Just rode in the cab of a flatbed to bring the TD home from 250 miles
away, with a broken rear half shaft. This is the second one for me,
which is more distressing since after the last one I replaced both half
shafts with the upgraded, stronger aftermarket parts.
We were driving on twisty mountainous roads which had lots of potholes,
as well as long downhills requiring 3d gear to keep the brakes from
overheating. Before the trip I had noticed that one of my rear dampers
was leaking . . . they were all rebuilt by Apple Hydraulics about 6
years and almost 30,000 miles ago. Around uphill hairpin turns there
was a lot of jumping of the rear end over the rough roads, which
probably weakened the axel. Downshifting on the downhills probably did
it in by reversing the torque.
I'll replace the half shaft and send the damper in to be re-rebuilt (I
recall there is an alternative to Apple; anyone have the address?)
My question is how to assess the condition of the remaining 3 dampers.
I don't have any sophisticated gauges to measure resistance, and my
foot-on-the-bumper test is inconclusive, since it seems that all 4
corners rock a second time after releasing.
Andy Moyce
52 TD, grounded for now
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive/mg-t
|