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Spridgets and Road Grooves / Ruts
- Thread starter Jim_Gruber
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Trevor Jessie
Yoda
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I removed some tires from 2001 that had become very hard. The new ones made an amazing improvement.
racingenglishcars
Darth Vader
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I had a 1500 Midget once that was in an accident before I got it. It was repaired nicely enough, but they didn't bother checking the bump-steer. It was nearly undrivable, and certainly dangerous to drive.
" toe change under load? This is where the tie-rods are NOT parallel to the same plane as the lower control arm through out suspension travel"
The tie-rod angle to the A-arms doesn't have to remain the same throughout the suspension travel, as long at they don't change much and remain the same for both sides. A little toe in or toe out, as long as it's the same on both sides, isn't too bad. It's when they change relative to each other that the front wheels start angling to one side during front spring compression, and another side during front spring elongation. This makes it difficult to follow the road.
Repair - for my car at least, shims under the steering rack until it was <span style="text-decoration: underline">completely</span> parallel to the A-arm pivots. (down to the 1/10 mm)
" toe change under load? This is where the tie-rods are NOT parallel to the same plane as the lower control arm through out suspension travel"
The tie-rod angle to the A-arms doesn't have to remain the same throughout the suspension travel, as long at they don't change much and remain the same for both sides. A little toe in or toe out, as long as it's the same on both sides, isn't too bad. It's when they change relative to each other that the front wheels start angling to one side during front spring compression, and another side during front spring elongation. This makes it difficult to follow the road.
Repair - for my car at least, shims under the steering rack until it was <span style="text-decoration: underline">completely</span> parallel to the A-arm pivots. (down to the 1/10 mm)
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Jim_Gruber
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Guys. you've given me lots to think about. Been gone for 3 days on vacation.
1)Radial Tires 155R13 / 78 They are now 6 years old approximately. Gee have I had Bugsy that long? Tempus Fugit
2) Front end was refreshed with new ball joints, shocks, rack replaced, pinion gear on rack replaced, left and right A Arms etc., swapped out for a set in better shape.
Bugsy was in some sort of accident that tweaked the LF Fender enough to need replaced and even bent the inner fender slightly. That much I know. Front end was in such bad shape that he would change lanes all by himself when hotting as much as a tar strip. Upon reassembly, all parts bolted up easily, nothing needed to be foreces to go back together, hence feeling that minor sheet metal damage in fender bender accident nothing to frame and front suspension in the way of damage.
Now RF hit a bump, no noise, no clatterm, no bump steer. LF hit a manhole cover, slight bump, a definite slight noise of some sort and some small amount of bump steer. Definitely a difference in the two sides. My thought after doing lots of cogitation is that LF definitely needs to be rebuilt. I swapped out front suspension from another Spridget and it was far better than what was on hte car but it definitely still needs some work. Since replacing the suspension components there probably has been 7-10k miles put on the car. All has stayed well lubed but still wear and tear on a front end on unknown mileage to begin with.
1)Radial Tires 155R13 / 78 They are now 6 years old approximately. Gee have I had Bugsy that long? Tempus Fugit
2) Front end was refreshed with new ball joints, shocks, rack replaced, pinion gear on rack replaced, left and right A Arms etc., swapped out for a set in better shape.
Bugsy was in some sort of accident that tweaked the LF Fender enough to need replaced and even bent the inner fender slightly. That much I know. Front end was in such bad shape that he would change lanes all by himself when hotting as much as a tar strip. Upon reassembly, all parts bolted up easily, nothing needed to be foreces to go back together, hence feeling that minor sheet metal damage in fender bender accident nothing to frame and front suspension in the way of damage.
Now RF hit a bump, no noise, no clatterm, no bump steer. LF hit a manhole cover, slight bump, a definite slight noise of some sort and some small amount of bump steer. Definitely a difference in the two sides. My thought after doing lots of cogitation is that LF definitely needs to be rebuilt. I swapped out front suspension from another Spridget and it was far better than what was on hte car but it definitely still needs some work. Since replacing the suspension components there probably has been 7-10k miles put on the car. All has stayed well lubed but still wear and tear on a front end on unknown mileage to begin with.
G
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Guest
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You may have inadvertently installed a bent spindle.... again, a good front end man will find this.
OP
Jim_Gruber
Yoda
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Guys. you've given me lots to think about. Been gone for 3 days on vacation.
1)Radial Tires 155R13 / 78 They are now 6 years old approximately. Gee have I had Bugsy that long? Tempus Fugit
2) Front end was refreshed with new ball joints, shocks, rack replaced, pinion gear on rack replaced, left and right A Arms etc., swapped out for a set in better shape.
Bugsy was in some sort of accident that tweaked the LF Fender enough to need replaced and even bent the inner fender slightly. That much I know. Front end was in such bad shape that he would change lanes all by himself when hotting as much as a tar strip. Upon reassembly, all parts bolted up easily, nothing needed to be foreces to go back together, hence feeling that minor sheet metal damage in fender bender accident nothing to frame and front suspension in the way of damage.
Now RF hit a bump, no noise, no clatterm, no bump steer. LF hit a manhole cover, slight bump, a definite slight noise of some sort and some small amount of bump steer. Definitely a difference in the two sides. My thought after doing lots of cogitation is that LF definitely needs to be rebuilt. I swapped out front suspension from another Spridget and it was far better than what was on hte car but it definitely still needs some work. Since replacing the suspension components there probably has been 7-10k miles put on the car. All has stayed well lubed but still wear and tear on a front end on unknown mileage to begin with.
1)Radial Tires 155R13 / 78 They are now 6 years old approximately. Gee have I had Bugsy that long? Tempus Fugit
2) Front end was refreshed with new ball joints, shocks, rack replaced, pinion gear on rack replaced, left and right A Arms etc., swapped out for a set in better shape.
Bugsy was in some sort of accident that tweaked the LF Fender enough to need replaced and even bent the inner fender slightly. That much I know. Front end was in such bad shape that he would change lanes all by himself when hotting as much as a tar strip. Upon reassembly, all parts bolted up easily, nothing needed to be foreces to go back together, hence feeling that minor sheet metal damage in fender bender accident nothing to frame and front suspension in the way of damage.
Now RF hit a bump, no noise, no clatterm, no bump steer. LF hit a manhole cover, slight bump, a definite slight noise of some sort and some small amount of bump steer. Definitely a difference in the two sides. My thought after doing lots of cogitation is that LF definitely needs to be rebuilt. I swapped out front suspension from another Spridget and it was far better than what was on hte car but it definitely still needs some work. Since replacing the suspension components there probably has been 7-10k miles put on the car. All has stayed well lubed but still wear and tear on a front end on unknown mileage to begin with.
G
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jlaird said:
A good front end man that knows what he's doing can align that Sprite..And directional steer can be eliminated by a knowledgable professional. There are shops that KNOW about the small size of these doodlebugs and employ the portable stands and magnetic heads for this type of car. I aligned MANY MG's. Triumphs, etc when I owned my big shop back in the day. :thumbsup:
OP
Jim_Gruber
Yoda
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Jack,
Does the WIKI Site have the M & P's for jacking Up and shaking the Wheel at the appropropriate point to determine whether excessive wear in the front end. I think I remember but need to review.
Does the WIKI Site have the M & P's for jacking Up and shaking the Wheel at the appropropriate point to determine whether excessive wear in the front end. I think I remember but need to review.
OP
Jim_Gruber
Yoda
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OK Old MOSS Catalog says Jack Up and hold wheel at 6 & 12 o'clock positions and shake the He__ out of it. If It Moves lower fulcrum likely needs replacement.
tosoutherncars
Jedi Knight
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Or upper trunnion!
mccalebr
Jedi Knight
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jlaird said:
Correct...however...
I found, in my city, one of the old time alignment shops (yes, they also have the new machines) with the big bay with a front pit. On the pit is a permanent ramp with the swivel plate on one side and the one on the otherside moves on a track, so they can adjust it for the width of the vehicle. I gave him the track of the TR3 and he said 'no problem'...asked about the Midget and got the same reply.
Only car I've rebuilt the front suspension on, so far, and needed alignment was the TR3. I decided I'd use the 'string method' to get it close enough to drive over to this shop. My DIY string alignment worked so well I still haven't taken it in for the professional alignment. That was two years ago. I've put a number of miles on the car and the tires are wearing nicely. No shimmy or shake either...so I'm not going to let anyone mess with success.
Ray
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Jim_Gruber
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String method worked well for me as well. Found out alignment was really off and it made a major difference in handling. Thinking about how I might employ one or two laser levels in place of the string method along with chalk marks on the floor. Might be really easy to do that way.