbers is far from complete, but until I got my MGB i thought all cars had telescopic/tube shocks or struts... heh.

Anyways, the symptom/action that you refer to I've always called "axle wrap". It's caused by the torque of the wheel going in one direction and the counter action of the axle housing twisting in the opposite direction. Apply enough torque coupled with too little dampening (from the shocks) and the result is a wrap and unwrap action which often sounds like a cyclic chirp from the tires that can be felt through out the whole car. If your shocks are 100% "A OK", then the addition of pan hard bars, traction bars, anti-tramp bars, or what ever other name you want to call it can solve the problem with with alot less expense than buying and installing an entire IRS.

At any rate, an IRS sounds interesting, but it isn't entirely necesary to correct the problem that you're suffering from.

 

[Steve_S]

Nunyas, what type of car do you have? I drive my black '65 B around Burbank almost daily.

 

[Mike Cook]

Keep your money in your pocket! I have been following this subject for some time on this and other bouards and to be honest aI am surprised at how much money certain to correct ait can take
I have 2 B's both with V8 motors neither have traction bars and neither has wheel hop. The problem I believe that you have is that rear springs are weak. Following is an inexpensive way to strengthen the springs and stop wheel hop. Go to Home Depot or the like and purchase flat steel that is 2" wide and 1/8th" thick. Cut 2 pieces approx 21/2' long. Drill 2 holes at either end, the distance apart should be the width of the spring + 1/2". Do this to both "plates. . With the aid of 2 bolts plac e one plate on top of the spring and the other below the spring and using the bolts you have made a clamp that can be slid back and forth along the spring (behind the axle is best) You can in fact clamp as many leaves as you like but by moving the clamp towards the rear of the car will really stop spring curl, it will also help with the everyday ride.
As you can see this is a cheap solution to your problem. As I have mentioned I have 2 V8's both with this system attached one has a 4 ltr engine with in excess of 250 bhp and have never had the problem that you have mentioned.
Pl If you choose to use this ides please post you results.
Regards Mike Cook

 

[Mike Cook]

Sorry about the spelling. I use aniMac and I am typing "blind" for some reason.
Regards Mike Cook

 

[Nunyas]

[ QUOTE ]
Nunyas, what type of car do you have? I drive my black '65 B around Burbank almost daily.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have a white '76 rubber bumper B with a black fiberglass hard top that I drive to work from Burbank to work in Glendale everyday. It's my daily driver... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Steve_S]

I'll keep a lookout for you!

 

[tony barnhill]

Mike...cheap anti-tramp bars! Glad we both agree he heeds something like that