| Author | Message | ||
     Jeff Young New User Username: jeyjey Post Number: 2 Registered: 10-2010 |
After doing a cooling system flush and water pump rebuild, I decided I'd give the chassis a lube and see if that does anything for my rear-end chirp. I topped up the diff (I guess RR calls it a "final drive"), drained and re-filled the trunnions (one was completely dry) and greased the u-joints on the drive shafts and prop shaft. At which point Murphy intervened. On my last grease nipple, the nipple broke off in the gun. Of course it's the one on the front of the propshaft which is almost completely obscured by the chassis crossmember, so I'm going to have to remove that to get an easy-out to the part still in the hole. As if that wasn't enough, removing the chassis crossmember means removing half of the A-bank exhaust and parts of the parking brake mechanism. Arrrgh. Any advice on the job appreciated. Jeff. (Message edited by david_gore on 26 October 2010) | ||
| Jeff Young New User Username: jeyjey Post Number: 3 Registered: 10-2010 |
The middle section of the bank A exhaust is out. The front silencer U-clamps came apart easy enough, but one side of the balance pipe U-clamp sheared off. While the half-clamps and olive at the back appear in reasonably good shape, removal of the half-clamp nuts pretty much de-threaded the bolts. Fortunately I've been collecting some parts to re-do the front 1/2 of the exhaust system in the near future, so I've got spares around. Jeff. (Message edited by david_gore on 26 October 2010) | ||
| Jeff Young New User Username: jeyjey Post Number: 4 Registered: 10-2010 |
The next step was to detach the spring from the handbrake mechanism. Ha! Their mechanics are obviously stronger than I am - I couldn't get the spring to stretch to save my life. I ended up attaching a short chain to the hook, and a cinch strap to the other end of the chain, and then wrapped the cinch strap around the O/S ramp runway and then back to the jacking point on the N/S/F lower triangle arm. I was able to get enough leverage on the strap where it went around the ramp runway to stretch the spring. Things went better after that. While there are enough bolts in the crossmember to assemble a small skyscraper, they all came out easily enough. I was worried about dimensional stability of the chassis and if it would be a bear to get the crossmember off and then back on, but even the last bolt came straight out without anything moving, and then the crossmember slipped right off. Here's a picture of the new grease nipple installed (centre of picture):  Cheers, Jeff. (Message edited by david_gore on 26 October 2010) | ||
| Paul Yorke Grand Master Username: paul_yorke Post Number: 681 Registered: 6-2006 |
Jeff, I trust you weighed the two halves of the old grease nipple and compared it to the new one to maintain correct rotational balance? Just teasing! Good job Jeff - I know many a person who would have walked away and left it! I have a feeling that leaving the spring (or putting it back on in your case) on the arm gives you something larger to hold/lever you can then put a pointer through the bolt hole and fit the other bolt. Just in case your ratchet strap is awkward? Good luck getting her back together.  | ||
| Jeff Young New User Username: jeyjey Post Number: 5 Registered: 10-2010 |
Paul The new grease nipple is about 3mm longer than the old, and I had exactly that thought: how much will it affect balance? But I've already got a bit of a rumble from either my trunnions or outer u-joints, so I shrugged my shoulders and carried gamely on. ;) Speaking of which, is changing over to lobro shafts a hubs-out job, or can it be done with the hubs and final drive in place? Thanks, Jeff. PS: now that I've had the mechanism apart and see how it works, I agree that undoing the two pivot bolts with the spring still on would likely have worked well - although my strap was effective enough that I didn't try it. (Message edited by david_gore on 26 October 2010) |
