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Left Rear wheel bearing re-re-replaced (third time's the charm). My process was flawed in that I was trusting the hub and shim that was on the car to be correct and it seems like maybe it wasn't. Bought an ebay carrier with a hub and shim in it as well as a baseline big shim to measure end float on the bearing. I think I did it properly this time...but only a few thousand miles will tell for sure. While this job can be done with the carrier on the car, this time around I opted to disconnect the handbrake cable at the equalizer and pull the carrier off the car so I could use my press instead of a hammer and handheld bearing press kit. Went together much more easily. Fingers crossed it doesn't start growling at me in a few months.
I made a start on the road to recovering this X308 from the edge and back to a roadworthy vehicle.
Simple things (aided by the guide from here) such as replacing the dash illumination.
Got some more to do (couple switches and the J trace on the shifter) when the little bulbs arrive in.
Repaired as many of the plastic lugs on the gear shift surround as I could.
There was glue on them, looked like the factory rubber stuff used to hold the leather on. Someone had been a bit hamfisted and broke them off, using windshield urethane to glue it all in place, which worked about as well as you might imagine.
Sometimes an issue occurs that is not convenient or parts not readily available such
that "yankee" engineering comes to play. That is particularly sad when addressing
a repair on these classic ladies. While such an inclination might be ok when working
on the '77 Silverado Step-side truck, it is an absolute blasphemy for the Duchess.
On a whim, decided to end my experiment of rubber shims clamped around the front subframe's rear bushings, and... wow. Having a hard time believing how much of a difference it made.
Was dealing with a weird "shuddering" shake when going over bumps on the road, that now feels like it's 90% gone. I guess the shims were causing that weird kind of harmonic in the subframe or something. It's like I stepped back up a level in luxury and ride quality.
So, I'll drive it a bit longer, and if that improvement persists I'll keep the subframe setup as stock again... the tiny loss in steering precision feels worth the improvement in ride quality.
Been using these for a while on other leather stuff (radio carry cases, jackets, belts etc) and recently to revive the leather in the car. Not affiliated but would recommend, based upon experience.
So yeah, been busy making the leather nicer and more long-lasting today.
Phil
Last edited by Philip_A; Apr 22, 2024 at 10:54 AM.
I tried to have the Tire shop where I purchased my Generals to do a tire
repair from a screw picked up from the road. They refused claiming the
screw was too close to the sidewall. I measured it myself at about an
inch and a quarter from the edge. So...I just repaired it myself.
Good luck with the repair as it would certainly seem to fall outside the generally accepted 1/2 - 1" too close to the sidewall limit that shouldn't be repaired. The only real question is whether that rule of thumb distance is affected by specific tire construction for your General tire. I wonder if they might provide some "guidance" if asked whether it would affect their guarantee?
You know Ken....sometimes one might feel that certain businesses are
telling their employees things that are outside of the common practices
we grew up with. I considered pressing the issue with my usual gusto
and bold demeaner, yet opted for the more practical method by simply
crossing that place of business off my list and doing it myself. The tire
seems to be holding up well, so that is a plus. I have noticed of late
that my cars seem to be picking up more nails, screws and debris than
I ever have before, however there is a lot of construction going on
around here these days.
I've always understood the measurement outside the tyre is just a guide. The actual thing that matters if if the inside of the tyre is flat at that point, or still curved as part of the shoulder.
Hmmmm, I guess it is possible that certain tires require more distance
from the outside edge than others. It is certainly true that tire geometry
seems to have changed over the years. In my case, the puncture
occurred just at the inside point of greatest curvature. I say that because
from a casual perspective, the entire inside surface looked concave.
