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Old 04-27-2014, 03:46 PM
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Alice Springs, central Australia, NT
Cobra Make, Engine: Classic revival kit (CR3181), gen III engine, T56 6 speed box, AU XR8 lsd diff
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Well, what a ****full weekend that was.

(bit of background info)
Over the preceding months I have been helping to organise a club run from Alice Springs to Wauchope (400kls north), to get there you travel through the deresticted speed zone.
The trip was up on ANZAC day, back on Saturday.
But sadly a good friend lost her Husband to Cancer on Easter Friday with funeral arranged for Saturday at 1pm

So I figured I would go up, but leave at about 8am to be home well and truly in time.

Now, it had been a made house on Wednesday and Thursday, I dropped my car at wheel aligners on Wednesday, only to discover at the end of the day the fella who used to do it, is no longer there, and the new guy had no idea, so it was there all day and nothing adjusted.
I then organised to borrow a mates bubble camber gauge and a stick for adjusting toe. It was only the rear I needed to adjust after moving Camber around when fitting BillBoards.
So I adjusted it myself and was set to go.

Head out and heading North at 9am Friday, got about 20kls out of town and I could hear a noise in the back, not wanting to risk anything (and only 5kl away from open zone) I turned for home to check the noise.
As I turned left into my driveway, there was a "twang" and the right rear dropped down. I stopped and looked around, and found one of the coil over top hats sitting on the ground.
Got it on the hoist and found a R/H rear shockie had snapped.
Now I have no way to prove it, but I suspect that the aligner raised the car off the ground and somehow dislodged the top hat from its seat.







Now I had my old SPAX shocks still, so I swapped them out and inside an hour I was on my way again.


All going well, zooming through open zone, cruising at 170kph.
I slowed down for a twist in road to about 130 and I heard another noise, this time in Left hand rear.
I slowed down again and kept hearing the noise at intermittent times with no real rhyme or reason when or why.
At this point I was about 120k north of Alice, and about 20kl short of Aileron.
So I continued to Aileron at about 60kph with the car only making the noise once or twice more.
I called my brother inlaw and he headed up with my trailer.
Got the car home safe and sound.
Went to funeral, I actually think it was the gods wanting to be sure I got to funeral, by making me be home Friday, but not wanting to hurt me to do it.

Had a look at the car yesterday.

This was inside Left rear handbrake assy.
It is a backing plate retaining bolt, I replaced the rear wheel bearing in this side about 15 months ago. When I first assembled the car I put loctite on everything, when I did wheel bearing I did not put any on.


So it could have been a locked up rear wheel at speed, but as I said, someone wanted me home.

So make sure you loctite all the bolts you refit to your cars.
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Cruising in 5th


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