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MG MGB Technical - Wheel movement. Bearings?

I noticed that when I grab the top of the passenger side front tire of my 74.5 mgb roadster and push and pull I have a slight bit of movement. It seems as if the lug nuts were not tightened fully but of course they are. The drivers side front is tight with no movement. Is this a sign of wheel bearings past their prime? I should remark that this was done with the wheel on the ground and not on jack stands.
John

You should also verify that all the rubber bushings in the front suspension are ok and not deteriorating as well as the trunnion/kinpin is not worn.
CD Dewey

Jack the front wheels off the ground to make your checks. It's easier to tell what is loose with the wheels off the ground/floor. Use jack stands for safety. If the wheel bearings are loose they may be OK after correctly adjusting them. New bearings can also be loose if not properly adjusted.

Clifton
Clifton Gordon

There should be about 0.1mm movement with the nuts done up tight. This is achieved by putting shims on the end of the spacer (between the spacer and the outer bearing, not between the bearing and the nut, as I found on mine!) In case you don't know the spacer is a chunck of metal that locates between the two bearings. This is a uniquely MG arrangement, and not a bad one. The idea being that you can do the wheel nuts up very tight, without crushing the bearings.
Of course 0.1mm, with grease , is undetectable really.
In other words something is amiss. The good news (I am told)is that the inner (harder to get out) bearing never dries out because the inside of the wheel is conical in shape and spins any grease onto the inner bearing. The outer, grease donating (more prone to wear) bearing is easy to replace. The only time consuming part of this is to then you need to shim the spacer properly. Paul Hunt has a very good guide to doing this if your manual is confusing. You don't need a dial guage as some instructions will tell you. If he doesn't chime in here, check the archives under bearing shimming. A saturday afternoon job.
Of course your bearing could be just fine and the spacer wasn't shimmed properly in the forst place. Inspect your outer bearing closely and if OK then re-shim. You do need to decrease the bearings to do this.
Or it could be your king pins. You need to jackup the wheel and decide what part is moving, the wheel or the pin.
It's even conceivable that your shock absorber bolts are loose.
Peter

It's hard to measure end float without a dial gauge and so I adjust my wheel bearings to have just perceptible play - no more, no less. I'd be more concerned about the one that's tight than the one that has some play. I put off adjusting mine for several years and at least 20k miles because I felt uncomfortable about doing it, and when I finally did it I found that one nut was only finger tight! It had sailed through probably ten year's MOTs and never given me any running trouble like that.
Miles Banister

Thanks all, I will put it up on the jackstands and check it further.
John

This thread was discussed between 10/07/2006 and 11/07/2006

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