TR6 Anyone parting out a TR6?

[BOXoROCKS]

Helloooo,is anybody listening,I dont know about the rest of your bushings,...but the upper arm bushing.....IS TOAST. Which tells me you might as well buy the kit and do them all.

 

[RonMacPherson]

I looked at the picture again. The front upper bushing outer flange has, indeed, pulled apart. As far as the rest of the bushings and ball joints and trunnions.....? They look a lot better than a lot I see on the street. And better than mine were when I finally got around to replacing the bushings.

Dale is having a self doubt issue right now, by his own accord.

I don't know how many techs, newbies you've trained, but I stand by my advice. Do the bearings, the obvious fault. Let him rebuild a bit of confidence. And get the crypt car driving. Then we can walk him through step by step areas where he can focus on one aspect one weekend and one the next weekend without having to have the car deadlined.

After the bearings, then pull the zerks and clean, regrease, refill the trunnions with gearlube, same for the rack, then one side upper bushing set and the other side bushing set the weekend after. I would like to see pictures of both lower a-arm bushings before I condemn them.

In other words if it ain't broke don't fix it. Preventive Maintenance is all well and good, when needed and applied by someone who has "us" looking over his shoulder advising him.

 

[BOXoROCKS]

Ron, in general I agree with your advice,I am sure you are quite competent.I didn't mean to offend.My suggestion has to do with the bushings.It is foolish not to replace them all.The tear down time/work is just about the same for one or all per side.If that bushing is left as is, it will eventually oval out the arm, then the arm and the mount will be junk. My bona fidies are nothing more than 35+ yrs working on Brits, since 1967. I am not the best guy on this forum by any strech,but I now dangerous trouble when I see it.

 

[bluemiata90]

Dale, I've been following your progress and misfortune for several months and my heart goes out to you. I have a suggestion and I'm saying this with all sincerity. Keep your TR6 and keep working on it, but buy an old Miata for your driving pleaure during the down times. Take a short break from the car and enjoy the top down driving. I own several LBC and I also own a 90 Miata. I love the LBC experience, but for reliability and during LBC repairs, I jump into my Miata a go. It makes working on my Triumph less urgent and stressful. Just my suggestion. Good Luck.

 

[Tinster]

Thanks all for the advice.

It appears my first thought was correct.
Replace everything. I'll begin to assemble a parts
inventory after I get the rear brakes sorted out.
I can powder coat here at home, so maybe I can salvage
some of the structural pieces. It appears everything
else is toast, as I suspected.

The biggest issue will be finding the cash to replace
the 4 wheel hub assemblies. The other stuff I can purchase
poco a poco, under the Boss's radar.

I saw somewhere I can purchase a new front suspension for
$3,800. complete. Wish I had the $$bucks. Boss says no way.

Scott- I have a oneoff, custom Jeep Wrangler boulder bouncer
buggy, the Grey Ghost. Tons of fun to drive. The TR6 is a
challenge now to get it off jack stands for another maybe
200 miles of driving experience before it breaks down again.

See ya'll when we get back from the southern islands.

dale & wendy /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif

 

[BOXoROCKS]

Wow, I must not be a good communicator. Dale, most all the advice you have recieved here is correct. Ron and I and others here are correct in stating that your susp is NOT junk,it just needs a typical rebuild. Even if you bought the new susp for$3800.00 (holy moley) you would still have to put it on. A few hundred bucks,and a good weekend, and you are "on the road again". One more thing and I'll go away. Get a GOOD floor jack and some stands......FIRST.

 

[LastDeadLast]

Dale,

Before I went all Nylatron, I bought TRF's full front suspension rebuild kit (part number rfk1330). It is the urethane version. I did use the tunions and ball joints, but I'm pretty sure everything else is left.

If you want it you're welcome to it. You should only have to purchase a few things to make it complete (ball joints, trunion kit and misc hardware)

I used Nylatron, so most of the kit went unused.

 

[RonMacPherson]

HUH?!?!?!?

Dale, you are severely overreacting. You have,by the pictures, one flange on one forward facing upper bushing that is torn, minor surface rust on wheel flange, possible missing greasecap, balljoint boot that might be getting old.


So instead of a 60 smackeroo bearing replacement, followed by a two hundred bushing and weekend job, you are lookin to spend almost 4 BIG ones?????????????


Man, have I got a bridge to sell you, Or my great uncles(from Nigeria) stashed away fortune that he absconded with from the Railroad company back in the 70's. All you need do is send 3800 dollars as a retainer!..

Trying to inject a little humor here Dale, can you understand why? No need to nuke it, if all it takes is a handgrenade!

 

[TRDejaVu]

Back in the days before time began, I used to work on aircraft. When I got promoted to aircraft maintenance inspector, one of the "old time" inspector's gave me a very good bit of advice to use when I was trying to determine if a 747 or "Diesel 10" was airworthy; "Before changing a component, decide if it is worn or worn out". I would respectfully suggest that the same mantra can be applied here.

 

[TR6oldtimer]

At issue here is Dale's confidence level in his vehicle and in his abilities and resources to repair it.

When I was a kid, I got five finger discounts on used junk yard tires and put them on my 53 Merc. Never balanced them because when driving over 65, the shimmy went away and balancing did not matter. I had so much confidence, I drove on those ties routinely to drive round trip from San Diego to Yuma at speeds up to 130. Lots of confidence, no fear, limited knowledge, and no common sense.

Now I am not implying that Dale or anyone on this forum is anywhere as foolish as I was at 16. But it is all about confidence and knowledge. As a kid I had a lot of confidence and little knowledge. Dale, by his own words, currently has no confidence and little or no knowledge.

I am in agreement that his car certainly does not need an entire new front suspension, but it does need some service. Like the rest of you, I have looked at his pictures, and I would agree there are not any severe problems with his front suspension. The wheel bearings probably just need packing and adjustment, the bushes look bad but probably still have many more miles on them. I doubt the ball joints and ties are not serviceable.

That said, everyone keep in mind that Dale is in Puerto Rico and not a mechanic. His only parts and technical sources are in the US and through this forum. While I have suggested here that he go slow and replace only what is worn, I now believe he should just buy the TRF Magic urethane front end kit (RFK1330) for $349.93 and replace all the usual to wear out components.

This route will allow him to refurbish his steel components and assemble with all new movable parts. In the end, he will have fun (and angst) doing it, and he and his wife will once again have the confidence to enjoy the car.