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Hi all – I am still having some trouble feeling like the steering on the car is right. I did a complete front-end rebuild and lowered the air pressure in the tires to about 21 pounds. At lower speeds the car feels like it is tracking just fine and responsive. Once I hit about 50 and above it feels like it wants to move on its own. The steering is responsive, too responsive. Every movement on the steering wheel is exaggerated at the higher speeds. I guess I could let more air out of the tires but it just feels like it doesn’t want to track at the higher speeds. I have a VW based MiGi. Any thoughts? It really makes driving it a little bit scary at high speeds. TIA.
In wine there is truth, in water health.
I know it goes against everything you’ve learned with modern cars. But try even lower front tire pressures.
VW’s spec for radials was:
- Front – 18 psi (both with 1-2 persons and fully loaded)
- Rear – 27 psi (both with 1-2 persons and fully loaded; 29 psi after Jan. 1973)
VW’s spec for bias ply tires (with 1-2 persons) was
- Front – 16 psi (17 psi fully loaded; 18 psi after Jan. 1973)
- Rear – 24 psi (26 psi fully loaded; 29 psi after Jan. 1973)
Our cars are even lighter. So can bear even lower pressures.
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
Thanks Paul. I will go even lower and see how it does.
In wine there is truth, in water health.
If 16 lbs in front doesn’t do it, make triple sure you have a little toe-in. 1/8 inch is about right. 3/16 is OK too. 1/4 is a lil too much. If you have less than an eighth you might wander a bit on the highway. I like a half degree of negative camber as well in the front. Stock spec is 0, straight up and down, but a little camber does it no harm and might help some.
If alignment’s all good and she’s still squirrely, consider a couple of caster shims. They’re easy to install and make a big difference at highway speeds. You don’t need longer bolts if you run just one set. If you need more caster, put in another set and spring for the longer lower beam bolts. She won’t wander then.
Got room in here for another opinion?? I too have a Daytona Migi and just wanted to add: don’t let anybody convince you that you need to add weight up front to stabilize at speed. It ain’t so. I agree that you have an alignment problem as Ed said or perhaps tire pressure. Drop the tires down to 14-15PSI and then you’ll know where the problem is.
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