Waynebaby

Paul, Take a look at my post from the 25th October in the steering/suspension forum and see if that helps at all. I initially found that I couldn't get the top bushes through the hole too. Wayne

Dave, I used to get a very scary BANG from the same location on the rebound when going over things like hump back bridges in my non-roto GT6. I eventually traced it to my woefully flaccid rear spring. When disconnected from the vertical links and waggled up and down the play in the leaves was enough for the second and third from the bottom to slap against each other. A new spring cured the banging and raised the rear of the car by~ 1.5 cm. If your car looks like it's dragging its *rse it might be worth taking out the spring eye bolts and seeing if your spring leaves are similarly lacking in curvature too. Wayne

Useful stuff Mick - definitely one for the ring binder of wisdom. Thanks very much. Wayne

Cheers Ben. I'll just tighten them lightly now in that case and torque them up properly when everything is back on the car and I've loaded it up with water containers to get the correct static setting. Wayne

Hi All, I'm refitting my rear vertical links to the half-shaft trunnion housings on my late Mk3 GT6 and have got to the stage of tightening up the bolt that goes through the bushes. I can't find the torque setting for this bolt anywhere. Haynes tells you to torque it to the correct setting but then doesn't seem to tell you what that setting should be and I've drawn a blank with the Triumph workshop manual. Does anybody know what the correct torque setting would be for the rear trunnion bolt? Thanks Wayne

I have a feeling that I've seen a GT6 converted to an auto gearbox by Jigsaw racing, so they may be able to advise. Wayne

I agree, Colin and next time I have to change the half-shaft UJs I'll go down the sealed-for-life route. I had planned on going that way for this job but Garth warned me off buying the Freelander UJs from the club shop unless I had worn yokes, since he'd had reports of people struggling to get them to fit. Wayne

I suppose it might be different for roto shafts Paul and also I think minor differences from shaft to shaft may influence things. On one of my half shafts there was no way I could screw in a nipple whilst on the other it was just about possible.

If you're interested in NOS shockers give Mansfield Shock Absorbers a call on 01623 633381. When at the NEC I had a long chat with the guy who runs it and got the impression that there isn't much he doesn't know about shock absorbers and the changes in brand ownership over the years (he can identify year of manufacture by looking at the standard of welding!) Wayne

I think the difference is down to the profiles of the yokes on the half and prop shaft. The yoke on the prop shaft does not flare out where it attaches to the shaft and so there remains a straight line of sight of the grease hole when the UJ is assembled. This means that unlike the half-shaft, you can grease prop shaft UJs in-situ (see photo). If the prop-shaft UJ is assembled with the spider grease hole facing the differential or gearbox however the flange will prevent access to the nipple. Wayne

Hi All, I earned another Tee-shirt this afternoon whilst working on my non-roto GT6 Mk3 and thought I might pass on what I found to avoid others falling into the same trap. Hayne's is at pains to stress the importance of fitting the UJ spider with the grease plug boss facing the prop-shaft. What it doesn't tell you is that the opposite is the case when fitting the spiders to half-shafts. If the spider is fitted with the grease nipple orifice facing the half-shaft then you'll find when you come to screw in the grease nipple that you can't reach the hole because of the shape of the half-shaft UJ yoke. You then need to strip the whole thing down and start again, hoping all the time that the rollers don't get too shaken about in the process! (ask me how I know) I've attached a couple of photos of the assembled UJ with the boss in the correct position. The other thing to point out about the "greasable" UJs is that whilst you can pump grease into them, you can only do this when the half-shafts are off the car, as when the shafts are fitted the orientation of the UJ components makes removing the grub screw and fitting the nipple impossible. Make sure you grease the UJs before you refit the shafts. Wayne

Thanks gents. I'll let you know how I get on next week. Wayne

Thanks John, I used a 5/8" socket on the inner bearings but did use the old oil seal to drive in the the new seal in the way you suggested. I'm not ready yet to insert the half shaft and attempt to drive on the outer bearing but I am starting to wonder how to best go about that. I don't have a press and so will be using a mallet and figured that I'd use the old outer bearing to drift in/protect the new one, until I realised I'd probably end up with the old bearing stuck on the shaft again if I did that! Is there a clever way to do this or is it just a case of hit it and hope? Wayne

I cleaned up the area where the inner bearing race sits with some oil and emery and everything went into place nicely. Some tapping with a hide mallet but nothing excessive. Thanks again Pete! Wayne

Thanks Pete. Good info and advice as usual. There is some light pitting on the inner bearing housing region - in view of what you have told me about the outer race rotation, do you think this might be a problem? Wayne

Hi All, Just a quick question about drifting in new bearings (for rear hubs in this case) When drifting in bearing races should the bore of the hub be greased or are the bearings fitted dry? As they are an interference fit I'm guessing that the two surfaces shouldn't be lubricated. Can anybody tell me if my guess is correct? Wayne

I rotated the difficult stud through 90 degrees before pressing it back in and it eventually sat down at the right height, but it still required what I would consider to be excessive force to get it to this position. It might not be relevant, but the hub is an aftermarket item fitted by a PO and all the studs on this hub required much more effort to get them out and in than the four in the OEM hub from the other side of the car. I wonder if the dimensions on the newer hub are slightly out? Anyhoo - job's done now. Thanks as always for your suggestions Pete. Wayne

Hi Pete, The studs are standard from Canleys. The stud isn't quite far enough in for the chamfer to engage with the countersunk hole in the hub and so the interference seems to be with the barrel portion of the stud. I'll try to press it out again and try turning it a few degrees. Wayne

Hi All, Could I ask if anyone knows how critical is the depth to which wheel studs are pressed into the hubs? I'm asking because having changed the studs on my rear hubs I'm finding that one of them (there's always one, isn't there!) won't press all the way in. It is ~1mm shy of being fully home and no amount of heaving on the vice, even with the assistance of a 3' scaffold pole, can convince it to go into the hub to the same depth as the other three. I've attached a photo which shows the offending stud on the left and how it compares to a stud on the right which is fully inserted. I manage to press most things in with various sockets and a 6" vice and I'm loathe to invest in a hydraulic press for this one task unless I really have to. Can I consider the stud to be sufficiently firm for use back on the car do you think? Wayne

Henry, It would be worth checking the height of the spring on top of your rotor arm as if it is too low it can cause a misfire under load. Take a look at my post in the electrical section from 23rd August. good luck Wayne

Hi guys, I've managed the Haynes way - all I had to do was realise that when Haynes say "push", they really mean hit it with a piece of wood and a 2lb lump hammer like your life depended on it!! Wayne

Hi Folks, I'm in the process of changing the rear wheel bearings on my Mk 3 non-roto Mk3 GT6 and have reached the stage in the Haynes manual which says, "Now push the trunnion further onto the drive shaft so that the ball race protrudes enough for the fitting on an extractor". I've got one of the half-shafts in the vice ready for "pushing" but the trunnion won't budge down the shaft and pounding with a mallet doesn't achieve anything. Has anybody else had this problem and know how to progess from this point? Many thanks in advance. Wayne

So far there are no untoward noises from the rear of the car Kevin, other than the usual differential howl and UJ related clunks of course. The next time I have the transmission cover off and can access the front bolts I may well experiment with swapping the prop-shaft round to see what happens. Wayne

Thanks Pete, I won't rush to swap the orientation of the shaft in that case. Wayne

Hi folks, The Haynes manual says this about the prop shaft sliding joint - "Note that the sliding joint must be adjacent to the differential unit" Guess what the sliding joint on my Mk3 GT6 is adjacent to? Yes, the gearbox. Can somebody please tell me if my prop shaft really is on the wrong way round? Wayne