[T2] a modest proposal for infrequent but regular maintenance

[Barry Rowland]

I had the same thing happen to me some years back.  It's an attention
getter!

On Monday, February 20, 2017, Robert Mann <robtmann7 at gmail.com> wrote:

>      My buddy Dennis & I just had a v g Road Trip packing much interest
> into a week.  But the final hundred mi were increasingly nerve-wracking.
> The rear R emitted a deep 'boom' every rev, esp at
> low revs  or
> over-run   or
> merely changing gear.
>       Undiminished by declutching or running in neutral, the trouble was
> inferred to be 'after' the gearbox & final drive.
>     We theorised a universal joint in the R drive-shaft could be to blame;
> later we changed to 'wheel bearing'.  At cruising speeds the noise could be
> suppressed by just a small amount of thrust, but as soon as on the over-run
> it became loud.
>     Such vehicles as passed us tooting we flattered ourselves were merely
> expressing pleasure & encouragement at our Noo Eege Peach satin enamel,
> &/or merely the rarity of the T2 (we saw no other during c.900mi).  Nobody
> pointed to our rear R  ...
>      Descending hills e.g the N side of the Auckland Harbour Bridge
> required footbrake (to keep below speed limit) with considerable power on
> to decrease the spectacular thumping which began to shake the whole plurry
> vehicle in a gait as if the wheel were oval (which turned out to be near
> the truth).  When I staggered in to my wonderful local garage, Pit Stop
> Silverdale, prop Unca Johnny  called "the wheel is buckled".  He whipped
> off the hubcap to reveal one nut c. 3 turns loose; those on either side 2
> turns; the other 2 c.1 turn.  The holes in the wheel had been abraded
> almost thru, and the tapered inner flanks of the nuts were highly polished,
> to a lesser taper  ...  😣
>      Conclusion: invest in large mirrors, with enough height to see rear
> wheel wobbling.
>      Another: hub caps obscure view of loose wheel-nuts.  As the proud
> owner of 4 original hubcaps, I can claim that if a nut came entirely off
> its stud, it could create a salutary clunk-rattle within the hubcap  –  but
> above c. 10 mph it will be centrifuged out to some static possie,
> abolishing that warning sound.  So I intend to re-fit my hubcaps, after
> I've found 5 new wheelnuts to go on the studs of the other wheels which
> have provided 'new' nuts to hold on my spare wheel.
>      That R rear wheel had last been off a decade ago.  That it had stayed
> put 10 y was the basis of our neglecting the possibility of its coming
> loose; but it then had.
>
>      Does such an event imply that wheel nuts should be checked during,
> say, 10,000-mi maintenance?  Many have been slammed on with the dreaded
> compressed-air rattle gun, of which I disapprove if only because a woman
> may find them too tight to undo even with a decent cruciform wheelbrace.
> No use having a good spare wheel if you can't get the punctured one off!
>      The proper way to fit a wheel IMHO:
> slap wheel on studs as symmetrically as possible
> grease threads of nuts &/or studs  {sidebox: special copper-containing
> grease best?  worth the extra money??}
> screw nuts on by hand, in a couple rounds of 'opposite pair' tightenings,
> until all have snugged into the tapered holes in the wheel
> feel free to grip the wheel to test symmetry of this preliminary tightening
> tighten nuts in 'opposite' pairs, pretty plurry tight {further tangent: for
> those who think a torque-limiter wrench is reqd, how many lb-ft?}
>
> Of course this securing of wheels will normally occur within a decade, if
> only from tyre wear.  But I am suggesting also that, in the event you don't
> need to change the wheel, it should be re-fitted according to this
> procedure every decade or 10,000 mi, whichever comes first.  This is a
> largely arbitrary notion, for discussion please.
>
>     Why lubrication?  Don't you want all the friction you can get, to
> discourage the nuts from doing what mine just did?  IMHO no  –  the thread
> pitch, and the correct torque, should suffice to hold the nut tight for
> many y, but still allowing your wife to change the wheel on a dark night.
> Bulk friction in those threads, compounded by further corrosion over the
> yy, can lock 'em on too tight.  The grease should prevent such corrosion.
>
>      I look fw to appraisals of my conclusions from this rather
> nerve-wracking experience.
>
>      And if anyone near me can let me have a std pressed-steel wheel, &/or
> 5 wheel nuts, I'd be grateful.  (I don't want no aloominum, mag, etc 😀)
>
>
> Robt Mann
> '73 1600dp Devon
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-- 
Barry