Part 4 - FRONT SUSPENSION, STEERING, HUBS & BRAKES

Click here for Part 1 - Engine faults

Click here for part 2 - Transmission

Click here for Part 3 - Lubrication

Click here for Part 5 - Electrical and Ignition

Click here for Part 6 - Body

Click here for Part 7 - Fuel

FRONT SUSPENSION

Car Wandering

·         Front shock absorber too tight

·         Lightly grease wooden discs ?

·         Use single shock absorber link mod (see A7 Companion)

·         Spring U bolts loose/broken

·         Lack of toe in

·         Buckled wheels

·         Tyre Pressures

·         Loose radius arms/centre bolt

Spring Leaves Out of Line

·         Clips loose

·         Centre bolt not tight

·         Worn leaves

Bouncing

·         Shockers ineffective - rubbers worn /tension

·         Adjust to one bounce

·         Double shocker plate is good mod on front

·         Tyre pressures

·         Unbalanced front wheels

·         Cheap tyres!

Hard ride

·         Most solutions are the opposite of Bouncing!

STEERING

Too much play in wheel

·         Adjust steering box

·         See our website/see A7 Companion

·         Could be bushes worn

·         Could turn gear 1/3 on early box to present unworn area

·         Ultimate job is to lap gears with grinding paste – very long job!

·         Check track rod ends/draglink ends

Wandering

·         Worn kingpins and bushes

·         Wheel bearings

·         No toe in/lack of castor – shim/twist radius arms (see A7 Companion)

·         Rear spring set too high – Ian Dunford has correct dimensions for all springs

Stiff steering

·         Kingpin seized

·         Castor angle

·         Box too tight – adjusted in middle not at both ends

 Vibration

·         Tyre damage/wheel balance

·         Loose wheel nuts

·         Worn drag link

 Lack of Self Centring

·         Box too tight

·         Castor angle

 Steering wheel loose on shaft

·         Check clamp on early car

·         Keep centre nut tight on steering wheel

·         Splines worn – use Loctite filler – oil spline to prevent sticking

Safety -  Always look immediately at any sudden change!

 HUBS AND BRAKES

 Wobbly wheels

·         Worn wheel bearings 

·         Loose/broken spokes

·         Wheel nuts loose/worn/stripped

·         Wheel nut seating worn or painted (remove new paint to provide metal to metal)

·         Wheel studs broken/loose

·         Half shaft nut /taper/key/bearing nut/hub screws – one or more loose

 Screeching

·         Down to brake rivets

·         Worn cam bearings

·         Broken pull off spring

·         New shoes not chamfered

·         Grit between shoe and drum

·         Beware bonding on alloy coming apart

 Grabbing

·         Oval drum

·         No chamfer/ linings loose/broken pull off spring

·         Worn cams and bushes

 Brakes lock in reverse

·         Slacken off front brakes

·         Levers on wrong way round – should be ball facing backplate

 Clonking on take up in forward or reverse

·         Rear hub loose on key

·         Play in torque tube/anchor

 Brakes come on on full lock

• Slacken off adjustment!

• Always use footbrake when adjusting (jam with piece of wood against the seat)
   750MC's Special Builders Guide advice seems useful - adjust front to come on before rear and rear offside slightly before the nearside. Try a cable adjuster to tune the cable (do all this with the car jacked up off the ground.

•  Did you know that slots are cut into the flange of steel brake shoes to reduce squeal and prevent upset to animals from harmonics beyond the range of human hearing?Recommended sequence for setting up Ruby brakes? Technically front should come on first, but practically better to have rear come on first. Jack it up with a friend to press the brakes or use a lump of wood to depress the pedal. Don’t adjust on the hand brake.

WHEELS & TYRES

• What tyres are recommended for 17” wheels - Waymaster tyres should be avoided be-cause they squeal even at Austin Seven speeds. Howard Annett sells Arm-strong tyres, which need to be inflated harder than usual and Roger would not recommend them for rear wheel applications. Gary Munn recommend-ed Longstone Tyres and said that they also supply a triple stud design for 19” wheels. Blockley 19” tyres have quite hard side walls. Vintage Tyres at Beaulieu sell 4.50 x 17” Excelsior tyres and Tyre Marx at New Milton sell 19” Avon tyres.

SUSPENSION:

Should the suspension friction discs should be re-moved and cleaned annually or left? There is no need for annual cleaning with normal mileages. It is important to insert the front damper centre bolt from the front (lock-nuts to the rear), so that it does not foul the axle when the suspension is compressed.

GENERAL:

• Use of Ruby thrust and levers on 3 speed box

• Use of ‘0' rings on Carden pin to space blocks out to reduce side play in Carden housing ­Excellent idea.

• Do not over fill rear axle – ¼ pint but check oil regularly. Crown wheels and pinions are very rare
  Use of a patent `Speedy sleeve' to eliminate a scored bearing surface for modern oil seals is being investigated (typical application on wheel hubs and crankshaft?)

 Phil Whitter