New from Germany '69 A100 pickup

So, first valve cover cleaned - 90%, next to be done.

I repaired some 5 (!) threads for the transmission pan bolts, easy going with helicoils installed. While the transmission was open again, I checked the rear band adjustment - it was off, and the locking nut was loose on the screw... Lucky me I checked that, before refilling the trans.

Front right brakes - I just wanted to clean the knuckle, support plate and stuff. Had to realize, that this wheel cylinder (although looking pretty new) was leaking. Goddammit. More parts to order.

While studying the service manuals for the truck and cross-checking with the Chargers service manual, I came across one huge difference on the front wheel bearing adjustment.

Truck: tighten to 300 in-lb while rotating, back off nut lock 2 slots.
Charger: tighten to 90 in-lb while rotating, back off nut lock 1 slot.

This put some serious question marks on my forehead... It's pretty much the same spindle, it is the same drum and drum assembly parts. But a huge difference in tightening??

How come? Anyone an idea about this?

Never adjusted a bearing with a torque wrench. Always just tighten down till nut stops, you will feel the bearing drag, back off till drum/hub/rotor spins free, repeat and you are now good to go. Done it that way with both ball type and taper type front wheel bearings, never had one go bad.

To answer your question the only reason I can think of would be load capacity of vehicle, the more it can carry the more loaded pressure on the bearing especially when turning. That by the way is just a guess.

That's pretty much how it worked at my Charger - tighten (and that was approx. the stipulated 90 in-lb), wheel drags, loose one step and good to go.

But I doubt that the 2200lb axle of the truck takes much more load than the front suspension of the Charger. The Charger weighs a whopping more than 600 lb more empty than the truck. It's front axle is up to 2400 lb...

True, it was a guess, then again a Charger was not loaded to the gills day in and day out with 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of cargo. Course five chubby buddies go out drinking in the Charger every night might of exceeded the max carrying capacity, even when sober.

Got thinking about the tightening specs, my 67 van manual shows 25 ft lb then back off nut 1/6 to 1/4 turn, but never less than 1/6th. Looked up my 92 Dakota spec, 30 to 40 ft lb then loosen and tighten nut by hand. Looked up VW's for both ball and taper front bearings, tighten clamp so that there is .001 to .005 axial play measure with wheel and tire mounted, course in 34 years of them I never did it that way.

So here is another guess, bet they all work out to be exactly the same or within a degree or two of each other when finished. The key is preload then back off, not too tight not too loose, just the right amount of grease and you will have happy wheel bearings.

Yeah, thanks. I had some bearings in the past making noise. That's usually easy to identify, change them and all is fine. Grease - another difference: the cavity inside the inner/outer bearings are supposed to be filled with grease @Charger, but no such hint on the truck manual.

Perhaps its really related to day-in-day-out up to capacity with the truck.

Always fill the cavity.

busman78 wrote:Always fill the cavity.

never fill the cavity completely. as the grease heats up it will push past the seal and dust cap. and that makes a mess on the wheel on one side and on the brakes on the other.

Okay, I did not say completely, my actual spec for doing it is slather the inside of the hub with grease, how much is that? Well enough for me to feel warm and fuzzy that there is enough. Here are some quotes from a few manuals.

1st manual "Apply coating of Mopar Wheel Bearing Grease to entire inner surface of hub/rotor"

2nd manual talks about installing the bearings "In Grease Coated Hub"

3rd manual "Fill hub with grease but keep it out of hub cap"

The 3rd manual mentions that is should take about 2 ounces of grease to pack the bearings and fill the hub.

If you read on line there are yea's and nay's ranging from none to pack the sucker. For me I fill it.

Perfect. I did not and will not top up the grease in the cavity, but I fill it. Still "lots of space" left and the dust cap probably is intentionally not to be filled, but only lightly coated with grease.

No surprises this weekend, fixed the trans adjustment (rear band) and filled it up (seems to be dry). Took off the other valve cover, cleaned both (what a difference), new gasket with cement (Hylomar).

Luckily, there was not much dirt among the valves - I'll leave that for now (of course recognized dirt removed). Checked TDC while the cover was off - perfect.

Tomorrow the wheel cylinder is to arrive, then its driveable again - hopefully. And I do hope that my body shop will take it shortly. As for the doghouse parts...

Both tie rod ends changed, if the arm is removed from the knuckle, it is a breeze to pull the tie rod ends.

But - connecting rod is bend way too much, serious alignment is impossible. Have to find a local shop to make one. But that should not be a real problem.

Meanwhile, replaced the domelight covers and removed the old glovebox. Well, the rest of it. Most of it disappeared in dust. Anyway, while at it, of course I found another thing to take care of: heater control cables & the idea to change the inner workings of the AM radio to FM and USB .

Always something to do and still no idea, when it will go to the body shop. Those guys are busy. The doghouse will still take some time to get fixed and painted. I found a source for a glasfibre mat with aluminium coated on one side (approx. 4/10 in thick, I'll take it doubled, that should fit). Had to buy 10m² (approx. 100 sq ft....). Same company has heat resitant cardboard for the round insulation holders, which I will get laser cutted by a friend.

But: still having fun doing all that work and learning a lot about that little sucker.

Just keep chipping away at it 69, you're doing fine. Seems like all Good Body Shops are always busy!

Thanks, vanny.

Lately, I changed all spark plugs (much easier than the Charger without doghouse ) and the master brake cylinder. Unfortunately, I emptied the old one by depressing the pedal too much while bleeding front brakes and to avoid problems with that old cylinder (obviously 48 years old, bore/piston are likely to make trouble) I decided to just replace it with a new one.

Tomorrow the center link will be straightened, plan for the weekend is the lower radiator hose and the fittings for the heater and crossover hose. Last time the first of those four suckers leaked. I Should have done that earlier but I hoped that it'll still work. Well, you know Murphy

I realized, that the ignition cables are kind of special. They need special care, to really click onto the spark plugs.... well, nothing is easy nowadays.

Bleeded the brake (what a hassle without proper equipment and doing it yourself).

A friend helped me to straighten the center link, much better now, as adjustment is possible now . Will do a first alignment tomorrow, but now's the time for the Charger. It is due for it's biennial road check here in Germany. Well, it WAS due this month....

Phaeton Tire change (winter to summer), Charger maintenance (Oil, filter, grease all kind of stuff) including test drive, of course

A100 got another new valve cover gasket. I killed the old-new with the wrong torque-wrench... something like 10 lb ft instead of like 2....

Took a day off yesterday and did a little ride with the Charger to a Mopar Event:


Mopar Spring Fling 2017

Today, we took another ride and I fixed the brake adjuster and exchanged the spring to return the AT throttle lever. I noticed, that the alternator bolt broke in the block. So I need to drill it out to have the alternator properly attached....

EVENTUALLY!

Tomorrow the little one will be taken to the body shop.

Drawback for the day:
The Charger failed the biennial roadworthyness test.

Thinks I'm upset about:
* passenger side windshield washer does not spray (I NEVER had the bottle filled in the last 6 years, NOBODY ever asked for it)
* VERY slightly oil-coated trans.

Thinks I actually do understand:
* Idler arm worn out. Much too much play (that I did overlook while inspecting all those things)
* oiling engine. I thought it was clean and tight after changing oil and filter. And I have to admit I didn't double check bevor drive to the test. I just hope it was remaining oil from the filter change...

And - NEVER EVER go to a youngster inspector. They have no idea about classic cars....
Now I need to fix it within 30 days. Idler arm is easy, but if there's something bigger re oil...

It is at the body shop. Should be ready by end of June.

That's pretty tight - original plan was, to drive approx. 600 miles to Sweden (Power Big Meet). But plan B is to take the Charger

While the little one is at the shop, it's time to take care of the really important things in life. For example, do a trip back in time with StreetView (c) Google to 2007. 2014 neither the truck nor the toilet appeared at the same address, but my official seller still lived at there.





And the Charger is getting ready for the review of the roadtest: at least while standing, it is dry now (no oil leaking) and the noozle for the passenger side washer is clean again. The idler arm is on its way, that should be an ease exchange.

holy moly. That old idler arm of the Charger was really done.... It's a difference like day & night, I'm really looking forward to drive to the road test again. Should be a real firm steering experience. But it's a nightmare doing it with the car only on four stands, at approx. 1 foot higher as street level...
Compared to that I just LOVE the truck, as it has much more clearance...

New idler arm rides like a new car. Road test passed without any incident.

But, I had to change the oil filter _again_, as the old one was pouring oil by the pint..... lost half a gallon on a five minutes test run.... dunno what happened. It actually was perfectly snug with the engine....

,,,,no gasket or old gasket still on block would surely be suspects,,,,,,,,,

Gasket was good, it was a new filter. I suspected the thread, which might have suggested "is ok", but still had no contact gasket-engine....

The dog house parts are back. Couldn't resist to put the glas fiber insulation mat on the top cover. Looks pretty good, I think. It's 10mm (approx. 1/5")  thick so I put a double layer. Pretty easy to cut with my mom's old tailor scissor. That thing is just huge, with approx. 10" of blade....

The round fasteners are laser cut off a glasfiber / paper sheet (heat resistant). While cutting, it actually melted the glas fibers in it, hence the non-perfect shape. But the do what they're supposed to do. Hold the insulation in place.

Four more to go....

OH, meanwhile, a Super Bee in burnt orange joined the house....



okok, it's just a hornet...