Category Archives: 1. bowtie6

Bad Wheel Bearing

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Pitted bearing race

Yesterday, I jumped in bowtie6 and went for a drive when not far from home I heard the classic rumble that comes from a bad wheel bearing.  On the way back home, the rumble developed a slight thumping.

I’m like, wtf? 😯 This is the second bad wheel bearing!  Back in April 2012, I posted an article describing the Rear Wheel Bearing Replacement.

So with my cousin Jim’s help, we pulled both rear axles from the housing and inspected their bearings.  Passenger’s side was normal; but the driver’s side bearing was very rough, as expected.

Jim busted the bearing using the same technique I described in the article from last time and sure enough, this is when we discovered the bearing’s race nicely pitted.

The majority of the race was in decent shape, except for the big round pit shown in the picture above.  The ball bearings were not smooth and showed slight pitting with a very dull finish.  Jim explained this is normal when particles from a bearing start to shear off and make a mush of themselves.

Pitted ball bearings from the bad bearing

This picture above shows three of the worse ball bearings – sorry for the picture quality – and as you can see they are rather dull-looking.  The crack on the race was caused by us when we took the thing apart.

RW207-CCRA rear wheel bearing

And of course, this is crappy Chinese-made stuff.  Jim has gone through 3 rear bearings on his TR4 and this is the second failure on bowtie6.  Unfortunately, it appears these wheel bearings are no longer made in the USA and as expected, this is yet another example of poorly made products from China. Jim explained this is bad quality steel on the race and/or the ball bearings and that once the surface starts to peel, it is only a matter of time before failure.

I ran a few queries on Google today and found versions of this type wheel bearing made in Japan.  From what I have read on some forums, the Japanese versions are of a higher quality.  Needless to say, I’ll be ordering some soon.  However if you know where I could find these bearings made in the USA, please let me know.

Driver’s side rear end

Passenger’s side rear end

Passenger’s side axle with good bearing

Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08 on a Triumph TR6

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Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08R

After lengthy research I finally decided on a new set of tires for bowtie6.  Out with the old Kumho’s and in with a brand new set of Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD08’s.  As usual, I internet ordered my new tires from The Tire Rack, delivered via brown truck in only a couple of days.

The decision to go with these tires did not come easy.  Given bowtie6 is not driven on a daily basis, I did not want to spend a ton of money on a set of high-mileage tires.  Instead, this time I wanted to buy something very soft and sticky.  However, soft sticky tires and “budget priced” does not pair up very well.  Fortunately the good folks at The Tire Rack had just the right tires priced at the right price.  Can’t go wrong with that.

As it turns out, the SCCA has changed their rules regarding the UTQG rating on these tires.  Therefore the folks at The Tire Rack lowered the price on these UTQG 180 rated tires.  Needless to say, I decided to order a set of four and could not be happier.  They are very soft!

Yokohama Neova AD08 directional tires

The reviews on this tire are interesting…

  • They don’t do well in wet weather
  • They don’t do well in the cold
  • They are noisy
  • They don’t last very long
  • However, they are very sticky and grip tenaciously (yes!)

The old tires were Kumho’s and they served me very well.  I ran two sets and this last set finally reached the point where they were rather “hard”.  During all these years, the rears have been 215-55/16’s while the fronts have been 205-55/16’s.  This time around, I decided to get a square setup and run 205-55/16’s all around.  Why?  Because these are very soft tires and I wanted to have the ability to rotate them to ensure even wear.  We’ll see how that goes…

bowtie6’s Panasport wheels now with Yokohama tires

I started buying tires from The Tire Rack many years ago and back then, I could find a store that would mount and balance the tires for a decent price.  Then, prices started going up with a certain amount of negative feedback coming from the stores.  This time, I did a little shopping regarding the install and found the best price at Costco.  So this morning I took the wheels and old tires along with the new Yokohama’s.  Total cost to mount, balance and dispose of the old tires:  $68.00.  Not bad at all.

The folks at the tire department called late this afternoon and told me the tires were ready.  I’ll mount them tomorrow and see what they feel like.  The plan is to go easy on them for a few miles and by doing so wear off any mold release compounds.  Once they get scuffed up I’ll see what bowtie6 will be like with a set of really soft tires.

Should be fun!!  🙂

I have previously talked about tires and wheels here:  Triumph TR4/TR6 Wheel & Tire Sizing

Fixing a Leaking 9 Inch Ford Rear End

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Note the grade-8 washers

I have recently noticed that the 9″ Ford rear end in bowtie6 has started leaking.  Nothing severe mind you, but just enough to make a mess of the garage floor.  So I jacked the car up and slid my new Race Ramps under the rear tires.  As it turned out, all ten nuts holding the third member in place, were loose.

But why?  Sure, wear and tear might cause things to loosen up.  Not wanting to leave this up to chance, I did a handful of Google searches and sure enough…  According to what I read on several websites this is a common issue on 9″ Ford rear ends.  The solution is to use copper washers on each stud.

In Search of Copper Washers

As you can see in today’s featured picture, we used grade-8 washers when we put the rear end together.  At the time, that is all we had available and after a short conversation with my cousin Jim, he told me he was not able to source the right copper washers.  Hmmm…

Two sets of Ford copper washers

So I searched eBay for some copper washers for a 9″ Ford and success!  I found a vendor offering “original” vintage Ford washers exactly for this application.  After reading the auction, I promptly clicked the “buy-it-now” button and ordered two sets for $6.00 per set of 10 washers.  Not bad.

Delivery was very quick:  the washers arrived in yesterday’s mail.  Cool!  Today, I lifted the car up again and crawled under to replace the grade-8 washers with the new copper replacements.  According to my research the washers are very soft.  As the Nylock nuts compress the copper washer they “seat” and this prevents the nuts from backing out.  Of course, this never happened with the hardened grade-8 washers.

Washers Replaced

So here is what the new washers look like.

The new copper washers are smaller than the earlier ones (see the featured photo for the “before” look).  The advantage is they have somewhat collapsed to take shape.  This is the same principle behind the soft aluminum washer on the oil drain plug on my Honda S2000.  Another problem solved!

Happy New Year

And so, I bid you all a Happy New Year.  I hope 2017 brings you great fortune and good health.  Cheers!

 

TR6 Front LED Bulbs

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img_4070The missing Triumph TR6 front LED bulbs came in this week.  I say missing because the “kit” I bought included the wrong front LED bulbs:  for the 1972 TR6, the bulb must have two “filaments”.  In other words, these bulbs double as parking lights and turn signals.

Today’s featured image shows the bulbs installed and in their “park light” mode.  I left the lenses off to show off the amber color and just how bright hey are!

And one more picture, this time a closeup showing all the little light emitting diodes and why the coverage is so great.

img_4074

Multiple rows of LED’s providing full coverage

 

LED Lights for a Triumph TR6

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img_4055Today, I installed a long overdue improvement on bowtie6: a set of LED lights for a Triumph TR6.  The “kit” consists of all new 360 degree replacement LED bulbs.  This means, the new bulbs have diodes on all sides and give a much brighter beam compared to the traditional bulbs.

The advantage is obvious:  a much brighter indicator with little or no heat dissipation.  I’ve seen the effects of traditional bulbs on the TR6 tail light clusters:  damage can occur and this replacements are expensive.  The downside is this improvement is a little on the pricey side.  I’ll explain shortly…

img_4057This picture shows on the right, a traditional front side-marker light bulb as fitted to a 1971 Triumph TR6.  The bulb on the left is the LED replacement, with amber light emitting diodes.  Yes, the replacement bulbs are available in different colors depending upon their intended use.  As you can see, there are four diodes around each side and one on the tip.  This provides the 360 degree coverage.

All bulbs in the kit came individually and carefully packaged in a box.  Shipping was not too bad, however the kit was $125.00.  Yes, rather pricey but worth it.

img_4053By now you are asking for proof.  Well, take a look at the following pictures.  The first picture shows the “stock” front-side marker light:

img_4058Followed by this picture, showing the replacement LED bulb in action:

img_4059The difference is noticeable and I must say, the picture does no justice.  In person, the LED replacements are much brighter.

Moving along to the back of the car, this picture shows the new LED bulbs on the left and the traditional bulbs on the right:

img_4064The picture shows the red “running” lights and the white back-up lights in the “on” setting.  Each LED replacement is much brighter with a richer light beam and full coverage.  The amber turn signals are not “on” unfortunately, but believe me they are very bright now!

Here is a close-up of the rear running lights with the LED bulb on the left and the traditional bulb on the right:

Finally, if you decide on getting one of these LED kits let me save you some aggravation.  The manufacturer’s website has a mistake on the bulbs required.  The front turn signal bulbs need two “filaments”.  The website has the replacements are only one “filament”.  As a result, I will need to order the a pair of two “filament” amber bulbs.

Also, don’t forget the resistance of LED’s is different from tradition bulbs.  Therefore you must change the flasher to one compatible with LED bulbs.  Otherwise, the “blinking” won’t happen properly.

Here is the corrected list of bulbs if you wish to know:

  • 1156-A18-T in Amber – required 2 for the rear turn signals
  • 1157-R27-T in Red – required 2 for the rear running/brake lights
  • 1156-CW18-T in Cool White – required 2 for the rear backup lights
  • BA9S-RHP5 in Red – required 2 for the rear side marker lights
  • BA9S-AHP5 in Amber – required 2 for the front side marker lights
  • 1157-A27-T in Amber – required 2 for the front running/turn signal lights