[T2] a modest proposal for infrequent but regular maintenance

[Robert Mann]

     My buddy Dennis & I just had a v g Road Trip packing much interest
into a week.  But the final hundred mi were increasingly nerve-wracking.
The rear R emitted a deep 'boom' every rev, esp at
low revs  or
over-run   or
merely changing gear.
      Undiminished by declutching or running in neutral, the trouble was
inferred to be 'after' the gearbox & final drive.
    We theorised a universal joint in the R drive-shaft could be to blame;
later we changed to 'wheel bearing'.  At cruising speeds the noise could be
suppressed by just a small amount of thrust, but as soon as on the over-run
it became loud.
    Such vehicles as passed us tooting we flattered ourselves were merely
expressing pleasure & encouragement at our Noo Eege Peach satin enamel,
&/or merely the rarity of the T2 (we saw no other during c.900mi).  Nobody
pointed to our rear R  ...
     Descending hills e.g the N side of the Auckland Harbour Bridge
required footbrake (to keep below speed limit) with considerable power on
to decrease the spectacular thumping which began to shake the whole plurry
vehicle in a gait as if the wheel were oval (which turned out to be near
the truth).  When I staggered in to my wonderful local garage, Pit Stop
Silverdale, prop Unca Johnny  called "the wheel is buckled".  He whipped
off the hubcap to reveal one nut c. 3 turns loose; those on either side 2
turns; the other 2 c.1 turn.  The holes in the wheel had been abraded
almost thru, and the tapered inner flanks of the nuts were highly polished,
to a lesser taper  ...  😣
     Conclusion: invest in large mirrors, with enough height to see rear
wheel wobbling.
     Another: hub caps obscure view of loose wheel-nuts.  As the proud
owner of 4 original hubcaps, I can claim that if a nut came entirely off
its stud, it could create a salutary clunk-rattle within the hubcap  –  but
above c. 10 mph it will be centrifuged out to some static possie,
abolishing that warning sound.  So I intend to re-fit my hubcaps, after
I've found 5 new wheelnuts to go on the studs of the other wheels which
have provided 'new' nuts to hold on my spare wheel.
     That R rear wheel had last been off a decade ago.  That it had stayed
put 10 y was the basis of our neglecting the possibility of its coming
loose; but it then had.

     Does such an event imply that wheel nuts should be checked during,
say, 10,000-mi maintenance?  Many have been slammed on with the dreaded
compressed-air rattle gun, of which I disapprove if only because a woman
may find them too tight to undo even with a decent cruciform wheelbrace.
No use having a good spare wheel if you can't get the punctured one off!
     The proper way to fit a wheel IMHO:
slap wheel on studs as symmetrically as possible
grease threads of nuts &/or studs  {sidebox: special copper-containing
grease best?  worth the extra money??}
screw nuts on by hand, in a couple rounds of 'opposite pair' tightenings,
until all have snugged into the tapered holes in the wheel
feel free to grip the wheel to test symmetry of this preliminary tightening
tighten nuts in 'opposite' pairs, pretty plurry tight {further tangent: for
those who think a torque-limiter wrench is reqd, how many lb-ft?}

Of course this securing of wheels will normally occur within a decade, if
only from tyre wear.  But I am suggesting also that, in the event you don't
need to change the wheel, it should be re-fitted according to this
procedure every decade or 10,000 mi, whichever comes first.  This is a
largely arbitrary notion, for discussion please.

    Why lubrication?  Don't you want all the friction you can get, to
discourage the nuts from doing what mine just did?  IMHO no  –  the thread
pitch, and the correct torque, should suffice to hold the nut tight for
many y, but still allowing your wife to change the wheel on a dark night.
Bulk friction in those threads, compounded by further corrosion over the
yy, can lock 'em on too tight.  The grease should prevent such corrosion.

     I look fw to appraisals of my conclusions from this rather
nerve-wracking experience.

     And if anyone near me can let me have a std pressed-steel wheel, &/or
5 wheel nuts, I'd be grateful.  (I don't want no aloominum, mag, etc 😀)


Robt Mann
'73 1600dp Devon