Ron,
I rebuilt the rear end of my TR6 3 or 4 years ago. It's a lot of fun,
huh? Actually, I had most of it apart again this fall, when I tried to
diagnose a really loud thumping noise that seemed to come from the rear
end. I never found it, and it's gone now, so I assume it was actually
coming from the expired transmission.
You asked about extracting half-shafts. Just fiddle with it. Did you
withdraw the bolts from the inner-mounting flange first? I found out
the hard way that that makes things easier. I think I flipped the
rubber boot inside out once or twice, but there is a way to do it
without turning the boot inside out. I think I pinched it into a sort
of 4-leaf clover shape first, with the indents falling between the
yokes, and then it slid through quite easily. But it's doable. On the
other hand, do you plan to replace the boots? I would, and if you do,
then you're justified in cutting/tearing the old boots off while the
half-shafts are still on the car.
If you're stuck right now, I think the best bet is to force the
half-shaft back in, get a close look at the situation, and then try
again. Once or twice, I got mine so wedged into the trailing arm that
I'm sure human force couldn't have pulled it out. There are ways to
extract the mess gracefully, so if your stuck, back up and try again.
I'd replace all the u-joints. Once you're set up to do 1, it's not much
more work to do all 6. For me, the hardest part was gathering together
the various tools to do the job. The manual labor is easy, and the
parts are dirt-cheap ($8/joint, I think is what I paid). In fact, if
you're pressed for time, you can probably take the parts to just about
any mechanic for not much money.
In fact, this holds true of every replaceable part in the rear end.
It's a pain to have your car off the road, to get all dirty doing the
work, and to pay all that money. But how much more of a pain will it be
to get done and then hear more funny noises (ha ha!) next
week/month/year? I'd even have TRF or a (very) reputable shop do the
wheel bearings. I did mine myself, and they're holding together OK now,
but I bent the wheel carrying flange on one side and had to replace it.
Perfect timing, though---a Foreign Auto place down the street was going
out of business, and I got a couple of used axle-stub/hub assemblies for
pennies on the dollar (turned out one of those was bent, too, so all I
have left is junk). It costs righteous bucks to have hubs rebuilt
correctly, but short of buying (or having fabricated) the necessary
tools, there's really just no alternative.
On the other hand, the hubs aren't too hard to get to, so you might wait
till it *has* to be done. I got about 120K out of my originals, so maybe
I'm rushing you a bit...
I just trashed my exhaust when I did the rear end the first time.
Interestingly, I didn't have to dismantle any of it this second time. I
have a custom-fabricated exhaust system, and that probably has something
to do with it. I remember it was quite a headache getting the old one
out. I think I spent a couple of hours on my back with a hacksaw taking
a rust shower. I'd say it builds character, but then I look at
myself...
Anyway, hang in there, Ron! It's fun, right? The car is becoming
"yours". Or do I have that backwards?
_______________________________________________________________________
Kevin Riggs Aren't you glad my signature's brief?
work@riggs.b30.ingr.com
(205) 730-3074 Don't you wish everyone's was?
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