Nothing Special's '71 Bronco

[Gary Lewis]

Thanks, all! It didn't bother me too much that I had caused it. I was more worried it would be a wheel cylinder or something that would require more disassembly and replacing parts. It was nice to be able to fix it without any of the typical 3 trips to the auto parts store!

Maybe Pluto will quit marking his territory as much now. Before the oil pan change this spring he was leaking a LOT of oil. Since that fix I haven't had to add any oil, and the only spot he's been marking is under the front diff. I was thinking it was still a slight oil leak, but maybe it was the brake fluid??? I have heard that male dogs will be "happier" and will mark less after they've been "fixed.' Is this what they mean:nabble_smiley_evil:

As to whether it's a good idea for Lesley to have friends over, yes I got the brake fluid lead fixed, but also now she's talking about going on a cruise to Australia Even though the brake fluid leak fix was free it might have been a very expensive evening!

Is that a Disney cruise? Without you?

As for male dogs being happier after being fixed, I suspect that it wasn't a "fixed" dog that said that.

[Nothing Special]

Is that a Disney cruise? Without you? .....

Is there any other kind of cruise???

And no, she wants to bring me too. That's a good thing, but it doesn't reduce the expense! At this point it's just wishful thinking on her part. But her wishful thinking tends to morph into reality more often than mine does, so we'll see what ends up happening!

[Gary Lewis]

Is that a Disney cruise? Without you? .....

Is there any other kind of cruise???

And no, she wants to bring me too. That's a good thing, but it doesn't reduce the expense! At this point it's just wishful thinking on her part. But her wishful thinking tends to morph into reality more often than mine does, so we'll see what ends up happening!

Good luck!

I'm "off" of cruises. I came home from the last two of them with something serious and was "out" for about 10 days in both cases. So we are planning our own trip this round where we can stay a bit farther away from people - save for the airline travel. But I got "it" on the ship so...

[Nothing Special]

.... I am hearing a 1-per-tire-rev noise. I don't know if that's a tire noise or if the tires are quiet enough that I can now hear a wheel bearing or a brake or something. I'll have to get to the bottom of that....

I wrote that last September, after getting the new, smaller street tires and getting rid of almost all of my tire noise. After another ~5,000 miles the noise was getting worse, so I finally got around to getting to the bottom of it. Turns out it is a bad wheel bearing.

There's a lot of freeplay in the passenger's side bearing. The driver's side feels tight (it spins freely, just no freeplay). So I'm debating only replacing the bad one as getting the old bearing off looks like it won't be any fun. I did pull both axle shafts, so I'm that far on both sides. (And this is a Ford 9" axle, for anyone keeping score)

A lot of gear lube ran out of both sides, so I know the bearings are getting lube. And the lube was surprisingly clean. Not fresh and yellowish, but not pure black either, and no sparkles. I don't have a drain plug, so I'm thinking I won't pull the third member to drain the rest of the lube, but just top it off with fresh stuff.

I know I'm talking about taking shortcuts here with only replacing 1 bearing and not changing the lube. Does anyone want to try to talk me out of that?

[Gary Lewis]

.... I am hearing a 1-per-tire-rev noise. I don't know if that's a tire noise or if the tires are quiet enough that I can now hear a wheel bearing or a brake or something. I'll have to get to the bottom of that....

I wrote that last September, after getting the new, smaller street tires and getting rid of almost all of my tire noise. After another ~5,000 miles the noise was getting worse, so I finally got around to getting to the bottom of it. Turns out it is a bad wheel bearing.

There's a lot of freeplay in the passenger's side bearing. The driver's side feels tight (it spins freely, just no freeplay). So I'm debating only replacing the bad one as getting the old bearing off looks like it won't be any fun. I did pull both axle shafts, so I'm that far on both sides. (And this is a Ford 9" axle, for anyone keeping score)

A lot of gear lube ran out of both sides, so I know the bearings are getting lube. And the lube was surprisingly clean. Not fresh and yellowish, but not pure black either, and no sparkles. I don't have a drain plug, so I'm thinking I won't pull the third member to drain the rest of the lube, but just top it off with fresh stuff.

I know I'm talking about taking shortcuts here with only replacing 1 bearing and not changing the lube. Does anyone want to try to talk me out of that?

I'm not going to try to talk you out of replacing a good bearing - with something that might not be good. I'd recommend doing just as you outlined - replace the bad one, put both back, and top it up.

On replacing the bad one, you probably already know but you have to break the retainer to get the old bearing off. I've drilled them and I've used a Dremel to put a groove in them. In both cases at some point they pop and can be easily taken off. Don't know which is easiest, but the drill seems to make less of a mess. However, it takes a sharp bit to drill that metal.

Good luck!

[grumpin]

.... I am hearing a 1-per-tire-rev noise. I don't know if that's a tire noise or if the tires are quiet enough that I can now hear a wheel bearing or a brake or something. I'll have to get to the bottom of that....

I wrote that last September, after getting the new, smaller street tires and getting rid of almost all of my tire noise. After another ~5,000 miles the noise was getting worse, so I finally got around to getting to the bottom of it. Turns out it is a bad wheel bearing.

There's a lot of freeplay in the passenger's side bearing. The driver's side feels tight (it spins freely, just no freeplay). So I'm debating only replacing the bad one as getting the old bearing off looks like it won't be any fun. I did pull both axle shafts, so I'm that far on both sides. (And this is a Ford 9" axle, for anyone keeping score)

A lot of gear lube ran out of both sides, so I know the bearings are getting lube. And the lube was surprisingly clean. Not fresh and yellowish, but not pure black either, and no sparkles. I don't have a drain plug, so I'm thinking I won't pull the third member to drain the rest of the lube, but just top it off with fresh stuff.

I know I'm talking about taking shortcuts here with only replacing 1 bearing and not changing the lube. Does anyone want to try to talk me out of that?

^ What Gary said!

[Nothing Special]

^ What Gary said!

OK, you talked me into it!

So this morning I'm laying in bed at 4:00 listening to the rain and thinking "I really should have put plastic bags over the open ends of the axle." (I had stuffed rags in the tubes and leaned the tires against them, but the brakes and ends of the tubes were somewhat exposed). Then I thought that if I'm not replacing the driver's side bearing I should've reassembled it to get it as protected as possible.

It quit raining at 5:00, so at 5:30 I was out in the driveway buttoning up the driver's side and putting a plastic bag on the passenger's side.

Sleep is over-rated anyway.

[Gary Lewis]

OK, you talked me into it!

So this morning I'm laying in bed at 4:00 listening to the rain and thinking "I really should have put plastic bags over the open ends of the axle." (I had stuffed rags in the tubes and leaned the tires against them, but the brakes and ends of the tubes were somewhat exposed). Then I thought that if I'm not replacing the driver's side bearing I should've reassembled it to get it as protected as possible.

It quit raining at 5:00, so at 5:30 I was out in the driveway buttoning up the driver's side and putting a plastic bag on the passenger's side.

Sleep is over-rated anyway.

I know the feeling. Woke up at 5:00 thinking of all the things I need to be doing. But since none of them are bothered by rain, and it isn't raining anyway, I went back to sleep. However, I can see how you couldn't.

[Nothing Special]

I know the feeling. Woke up at 5:00 thinking of all the things I need to be doing. But since none of them are bothered by rain, and it isn't raining anyway, I went back to sleep. However, I can see how you couldn't.

Getting a replacement bearing proved to be more difficult than expected! I have the stock "small bearing" Ford 9" housing from a '71 Bronco, but years ago I upgraded it to 31 spline axle shafts which have a larger OD than the stock 28 spline shafts. It took calling 4 places before I got one that could answer me and had the right thing. Wild Horses is where I ended up. The bearing isn't on their web site, but they say it's what I need. So now it's just waiting for it to arrive...

[Nothing Special]

Getting a replacement bearing proved to be more difficult than expected! I have the stock "small bearing" Ford 9" housing from a '71 Bronco, but years ago I upgraded it to 31 spline axle shafts which have a larger OD than the stock 28 spline shafts. It took calling 4 places before I got one that could answer me and had the right thing. Wild Horses is where I ended up. The bearing isn't on their web site, but they say it's what I need. So now it's just waiting for it to arrive...

OK, so it was even more difficult than I had thought. Wild Horses didn't have it in stock, so they sent me to Dutchman. Dutchman won't sell them anymore because "they don't want to cause problems for people." they say the bearing is to thin and doesn't last. Well I've got about 20 years on this pair and only failed one now. I'd rather have that kind of problem than having to get at least new axle shafts if not a new differential (if I'd need to downgrade to 28 spline shafts).

But they did give me a part number from strange Engineering and I was able to order it from Summit Racing. Maybe now it's just waiting for it to arrive???