BritishV8 Forum

I now live in North East Indiana. I need to have the wire knock off wheels balance. Also need alignment of the front end.
Any body can suggest were I can take the car. I live in small town, Peru, IN. No one will deal with this car, neither they recommend anyone. Thanks.

I don't know about tire balancing... but front end alignment on an MGB is so very simple that I'd recommend you do it yourself. There is no castor or camber adjustment. Pretty much all you can do is set toe-in. That adjustment is easy, via threaded tie rod ends. The only thing that's tricky is getting a measurement. First park the car on a very flat piece of pavement. (Most concrete garage floors are flat enough.) Then stretch strings between jackstands down both sides of your car. Measure from the strings to your wheel rims, and slide the jack stands around until the taught strings are perfectly parallel to the wheels on each respective side of the car. Then measure between the strings. Hint: I typically use a plumb bob to transfer the string positions to pen marks on the floor, and then measure between those marks (side to side). Once you've done it a few times it goes very quick, especially if you have a helper. How much toe-in is good? MGB's do well with very, very little (~1/16"), but you don't want toe-out.


photos from BritishV8 2009:

Sorry to hijack the thread but I'm looking out of my office window at Apex Vintage down the street as I'm reading this thread... I can't believe I didn't get on board with this meet back in 09'.  I don't think my car was ready then but still.

Quote...but you don't want toe-out

Well, maybe you slow street drivers don't.     My MG has been running more toe-out than most would like for years.

Curtis is right 0-1/6" toe-in is great for a street MGB.

Incidentally, that's Carl in the 3rd photo above getting ready to do the limbo...

What's up with these pics? I thought you were a world class photographer.  

Actually, I think you caught me on the way down to eyeball the string alignment. That's where I learned to run my car toe-out.

I've been running very close to zero toe-in for decades with 265 width tires. The wider the tires the less toe-out you want, otherwise it wears the tread out faster. Basically what I do is loosen the adjusters to where I can easily turn them either with a wrench or possibly by hand, go for a drive and loosen the front tnd up (toe out) until it gets twitchy, then tighten it back up until I'm comfortable with the feel. Then lock it down. Centering the wheel is done at the start of course. Typically this ends up being less than 1/32" toe in. Makes for a little better fuel economy too and the car is easier to push if needed.

Jim

Thanks guys, as I just put new tires on my baby and I'm replacing my tie-rod ends, or I will be when Moss has them available, this thread is of great value to me.

Paul

My experience is similar to Jim's.  I have 205 50 x 16 tires on my car ( Focus Wheels).  The toe is set near to 1/32" and steering is great.  I also have the Frontline Caster Kit ( back when $70 incl S&H from England). the effort is light when slow and very light at speed.  The Toe In is almost nothing at 1/32".   SAFETY FASTER!