Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) tyre advice please

On my ‘86 4/4 this would be an indication of sliding bush wear causing the tracking to go out

Simon,
Thank you. I wondered about that too. My roadster now has 27000 miles on the clock. The nine o'clock, six o'clock test doesn't produce any movement though that would flag king pin wear but the previous owner might have changed the pins for hard chrome although he only did two or three thou in it.

Hi, If the wear is even on the inside of both tyres then its definitely the tracking! Its running too much toe out but not by much looking at the wear! Try a half turn on each track rod to adjust the tyres to run more toe in. That is assuming your steering wheel is running straight when driving. first check for wear or damage to steering/suspension parts pay particular attention to track rod ends, rack and hub both, and fastenings at the rack. I've found that even when tracked properly you can get tyre wear and I usually end up making micro adjustments whilst keeping an eye on the wear pattern by accurate tyre measurement. also are your pressures too high? are you running over inflated to make the steering easier? this can lift the tyre onto the inner edges and scrub on cornering!

Easy to check for bush/kingpin wear with both front wheels jacked off the ground. Hold tyre at 6 and 12 'o clock and alternately push at top and pull at bottom then reverse. You will easily feel wear if any, except perhaps just after greasing. If it's only just felt, not recently greased and it's not loose wheel bearings (unlikely) then you have 5,000 miles or more before renewal really needed. Such minimal wear may not be picked up by annual test either.

Sewin and Richard,
Thank you. I will try half a turn. I checked pressures again and they are 22psi all round, and there is the tiniest of movement at the 12/six o'clock position which disappeared when the spinners were given a really good thump. I'll see if I can find a good tyre fitter this coming week to check the tracking.

Recommend finding a tyre shop that offers laser tracking. If you really want to try adjusting youself first remember that outer steering rod ends have right hand thread but inner near rack left hand.

That is is absolutely right Richard, however there was (presumably) a batch of steering rods that had the same thread both ends, don't ask me how I know. still possible to do the tracking but more of a faf. if the tracking man is taking longer than you think, thats why. at least rod used on a 93 plus 4 and plus 8.

That's crazy but strangely believable. Guess it would require you cracking the TRE taper to wind steering rod in or out at one end only, re-assembling then checking

Thats right Richard , the young lad on the laser learnt a lot that day. I imaging the bloke on the lathe who threaded the rod made the left handers in the morning and the right handers after lunch, if mine was unique and not a batch it was probably in the wrong pile at lunchtime.

is this what you call a thread drift?