Shakin' Ma Booty!
Discussion
For a little while now my 1989 350I has been suffering from a serious amount of shaking and wobbling from the rear end, especially noticeable on motorways when the whole car would suddenly start to get a right ol' tank slapper on, in quite an unnerving manner! And anything above 40mph and you'd notice, especially going on anf off throttle, a bad steering effect from the rear end.
On first inspection I found a badly worn bush in a rear tie rod, which was also bent, so fitted a pair of Steve Heath rose jointed tie rods, and things improved, very slightly.
Today I investigated further, and got quite a shock!
Both rear wheels, when jacked up and wiggled top to bottom, had an enormous amount of play, I mean seriously, as if the wheel nuts were loose kind of wobble.
It seems that, all of a sudden, both rear wheel bearings, driveshaft u.j.'s and A-frame bushes have all worn out in a very short space of time, coincedence I suppose...?
Also, the left hand hub nut was barely finger tight, despite the presense of an intact split pin, but torqued up correctly the hole in the nut doesn't line up with the hole in the end of the driveshaft.
It's only several hundred miles ago and it was fine, the car seems to have disintegrated in very few miles!
I plan on replacing all bushes, bearings and u.j.'s both sides, which I expect will cost around £350 in parts.
And then I flattened the battery fixing a couple of rear light issues, so all in all not a great day!
Still, that exhaust noise makes it all better!
On first inspection I found a badly worn bush in a rear tie rod, which was also bent, so fitted a pair of Steve Heath rose jointed tie rods, and things improved, very slightly.
Today I investigated further, and got quite a shock!
Both rear wheels, when jacked up and wiggled top to bottom, had an enormous amount of play, I mean seriously, as if the wheel nuts were loose kind of wobble.
It seems that, all of a sudden, both rear wheel bearings, driveshaft u.j.'s and A-frame bushes have all worn out in a very short space of time, coincedence I suppose...?
Also, the left hand hub nut was barely finger tight, despite the presense of an intact split pin, but torqued up correctly the hole in the nut doesn't line up with the hole in the end of the driveshaft.
It's only several hundred miles ago and it was fine, the car seems to have disintegrated in very few miles!
I plan on replacing all bushes, bearings and u.j.'s both sides, which I expect will cost around £350 in parts.
And then I flattened the battery fixing a couple of rear light issues, so all in all not a great day!
Still, that exhaust noise makes it all better!
Seems a bit odd that everything would go at the same time. It should be easy to check the state of the UJ's. Just get someone to rock the wheel and watch / feel the joints themselves within the spiders. I'm in the process of replacing mine, so if you need to know where to source them, let me know.
As for the hub nuts, is it possible that when they were replaced, they were not tightened up fully (230 ft lbs IIRC) but just to the nearest alignment for the split pin?
Whereabouts in Kent are you?
7.
As for the hub nuts, is it possible that when they were replaced, they were not tightened up fully (230 ft lbs IIRC) but just to the nearest alignment for the split pin?
Whereabouts in Kent are you?
7.
Hi 7.
It is odd, especially as I'm usually a bit of a stickler for mechanical maintainence, I'm ashamed of myself letting it get as bad as it is!
I have rocked the hubs without the wheel on and seen the play in the u.j.s, and hub bearing and bushes.
I suspect the hub nuts were done to align with the split pin holes, they were certainly nowhere near the 230ib/ft.
I've found a few suppliers of u.j. repair kits on t'internet but I would be interested to hear where you sourced yours, please.
Also, I'm not too sure if I've measured the caps correctly, did you make yours 27mm?
I know they used a few different sizes on Wedges too.
I'm in Maidstone, where abouts are you?
Thanks,
Martin.
It is odd, especially as I'm usually a bit of a stickler for mechanical maintainence, I'm ashamed of myself letting it get as bad as it is!
I have rocked the hubs without the wheel on and seen the play in the u.j.s, and hub bearing and bushes.
I suspect the hub nuts were done to align with the split pin holes, they were certainly nowhere near the 230ib/ft.
I've found a few suppliers of u.j. repair kits on t'internet but I would be interested to hear where you sourced yours, please.
Also, I'm not too sure if I've measured the caps correctly, did you make yours 27mm?
I know they used a few different sizes on Wedges too.
I'm in Maidstone, where abouts are you?
Thanks,
Martin.
For measurements you need the cap diameter and the length. If I remember well that if you search for GKN on the web you can find a list/catalogue a define the part number. The universal joints come in grades and mine are heavy duty with grease nipples (otherwise it would be a gamble but you could be fine), and these are still fine after a few years of 'good and proper' use.
Think with the GKN reference you can order at all decent parts suppliers.
Rob
Think with the GKN reference you can order at all decent parts suppliers.
Rob
Hi ROOODBOY, the uj's on a 350 should be 27mm x 81.8mm. The Hardy Spicer ref. is HS166 (type 1310), although this may now have been superceded by a GKN part number as I found when I got the UJ's for my 400. You can get them directly from GKN Driveline Services in the Midlands - 0121 313 1661.
And YHM.
7.
And YHM.
7.
TVRleigh_BBWR said:
Why you have it all apart you may want to check the top diff carrier, as some of them have broken, on the racers, and on Steve Heath's car.
Good point - I've broken two, one on a 350 and one on the 400. It should be easy enough to tell - the whole rear end will move quite freely. The beam design was changed at some point as well, to add strengthening webs.7.
Gassing Station | Wedges | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff