Balljoints and bearings
Ihad noticed recently that the rubber gaiters on the upper wishbone balljoints and the vertical link on the Gentry’s front suspension had badly deteriorated. If left in such a state, they would allow dirt and grit to attack the balljoints, accelerating wear. They would also be an MoT fail point. A quick call to Moss Europe and two new gaiters arrived in the post the following morning – all the suspension components on this early Gentry are straight off a Triumph Spitfire Mk3, so parts are easily obtainable and generally cheap.
After jacking the car up and removing both front wheels, I undid the nyloc nuts securing the balljoints. After a sharp tap with a hammer to release the balljoint from the arm, it was then easy to pry off the old and perished gaiters. Once the new gaiters were slipped into place however, getting the balljoints relocated into the vertical links took some jiggling about in both cases, but they eventually both went in OK.
After the securing nuts and washers were replaced and tightened, I took the opportunity to squirt some EP90 oil into the nipple at the base of the trunnions. Common to the Herald, Vitesse and Spitfire, these trunnions should never be lubricated with grease but always with EP90. I know of at least one case where grease caused a king pin to seize and then shear, putting the car into a ditch as a result. Finally, as I had the EP90 to hand I quickly checked the oil level in the diff. This is also a Spitfire Mk3 component and does tend to weep slightly, but as usual the level was fine.
Quite recently, I had noticed that the offside rear wheel bearing on the XJ40 XJ6 had become noisy. Following a lot of really helpful advice from Simply Performance, they sent me a new inner and outer rear hub bearing kit. Luckily
“As I had the EP90 to hand I quickly checked the oil in the diff”
it was possible to do the job without removal of the hub carrier. Once the rear wheel was removed, the disc caliper was undone and moved out of the way. Next the nyloc hub nut was undone and the locating collar that sits behind removed. Now the hub could be pulled forward, pivoting on the lower fulcrum pin. After supporting the hub on a block of wood, a sharp tap with the hammer released the hub from the carrier so that it could be withdrawn. With the hub off the car it was pretty easy to knock off the outer bearing, and then old inner bearing was carefully drifted away.
Replacement of both bearings and their various seals was easy enough, but care was needed to make sure that the new bearings went in squarely and didn’t twist. Once refitted, they were pulled into place using a home-made puller comprising a long bolt with a drilled circular steel blank and a nut at either end. Once satisfied that was done correctly, the driveshaft was secured once again with a new nyloc nut.
From there it was just a case of refitting the caliper and the road wheel and job done. The Haynes manual does recommend removing the hub carrier complete and having the bearings replaced at a Jaguar dealer. However, by doing the job in situ I was able to avoid disconnecting the handbrake cable and the ABS sensor, as well as saving myself a pretty penny in garage fees.
Meanwhile, the Daimler 2.5 V8 saloon is still up in Nottinghamshire with Keith Jenkins and for various reasons, progress on its rebuild has been slow. However, things seem to be moving once more. The front subframe, rear axle and diff casing are now overhauled and all look superb in fresh black paint ready for reassembly. Hopefully there will be more news on the Daimler to report from now on.