Hi all

Newbie here needing some advice on where I start.

I've got a 76 clubby thats developed a rather unpleasant thunk.

Its only doing it under accelleration, initialy it was only under hard accelleration, but this it got worse rather quickly, at this point I stopped driving it before something minor like a wheel fell off.

It seems to be doing one thunk per rotation of the wheel, and there's a definite pulsing coming through the steering wheel, the impression I'm getting is that it's coming from the left front somewhere, but I might be wrong there.

I've jacked the front wheels up and had a bit of a look, there doesn't seem to be any slack in the wheels, which I would expect if it was a wheel bearing, and I can't see anything obvious anywhere.

My next thought was a CV joint, I don't get the clicking on full lock.

Has anyone got an suggestions on where I should start with it?

Thanks

Tim

Could it be in the brake hub maybe, and is the driveshaft away from touching on anything? Is it bent?

I was going to say wheel bearing... I almost lost a wheel going down the freeway in my old Mini cebasue of a crappy bearing. My wheel didn't feel like it had much slack too..

Start with wheel bearings. They aren't THAT expensive and it's probably what it is.

And it's often really tricky to tell which wheel the 'thunk' is coming from. I thought it was my front left. Turned out to be my rear right!

Oh and BTW, losing a wheel aint exaclty "minor"! Hard to control a Mini with 3 wheels. Lots of damage to the car as well as potentially killing people/yourself. LOL!

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Jonathan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y64/FatMaserati/

Good to see you laughing death in the face.

could even be the diff assembly, jack one side of the car up and pop it in gear and see how much rotation you get from the lifted wheel should be one to 2 cm or there abouts.

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100% Pure A Series Turbo
Morris - The Original RedBull Racing

Seriously if you are a n00b at this, I'd take it to midas or ultratune or someone that knows what they're doing (someone that you can trust too that won't rip you off).

If you do want to have a go at it, by all means! but you'll need some tools, most prominant of which is a wheel nut socket (1 5/16inch) and a breaker bar.

Where abouts in Australai are you??

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

I've got a fair bit of experience working on bikes, and I've got plenty of tools, I figure I might need to buy some of the specialist ones though, but this is my first mini and I've never had this sort of issue with any of my previous cars.

I've got a RDO due sometime this week and I was planning on spending that day trying to sort it, it's kinda sad having it sitting there while I'm stuck driving around in a boring pulsar. When I get home tonight I'll have another look and see if I can narrow it down some.

I pulled the wheel off, but didn't pull the drums, I'll have a look at that when i get home from work tonight.

Re bearings, am I likely to be able to get them from repco or supercheap etc, or will I need to talk to a specialist mini place.

As for the location, I'm definitly getting pulse through the steering wheel, which I think would indicate it had to be at the front I would think.


Tim

I'll try that one as well, but I really don't like the sound of it, it sounds expensive.

I'm not sure about where you can get the bearings. I only take my Mini to a specialist Mini place (MiniCraft here in WA), and I've never done it myself.

Take it to a specialist to give the car a once-over anyway. They often pick-up on bits and pieces normal mechanics miss. You can get them to give you a list of things that needs to be done.

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Jonathan
http://photobucket.com/albums/y64/FatMaserati/

CBC bearings are the go, last time I priced a set it was 50 for a ball bearing set and 100 for tapered roller bearings.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Get your bearings from a specialist bearing place (check the Yellow Pages) Ring and ask for prices and when you find one that will sell to you for trade you will save heaps. I've got all sorts of bearings this way and they are often 25% of prices quoted elsewhere. Repco etc probably buy from these suppliers at trade and sell to you at retail so just cut out the middleman.

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David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

Last time I drove my there was supposedly a thumping noise coming from the back.
But it stopped once I got rid of the body.
Nah, wheel bearing I believe. It's getting changed now. Hopefully that's it.
The thing is it only had the slightest bit of play in it.
Sometimes, even if you think something is good, it's already stuffed.

Thanks for that, I'll give CBC a call, they're not far from my parents place.