BRA.MG rear suspension problems

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v8trim
T289R Member
T289R Member
Posts: 40
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:38 am
Location: manchester

BRA.MG rear suspension problems

Post by v8trim »

Hi,

Had to walk away from the BRA for a few years due to other commitments, but finally removed the cover off her today with the intention of getting everything up and running in time for xmas??

For those who care to remember I got the car through SVA in 2009 and then stripped the car of anything SVA and sent for painting soon after. When I got the car back I started to re build everything and dress the car thinking I would be enjoying driving it soon after.

But things never go to plan and due to work and family things the plans for the car had to go on the back burner in early 2010 and it got stored away.

Before I stored it away I was having problems with the rear suspension.

My problem is that the chassis bottoms out on the mg rear axle bell housing whenever I drive over an un even surface.

Does anyone on here run a BRA289 with mg rear axle an suspension set up? if so does your car do this/did this?

Can anyone advise on a way to fix my problem or advise on parts to use?

I had hoped that the car would have fixed itself whilst in storage over the past few years but to my amazement the car still has the same problem!!

Hope everyone is still enjoying driving or building your 289s, and I hope to enjoy mine sometime soon.

Thanks to all that read this and i hope for some advice soon.

Kind regards stuart.
DavidA
T289R Member
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Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:07 pm
Location: Teddington

Re: BRA.MG rear suspension problems

Post by DavidA »

Congratulations on clearing the cobwebs. The challenge is reducing the height of MGB springs without softening the ride which causes the phenomena you describe.
The solution I finally hit on involved using lowered parabolic springs (which come with short packing plates that allow the final height to be adjusted when fitting). These are combined with anti tramp bars and a panhard rod all located on plastic bushes.Others are probably far better qualified to comment but this seems to work with only very occasional bottoming on deep pot holes .
Best Wishes
steveshaw
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 8:32 am
Location: Driffield - East Yorkshire

Re: BRA.MG rear suspension problems

Post by steveshaw »

Mine bottomed when I took out too many leafs in an attempt to lower the ride height.
At the moment I have one leaf out, but the ride is a little high, I may resort to lowering blocks.
Mines not painted yet, so maybe the extra weight of the paint will help??
Steve
allan horsfall
Posts: 374
Joined: Sat Apr 03, 2010 4:05 pm

Re: BRA.MG rear suspension problems

Post by allan horsfall »

Hi Stuart,

I have a Jaguar back end (but I try to keep the tail tucked in my trousers! boom boom) and am not that familiar with the MG set up, but with Vintage cars I've had in the past, I've occasionally had the the leaf springs heat treated to stiffen them. Would that be a possible solution.

Regards
Allan
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David Large
Posts: 1044
Joined: Tue Apr 03, 2007 7:28 am
Location: Walsall

Re: BRA.MG rear suspension problems

Post by David Large »

I had this problem when we built our car in the 1980s
I messed about with different springs and blocks on the springs and all sorts of things, I even cut out an angle piece on the crossmember.
Eventually I took it to a spring specialist in the Black Country who looked at it and said, take the springs off and i will fix that ........and he did.
It is about spring profile and stiffness. In the last 10 years (20,000 miles) the car has never bottomed out.
The car does look very slightly high at the back when there is nobody in it but that is a small price to pay.

David
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