Listers,
I've just been investigating a rubbing sound coming from the rear end of
Christine, my '77 Spit 1500, and I've discovered two things which I found a
little alarming.
But first, the noise itself. It's definitely coming from behind me. Sounds
like it's coming from the right hand side of the car, but I wouldn't swear to
it. It's a quiet rubbing noise which repeats at fairly short intervals
(several times a second). The intervals between the noises decreases as the
speed increases.
I jacked the rear of the car up, and looked for anything which didn't seem
right, and found the following:
1) There seems to be some play in the area where the half-shaft joins the
differential. On both sides, if I turn the wheel, the half-shaft moves with
the wheel immediately, but it takes a fraction of a turn before anything else
starts to move. Seems to be slightly worse on the left hand side than it is
on the right. Is this normal? What could cause it? Worn u-joints? Play in
the diff itself? Could it cause the rubbing noise I've noticed?
2) The rear right hand wheel is much stiffer to turn than the left hand one.
When I turn the right hand wheel by hand (with both rear wheels off the
ground), the left hand wheel turns in the opposite direction, as expected.
But when I turn the left hand wheel by hand, the right hand wheel doesn't move
at all - instead, the prop-shaft turns, which I guess is because of the
stiffness in the right hand wheel. I'm pretty sure that this is the reason
for the rubbing sound, but what would cause the stiffness? My first thought
was brakes, but I removed the right hand brake drum, and the stiffness was
exactly the same, so that's ruled the brakes out. Any ideas?
How serious are these problems? How easy are they for someone with barely any
mechanical skills at all (despite Scott's claims he couldn't have fixed Hobbs
without me) to fix? I will definitely get this fixed asap - if I don't think
it's something I can do myself, I'll book it in with my friendly Triumph
mechanic early next week. But is it safe to drive in the mean time?
Thanks!
Dean
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