PhilMeUp

Did this with my FPV ute. Climbed under and tried to move the tail shaft around. Wouldn't budge, so I assumed that the bearing was fine. At inspection time, there was a slight tear in the rubber on top of the bearing surround. Bought a new centre bearing from Hardy Spicer and fitted it easily enough. It eliminates one possibility, and means that there's one less thing to go wrong in the future.

See if your local Hardy Spicer branch has any suggestions - http://www.hardyspicer.com.au

I would LOVE to do some late night stuff!!!! Shall we say... midnight Tuesday night? The trick is to pick a time when we can move at a decent pace and not get interrupted by people in other Falcons (and Commodores). As long as you lot don't use some piss weak excuse to pike out of it. (Actually, my Tornado won't be doing any major fast stuff until it's got a laser jammer setup. Funding for that is currently being negotiated.)

There will be Perth cruises from now on. I have zero social life. Zero. Welcome to the taxi world. Was on the phone to girlfriend earlier tonight (she drives a taxi as well). She thought it was pretty pathetic that I met up with a bunch of blokes in a carpark and went for a slow drive together (she's not a car person, this stuff bores the hell out of her). Oh yeah... what socialising with other people have you done lately? Same as me. Zero. So, if people wanna meet up on a Sunday arvo somewhere for a cruise then I'm more than happy to lead it. Start throwing suggestions for routes, destinations, etc.

20 minutes? You call that slow? You should see the snail's pace that I move at here. I make Kiwis look like a master race.

Nup. Bullsh*t. I belt the crap out the Brembos on my taxi, and my discs only need machining when the pads have worn them out (ie lip on the outside of the disc rotors). The current front discs have done at least 300,000km since they were last machined. Although, they are well overdue for replacing now (ie minimum thickness). That's a set of DBA5000 355mm disc rotors. That I bought secondhand for $200. Probably got my money's worth there. Get the engine mounts and transmission mount checked by a mechanic that knows how to check them. Check the centre bearing as well.

Yup. Just a tad later than 2pm though. I'm not a morning person.

Replaced the rear axle bearings on my BFIII wagon taxi a couple of weeks ago. I'm organised - got a few spare sets of axles these days, so I can get a pair ready with new bearings and just swap the axles over. Did that. ABS light comes on at 100km/h. Diagnostics says it's the driver's side rear. Pull it apart and have a look. Clean the ABS sensor. Put it back together. Still getting ABS light at 100. WTF. Put original axle back in and test. No ABS light. Definitely an issue with the replacement axle. Pull it apart again. Have the engine running and watch the replacement axle and ABS rotor rotate. Looks all good, nothing out of alignment. Stuff it, replace the new bearing on the axle. $27.50 wasted. Remove the ABS rotor and clean it up all nice and shiny. Make sure it's back on the axle correctly and press on another new bearing kit. Test time. ABS light still comes on at 100. Swear words. Lots of them. sh*tloads. Starting to wonder if the replacement axle is just so slightly bent that the ABS rotor and sensor don't agree on things at 100km/h. Will get it tested. Just put original axle back in. Again. Spent a bunch of hours on this over the last week. 3:15am. Got better things to do. Now I want to remove the front disc rotors and make sure that the metal surfaces are clean. First front disc won't come off. Can't really use a hammer at 3am, although I'd like to. On the neighbour's screaming kids, actually (white trash welfare house next door). Been out there for a few hours tonight and have so far achieved a grand total of SFA. ------------------------------------------- In other news, I bought a Dremel today to see if it would be of any use for cutting the old bearings off the axles. Nup. Off to the Cupboard of Stuff That I Use Once A Year.

Heading there now. Look for the blue FPV ute. There’ll be someone nearby purchasing every energy drink in the area, along with a large funnel. Possibly with a laptop, looking at Google Maps and trying to figure out where the bloody hell we’re gonna go. Edit: Idiot here just realised that the Gull was recently rebranded as Puma. It's next to where the Farmer Freeway starts from Great Eastern Highway.

Leave right now!! We'll be there. Call me on 0418 922 500 if you're running late and want confirmation that we'll wait for you.

Yep, be there. SMS/call everyone else.

Just got woken up by the iPhone alarm. Righto, 2pm it is then. Gull Burswood.

Dammit, there will be a cruise today!!! I'm about to go to bed for the day. Will attempt to wake up at 1pm and check this thread. Key word there being "attempt". I'm assuming that Kyle will update with cruise details sometime this morning (while I'm asleep). However... if he doesn't, then I wanna go for a drive anyway. I don't wanna wake up and be cruise-less. So, plan b: If Kyle doesn't run a cruise today then I will. Meet point: Gull Burswood - just near the casino. Food across the road at the 24 hour shop. Time: 4pm Route: I'll figure out a lap of the river. So, if Kyle updates then his cruise is the go. And if I sleep past 2pm then tough bikkies for me. If Kyle has been kidnapped by aliens or Camry drivers and not returned in time then we'll do a river run at 4pm. If anyone wants last minute confirmation then SMS me on 0418 922 500 and I'll confirm by 3pm. (Apologies to Kyle if plans have already been given to everyone else and I didn't know.) We came. We saw. We cruised.

If it's on, then I'm in. Please let me know details. I want this to go ahead. Saw RB Snake during the week, and he said he'll come along if it's on. Route: If that's a problem then I'll come up with a route around the river, and lead if required.

This. I use Hawk Performance ceramic pads on my taxi with 6/4 Brembo calipers. Girlfriend's taxi has the BA Premium 325mm calipers, so I've got Hawk pads there as well. Being a US company, Hawk make pads for cars that are sold in the US. I figured out that the 6 piston Brembo caliper is the same as the Lexus IS-F and mid 2000s Merc AMG. The 4 piston rear Brembo is the same as a Ferrari 360. The BA Premium caliper was also fitted to the 97-02 Corvette. However, the standard two piston Falcon caliper was never supplied on anything sold in the US. Bugger. The Hawk Performance pads don't get much positive feedback on forums. Dunno why. I belt the crap out of mine and they work well.

The part number for the front bearing hub is AU22B663A - do a search for it on eBay for the best price. There are various aftermarket options. The really cheap ones are known for not lasting long. The Ford ones are regarded as lasting the longest. Easy to replace - photo guide: http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/89016-photo-essay-babf-front-bearing-hub-replacement

Nup, it only shows back to July last year. I've been writing those photo guides since 2011.

I make up those photo guides and post them on each Ford forum. They tend to get lost on here, though. The AFF forum is easier to find stuff on. Look for my username on there (Phildo) and then search for threads started by me. You'll find all sorts of interesting stuff. Can't do that on here - there's no way of searching for all threads started by a particular person. That pod filter is one the stupidest things that has ever been invented, and was replaced by an original FPV airbox and new filter as soon as possible. The build thread: http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/89684-2006-fpv-tornado-f6-ute-cleanup-resurrection/

Yeah, should be there. Gotta wake up in time.

Easy one - photo guide: http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/89260-photo-essay-replacing-the-windscreen-washer-pump Use the garden hose to flush it out if required:

The only Falcon caliper that I've come across so far that doesn't use an SB1010S (ie the same as a 639630) is the PBR 328mm rear caliper. That one uses the longer SB1010. The SB1010S works in: - The standard Falcon front calipers (both 298 and 322mm). - The PBR 325mm calipers. - Brembo 4 and 6 piston calipers - front and rear. They are all a 10 x 1.0 thread. It's just that the hole is deeper on the 328mm caliper, so that requires a longer threaded section on the nipple. All these things do is allow you to bleed or flush the brake fluid on your own. If you've got a friend or woman around that can help then he/she can pump the brake pedal while you loosen and tighten the standard nipple. I'm always doing stuff late at night on my own, so for me they are essential. One of these days I'll sort out a pressure bleeder bottle that pushes brake fluid through at the reservoir. I've been using the same set on my taxi for a few years now. There's goo on the thread to maintain a seal when I loosen the nipples. Although I bought a bottle of replacement goo a few years ago, I haven't had to use it yet. The goo on the original speed bleeders is still working.

More info: http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/75252-brake-nipples-speed-bleeders-and-brembo-falcon-standard-brakes They allow you to flush/bleed brakes on your own. Loosen the nipple, go pump the brake pedal and then tighten the nipple again. I flush the brake fluid on my taxi every 4 to 6 months. I do this late at night on my own. Last time it took me 45 minutes to completely flush the fluid and adjust the handbrake.

In Perth, take the calipers to Aeroplate, which is next to Perth Brake Parts. He does powder coating, acid dipping, etc. Pull the calipers apart first - very simple thing to do. Take photos, put things in plastic bags and make notes if you have to. I had six calipers done at $50/caliper a couple of months ago. But I had everything disassembled down to every last part. Bolts that were in calipers that were burned in a car fire came out like brand new.

From: http://www.evolutionm.net/forums/evo-tires-wheels-brakes-suspension-sponsored-tire-rack/664752-correct-brembo-caliper-paint.html In my searches, I have found a factory red that is an exact match. However the vehicle was not available in the US. You may be able to find a paint shop to mix it up for you. It's called Tiziano red by Fiat. the paint code is 199 (or 199a, I can't remember) I am not a fan of "caliper paint" because it's extremely thick, and never looks good. What you need to do, is do a base coat/then clear coat with a good 2K clear. This is the same thing done with auto bodies. a) powder coat them in a close color. Not as OEM, but a stronger coating than OEM (IF DONE RIGHT) or: b) Prime them with a 2K epoxy primer. Color shoot them with a base coat (BTW, I looked up the paint code. You can pull it off of a 2000 Fiat Doblo paint code 199A) After the base coat has fully flashed, paint the brembo with a white base coat (Toyota 040 Super White II is the closest) with a stencil. Then paint the whole thing with a good quality HARD 2K clear coat. (Dupont Imron Elite is a quality solvant resistant clear coat) I used Red VHT high temp and VHT enamel clear coat. They came out pretty damn close to stock. It took about 5-6 hours total from cleaning to drying to multiple coats of each. Brembo decals you can get on ebay. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rebuild Kits: http://store.zeckhausen.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=82_1169_1172 Dust Boots: http://store.zeckhausen.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=82_1169_1170 Piston Seals: http://store.zeckhausen.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=82_1169_1171

Get round ones. Much better performance than square shaped ones.