Rust

[Ian Key]

My mates mum was a sales rep and her brand new Vauxhall company car came with rusty wheel arches as standard.

 

[gdog]

Rust on tip of drive shaft. Are you serious lolol

 

[siteguru]

Not sure what you're getting at - are you saying that being concerned/observing it is stupid as it shouldn't be there, or because it being there is normal?

 

[gdog]

Not sure what you're getting at - are you saying that being concerned/observing it is stupid as it shouldn't be there, or because it being there is normal?

I'm saying it's not that unusual. A smear of grease would solve and IMO not worthy of any concern. Would you be concerned about this?

 

[OriginalBigAl]

There is rust , and then there is surface rust which stays on the surface and protects the steel underneath. The first type goes deeper and forms corrosion. The type of rust can be an indicator of the alloy mix in the steel on which it forms . In the case of a hub carrier/ stub axle you would want it to be tough and resistant to shock and would expect that the alloy ( steel/carbon ) has additives such as Molybdenum, Nickel, Chromium to achieve the desired specifications for its purpose. These also introduce a good degree of corrosion resistance. Corrosive rust on the shaft if left untreated could mean it all needs replacing some time in the future as it will eat away at the threads meaning larger repair bills. My 19 year Peugeot only had small amounts of surface rust on the corresponding parts and that was with running it without wheel trims for its last 5 years. The 6 month old (from build date ) corrosion on the MG was much worse and seemed to my eye the deep seated type.

I was told many moons ago in my first metallurgy lesson that British Leyland used a steel containing 4% Aluminium for their body panels , this made it more ductile when pressing out the panels and so the dyes in the presses lasted longer. Unfortunately the Aluminium sat at the grain boundaries in the steel and the tiny amounts of electrolytic ( dissimilar metals ) corrosion produced made them rot in no time. Up to now the MG has been great but it is becoming easier to spot where cost cutting measures have been employed.

 

[Tuareg]

My BMW 330D had similar rust on the hubs and shaft endings when I bought it at 3 months old.

 

[salty]

You'll find most cars, including cars a lot more expensive than an MG. The Calipers and particularly the Hubs will, rust.

These are the ones I did on me last car, a Mercedes E class coupe.

Before.

After

At least on the X Power, the Calipers don't need doing.

 

[Matt x power]

I've owned MK3 escorts, that's absolutely nothing

 

[stevegus]

Unless you have a supercar with £5000 ceramic discs, they are made with uncoated steel which rusts. Using the brakes clears it off. This is the case for all cars.

Stainless steel does not work ( as japanese motorbike manufacturers found out in the 70s) when it becomes wet, so its plain, rusts if not used regularly, steel