Do you lube your joints?

[tvrolet]

Do folks lube the rose joints with anything? I thought they were teflon/sealed units but I've a few creaks and groans at the rear end (and it's not the ARB...as it doesn't run one at the back). I've had it suggested that I should just put some WD40 on them [from an other Tuscan source], but I'd have though that would have removed any 'sealed in' lubrication?

[teamHOLDENracing]

Don't use wd40, it's a water dispersant not a lubricant. I give them a quick squirt of silicon lubricant every now and then. You should check for play in them very, very often. We check them every session.
How is the car going anyway Willie?

[Boosted LS1]

I think the best bearings are sealed for life but if the seal wears then dust can get in. I can't see lube being harmful though. I wonder if there's a recommended lube?

[GreenV8S]

I don't know what the right lube is, but I'm pretty sure WD40 isn't it.

[RetroWheels]

As well as checking for play,i get up close and personal with my rose joints.
I check the neck area (ie above the thread- below the bearing) for any hairline cracks.
I give them a wipe and polish the necks with a rag to check properly for a blemish free surface.
The rears are harder to see but its important to check.
Prior to this, i've had one shear on me on track (o/s/r wishbone joint) and its's not fun - the bloody wheel collapses inward , much spinning etc ..
There was no actual play in the spherical bearing , just fatigue in the neck area .
That said the joints seem to be generally very hard wearing - ive bent a few at the front under impact without them breaking.

[tvrolet]

teamHOLDENracing said:

Don't use wd40, it's a water dispersant not a lubricant. I give them a quick squirt of silicon lubricant every now and then. You should check for play in them very, very often. We check them every session.
How is the car going anyway Willie?

I didn't hold with the WD40 suggestion - sounded wrong to me too but I thought I better check.

Touch-wood, the car's been running really well this year on engine number 3! It's done a lot of track miles, and I've finally got it to the point where all the temperatures stabilise and the car can pretty much run full-tilt until it runs out of fuel. I was just going over the car this afternoon as it's done something like 6 sessions and maybe 600 track miles since I had to do any real spanner-work on it. Then I went out on the roads for a wee hurl to wake-up the good people of Fife, which is where I noticed the creaking; I'd never really heard it with a helmet on. Also noticed a 'clunk' from the rear so I'll have to see if the diff or brackets are OK; again without a helmet you hear all sorts of things you've never heard before.

But yes, this has been the first year really where I've got it to the point I wanted it - just checking fluids and nuts/bolts between sessions. I've just had it out at Knockhill this year though, but I gather they run more track days than anyone else in the UK; certainly in the summer there was a period when it was out every week at some session or other, plus some road miles.