[AT] Getting water out/ RVing breakdowns.
charlie hill
charliehill at embarqmail.com
Fri Jun 5 03:36:14 PDT 2015
Thomas, I agree there are merits in being able to tear it down,
inspect it and replace if necessary. I don't do any RV'ing...
yet... but I've given it much thought and my sister and BIL do.
I think if I ever decide to do the RV trick and head out west to
the remote areas I'll plan on having a fair amount of spare parts
loaded up somewhere. I know space and weight matter too so it's a
tradeoff. I'd like to have some way to weld, some jacks and jack stands
as also.
Charlie
-----Original Message-----
From: Thomas O Mehrkam
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2015 10:44 PM
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
Subject: Re: [AT] Getting water out of a gearbox
I have never had a wheel bearing fail in the road.
I am planning a 5000 mile RV trip this summer.
Which is better. Spend $360 replacing two front hubs that may have
another $100,000 miles in them or disassembling, Inspecting and packing
the hubs to ensure no problems on the trip.
That is the problem with sealed front bearings. It is difficult to
predict when they will file and may fail at 10,000 ft on a mountain road
100 miles from a parts house. Could cause a lot or damage and delay.
I will admit if you are communicating back and forth to work it is not a
huge problem but breaking down in a remote area is a real downer.
Like when the Alternator failed on the previous truck. I was 25 miles
off road in the Big Bend area. Closest town was Alpine which was about
90 miles once you make it out to pavement.
Fortunate I was able to install the spare Serpentine belt, dissemble the
alternator. Oil the bearings and get things working long enough to
drive out the the highway and make it back to civilization.
I would prefer to be able to do maintenance periodically to prevent
these problems in the first place rather than to wait for things to come
apart.
On 6/4/2015 8:57 PM, Mike wrote:
> The 4x4 nuts also routinely submerse their trucks in mud and slop. Back
> when cars and trucks had packable bearings 280,000 mi was a pipe dream.
> I remember some early 80's El Camino's that wore out their cams at
> 60,000. If you hit the 100,000 mi mark with one of the big 3 vehicles it
> was a milestone. I like sealed bearing and front ends, my wife's car
> has 103,000 mi, and there isn't a zerk fitting anywhere on it.
>
> Mike M
>
>
> On 6/4/2015 5:00 PM, Thomas Mehrkam wrote:
>> To my mind $180 is a lot of money for a wheel bearing. Multiply that
>> by two and there is twice the reason to replace them before they show
>> signs of failing.
>> Still burns me that you cannot pack them. I am not the only one. There
>> is a after market hub with serviceable bearings made for the Ford Super
>> Duty. Some 4x4 nuts found that the bearings might last 30k when large
>> tires and wheels are installed.
>>
>> Only $1,500 per wheel! Getting what should have been on the truck to
>> begin with.
>>
>> 99-08 Ford SpynTec Parts | Spyntec Industries
>>
>> | |
>> | | | | | |
>> | 99-08 Ford SpynTec Parts | Spyntec IndustriesClick here for a parts
>> breakdown and quantities. |
>> | |
>> | View on spyntec.com | Preview by Yahoo |
>> | |
>> | |
>>
>> On Thursday, June 4, 2015 3:42 PM, Doug Tallman
>> <dtallman at accnorwalk.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> I figured you were going by rotations The sad part is you will be
>> lucky
>> to get half that mileage out of the replacements. Factory ones cost
>> about double that. Still not expensive by any means. One on my truck
>> didn't make any noise or give any warning. it just decided to lock up.
>> Doug T
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 6/4/2015 6:01 AM, charlie hill wrote:
>>> Thinking back on it, my original intent was to figure out
>>> how many times that bearing had rotated and then I decided to
>>> convert it to cost. Obviously if I had just wanted to know how much
>>> per mile it would have been a much simpler problem.
>>>
>>> Charlie
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: charlie hill
>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 9:45 PM
>>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>>> Subject: Re: [AT] Getting water out of a gearbox
>>>
>>> Ah yes, I see your point now. I was working in rotations rather than
>>> miles.
>>> That is the history of my mathematics. I always understood the concept
>>> but
>>> made stupid simple mistakes. Still not a bad deal.
>>>
>>> Thanks for the correction.
>>>
>>> Charlie
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Doug Tallman
>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 7:36 PM
>>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>>> Subject: Re: [AT] Getting water out of a gearbox
>>>
>>> Charlie, my basic math comes out to .00112 dollars per mile. Not as much
>>> of a deal you thought it was. :-) Doug T
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 6/3/2015 6:31 PM, charlie hill wrote:
>>>> hmmm after doing a little basic math it occurs to me that in 250,000
>>>> miles
>>>> that
>>>> bearing has turned on the order of 150 million revolutions. At $280.00
>>>> that
>>>> works out
>>>> to a bit less than $.000002 per mile. I don't think it owes me
>>>> anything.
>>>>
>>>> Charlie
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: charlie hill
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 3:41 PM
>>>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>>>> Subject: Re: [AT] Getting water out of a gearbox
>>>>
>>>> Yep the sealed bearings are a bit of a mixed blessing. No maintenance
>>>> necessary but
>>>> NO maintenance allowed either.
>>>>
>>>> I do the same thing. I recently replaced the belts on my truck. They
>>>> weren't broken or completely
>>>> worn out but were showing signs of wear and they were old. Did I throw
>>>> them
>>>> away...NO. They went
>>>> behind the back seat!
>>>>
>>>> Charlie
>>>>
>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>> From: Thomas Mehrkam
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 2:21 PM
>>>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>>>> Subject: Re: [AT] Getting water out of a gearbox
>>>>
>>>> One of my gripes is putting sealed bearings in the front hubs. Mine
>>>> have
>>>> 280,000 miles on them. Seem fine when I check them but I am sure they
>>>> are
>>>> running on borrowed time.
>>>> If they were the type I could pack with grease I could check and repack
>>>> then. I would likely have a spare set of packed bearings in a zip lock
>>>> in
>>>> my tool box. Just in case.
>>>> I have a pair of prepacked bearings with every trailer I own. And extra
>>>> fan
>>>> belts in all my vehicles. Cost's nothing the fan belts are old good
>>>> ones
>>>> taken off to put on fresh ones.
>>>>
>>>> I have been saved more than once by these old spare parts.
>>>> One Christmas holiday my daughter and I were driving the 2500 Suburban
>>>> from
>>>> Houston to South Padre. My wife and InLaws were at a Condo for the
>>>> holidays. I had to work and left early in the next morning
>>>> About Warton. 1.5 Hours I lost power steering, Power Brakes and
>>>> alternator.
>>>> I stopped and the belt was shredded. It seems the power steering pump
>>>> bracket broke.
>>>> I put on the spare belt. It would not stay on because of the bracket.
>>>> I
>>>> spotted a coil of barbed ware hanging on the fence next to me. Thank
>>>> goodness for ranchers that believe on keeping old wire hanging hanging
>>>> around for emergency fence repairs. I borrowed a short length and
>>>> wired
>>>> to
>>>> pump bracket so the belt would stay on.
>>>> I went into town and found small welding shop and asked them if they
>>>> could
>>>> weld it. They claimed it would not hold. The bracket was too hard.
>>>> They
>>>> said there was a Chevy dealer in town.
>>>> The dealer did not have a bracket but they ran a truck to Houston about
>>>> 10:30 AM every day for parts. It was about that time. He said he
>>>> would
>>>> order the part and have it by 3:30.
>>>> One time the dealer did good. Got the part and got us out by 5:00 Pm.
>>>> The
>>>> service manager even loaned us his car so we could go to lunch.
>>>> Made it to south padre after dark. It was late but we were able to
>>>> salvage
>>>> the holiday. Come to think of it all dealerships are not ripoff
>>>> artists.
>>>> I
>>>> was not even disappointed with the price. This was 1996 or so.
>>>> From: charlie hill <charliehill at embarqmail.com>
>>>> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
>>>> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 3, 2015 10:17 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: [AT] Getting water out of a gearbox
>>>>
>>>> I had an interesting experience this past Friday. It could have been
>>>> bad and very expensive but it turned out well. I guess that penny I
>>>> found
>>>> heads up in the yard Friday morning was a good omen.
>>>>
>>>> I was headed to Maryland. On I-95 just south of the I-295 exit I
>>>> started
>>>> getting
>>>> a bad front end vibration. I took an exit hoping to find nothing worse
>>>> than
>>>> a flat
>>>> tire. Not so. I couldn't find a thing that looked out of place but I
>>>> knew
>>>> that the
>>>> right front hub (4 WD 2006 GMC) was running on borrowed time. The left
>>>> side
>>>> was changed out about 3 years ago and the right side had over 250,000
>>>> miles
>>>> on it.
>>>> I grabbed the top of the tire and snatched on it. Sure enough I felt
>>>> about
>>>> 1/8" or so of
>>>> slack. There was nothing to do buy keep going. No where really to get
>>>> it
>>>> worked on.
>>>> This was at about 3pm on Friday afternoon. I made it nearly to
>>>> Fredericksburg Va. when
>>>> I ran into a traffic delay for about 3 miles of stop and go. Every
>>>> time I
>>>> started I had to
>>>> apply too much throttle and I didn't need to touch the brake pedal to
>>>> stop!
>>>>
>>>> I limped to the next exit, still tied up in traffic, and got off.
>>>> After
>>>> pulling into a parking lot
>>>> I searched on my phone for the nearest AutoZone. Not that I'm
>>>> particularly
>>>> fond of AutoZone
>>>> but I knew a few things. There's one most everywhere, they loan tools
>>>> and
>>>> I
>>>> happened to know
>>>> that they carry that hub in the Timken brand. Sure enough there was an
>>>> AutoZone store less than
>>>> a mile from me. I found it, went in and explained my situation. They
>>>> had
>>>> the hub (1 in stock) and
>>>> they had the tools and it was ok to work in their parking lot but they
>>>> didn't have jacks or jack stands
>>>> to loan out so I knew I'd have to buy what I needed. I asked if there
>>>> was
>>>> a
>>>> local shop that could
>>>> do it now, do it right and not rip me off. The commercial accounts guy
>>>> picked up the phone and
>>>> made a call. I heard him say Amigo, '06 Z 71 Quattro Quattro front
>>>> hub
>>>> NOW? The parts man
>>>> said he can do it now. I said how much. He asked. The answer came
>>>> back
>>>> $100.00.
>>>> Mind you this was at 4:15 pm on Friday. I told him yes.
>>>>
>>>> I bought the hub for $180.00 and they had their parts runner girl
>>>> escort
>>>> me
>>>> to the shop.
>>>> When we got there Jorge was waiting in his one bay shop in a single
>>>> slope
>>>> metal building
>>>> that housed a detail shop and other similar small businesses, each
>>>> taking
>>>> up
>>>> a bay or two.
>>>> Jorge is about 50 I'm guessing. He spoke English well enough for me to
>>>> talk
>>>> to him. He apologetically
>>>> asked if I could wait 5 minutes for him to start to let it cool. He
>>>> offered
>>>> us bottled water which
>>>> we declined because we had our own. Just a few minutes later he went
>>>> to
>>>> work. He was fast and
>>>> clearly knew what he was doing. I watched him work from a distance. I
>>>> didn't want to make him
>>>> nervous or make him think I didn't trust him but I wanted to make sure
>>>> he
>>>> was doing it right. He did.
>>>> He did all the little things that some mechanics wouldn't bother with
>>>> like
>>>> making sure he straightened
>>>> the slight bends he put in the dust cap that covers the axle nut when
>>>> he
>>>> had
>>>> to pry it off and putting a
>>>> bit of anti seize grease on the new lug studs.
>>>>
>>>> In about 45 minutes he was finished. I gave him the promised $100.00
>>>> and
>>>> thanked him. He gave me his
>>>> business card just in case something wasn't right and I needed to call.
>>>> (He
>>>> knew I was passing through
>>>> and wouldn't be back otherwise). I thanked him again and was gone.
>>>>
>>>> I just wish Jorge was in my town because I'd gladly use his services.
>>>> I
>>>> could have changed the hub myself and
>>>> would have if I had been at home but not for $100 bucks. With my bad
>>>> knees
>>>> it was worth every cent of
>>>> 100 bucks to have him do it and do it right.
>>>>
>>>> Yes this is my tractor hauling truck (obligatory tractor reference).
>>>>
>>>> If you are ever in Fredericksburg VA and need a good mechanic find the
>>>> AutoZone near the 17 Business exit (first US 17
>>>> exit going north) and ask them to tell you how to find Jorge Auto
>>>> Service.
>>>>
>>>> Charlie
>>>>
>>>> C
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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