Following the advice of several others on the list, I recently replaced the
diff mounting bushings on my '71 TR6. Also, as someone advised, I re-lubed
the splines on the axle shafts with a high-grade grease.
When the diff was out I replaced the oil seals and gasket too, along with
draining and replacing the gear oil. The "main" gears lined-up (I believe)
as described in the Bently manual, and there seemed to be no play in the
unit.
Using a big floor-jack to get the diff in-and-out, I replaced the diff and
shafts back in the car. Some of the studs on the trailing arms that the hubs
bolt to were loose. The DPO - oops, that was me - didn't replace them
properly the last time the hubs were out. Carefully, I removed all the studs
(double-nut method) and re-inserted them with locktite at the right torque.
With new nylocks everything should remain tight.
This weekend I went for a test drive. No more clicking sound! Everything
seems tight now. The original rubber diff bushings had become very, very
soft with either age or oil/grease contamination. Hopefully I've now
prevented damage to the diff mounting brackets by replacing these bushings.
Can't wait for spring!
SIncerely,
Kevin D. O'Connor
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