PhilMeUp

On mine, it slid off after a few taps with a mallet, but my drive shaft is a CV joint one. Don't know about a universal joint one, that might require a press.

- Too easy for someone to grab and steal the wheel. - It would slide around the place when braking and cornering (unless secured with a rope or tie-down). - Gets in the way when putting a bike (and other stuff) in the back. - Risk of it sliding out the back and going missing when I've got a bike in the back and the tailgate down.

Yeah.... me, if I ever get a flat tyre in the ute!

I fed the plastic tube into the hole and then tightened up the nuts with a 17mm socket. These are lock nuts, so I didn’t need to use Loctite (although I was tempted to anyway). I don’t want this thing coming loose when driving. The winch bolted into place. I then got the winding rod and began to unwind the winch. I also held the end of the cable with one hand to keep some pressure on the cable to ensure that it would unwind properly. Despite losing a bit of cable length, it was still plenty long enough to come out far enough behind the ute to attach to the spare wheel. Once I had fed the end into the spare wheel centre, I pulled the wheel backward toward me so that the cable would be kept tight when winding the winch back up. This is where having an extremely low car might be an issue - you would need to make sure that the wheel will actually fit under the back bumper. If not then you’ll need to carry a second jack to raise the car up high enough to get the spare wheel in and out. When winding up the winch, it still required enough force to break the end off my brand new winch winder. Not impressed. I tried a few different sockets, and found that a 16mm impact (ie six-sided) socket fitted perfectly, so used a ratchet to continue to tighten the winch. I tried using multi-grip pliers but it was taking forever. I might go to a metal fabrication place and see what it would cost to get something similar made out of steel instead of the too-soft aluminium - having something with a 21mm hex-head end would be ideal (ie same as a wheel nut, so that I could use a ratchet and wheel nut socket). Note: Make sure that your spare wheel clears your brake calipers. This wheel is from a BA XR8 and will clear both six and four piston Brembo calipers. I finally got the wheel raised up, but had to keep pushing it toward the front of the car to get it past the towbar. Part of the towbar is still pushing into the tyre, so some other time I’ll climb back under there with an angle grinder and grind back the square corners.

The Falcon BA XR6 Turbo ute that I bought recently didn’t have a spare wheel. I bought a suitable wheel but the winch jammed up when I was trying to wind it back up again. Time to pull it apart and see how it works. I started by drilling out the four rivets on the outside of the casing - only those four outer rivets. I then used a flat-blade screwdriver to force the two halves apart. Once I had the casing halves apart, I could see how the cable had jammed up between the pulley and the casing. I had to use the flat-blade screwdriver again to lever the pulley from out of the casing. Then it was obvious how the cable had not gone into the pulley groove and had instead jammed up between the cable and the casing. I unwound the cable from the pulley, but was unable to wind it back on because of some damage to the end of the cable, where it clips in to the pulley. A photo of the empty pulley. There is a ridge on one side of it that helps to prevent the pulley from being unwound the wrong way. I took the cable to Flexible Drive Agencies in Welshpool, Perth. They said that they could get it repaired, but that it would have to be sent to Melbourne. They then suggested that I try a a nearby place called The Lifting Company. I went there and someone was able to cut the end of the cable off and put a new end on within a couple of minutes. There is a spring-loaded piece of plastic that prevents the pulley from unwinding too far. It doesn’t drop into place until the cable is fully unwound, which is why it only does its job then (ie the cable in the groove keeps it outward). If you’re ever trying to find a place to repair or replace a cable like this then start with places that deal with trailers with winches (eg boating places). They’ll be able to direct you to whatever place builds their trailer winches. Once I was able to tinker with the winch to see how it works, I could see why it jammed up. Lesson: keep some tension on the cable when unwinding and winding it up to prevent the cable from going loose and jamming between itself and the casing (ie keep it in the grooves on the pulley). When the cable is would up there is a piece of plastic that ensures that it goes into the pulley groove. A photo showing how the cable feeds into the bottom of the winch before going on to the pulley. A photo showing the cable fully wound on to the pulley. On my winch there is some room left for a longer cable. I’ll do a test run when I put the winch back on the ute to see if the cable is long enough, and get the cable replaced with something a bit longer if required. Another photo showing the cable wound on. This also tested the winding mechanism before I put the casing cover back on. When putting the casing cover back on, make sure that it slides onto the plastic part that guides the cable in. There is a plastic surround on the winder that needs to line up with the casing cover. I got the winch back in one piece, and then wound the cable back and worth a couple of times to make sure that it wasn’t going to jam up again. I got some stainless steel M6 x 16mm bolts from a hardware shop to replace the rivets that I had drilled out. They are too long, but they were the shortest ones that the shop had. I chose the stainless steel ones so that they wouldn’t rust (in case I need to pull this thing apart again). With 10mm bolt heads and nuts, I can dismantle the pulley and possibly fix it if it ever jams up whilst changing a wheel. I used a 6mm drill bit to drill the holes out to fit the M6 bolts. I also put a spring washer on each bolt. Then I slid the plastic tube back on over where the winder goes. This plastic tube goes between the winch and the back of the car, and guides the winding rod into place. And then I had a complete winch, ready to be bolted underneath the back of the ute. To re-fit the winch, I reversed the ute up on to some wheel ramps. I got these ones from SuperCheap Auto, along with the extensions to allow for a car with low ground clearance to get on to the ramps. The winch attaches to four bolts that are underneath the back of the ute. Note: If you haven’t changed the diff oil for a while then now is the perfect time to do so. You’ll need to make sure that the car is level, so use a jack and some axle stands to raise the front of the car. I fitted this diff to the car two weeks ago, along with Penrite Pro Gear 80-140 diff oil. The photo doesn’t show it, but there was a slight leak at the filler bolt so I removed it and put a new fibre washer in there, and then cleaned off the leaked oil with brake cleaner aerosol spray. There is a hole in the back of the chassis for the plastic tube. I fed the plastic tube into the hole and then tightened up the nuts with a 17mm socket. These are lock nuts, so I didn’t need to use Loctite (although I was tempted to anyway). I don’t want this thing coming loose when driving.

Have a look at some exhaust web sites and see if the part numbers are the same for utes and wagons?

Here in Perth we have a lot of Irish people these days. The ones that have arrived in the last few years also have a bad reputation for drinking too much, with a resulting bad attitude. The taxi world hates them. Here we go again with the usual drunk Irish arrogance. Couple in their 30s. Not kids. The woman vomits and gets most of it into her handbag. But not all. I get them home, see the mess on the back seat and tactfully explain that they need to pay for some cleaning time. By law, that is currently $48.10 per hour. They refused to pay anything. Send them an invoice, they reckon. Ah, no... these things get sorted out and paid for at the time. The husband goes into the house, returns with a towel, wipes the food chucks off the seat onto the floor and reckons that he's now cleaned it for me. Total arrogance. Dares me to hit him (I had positioned us so that the taxi roof camera was filming us, so I was actually hoping that he'd hit me and cop an assault charge). I've explained nicely that I've done the right thing by them, including not kicking them out when she was vomiting 18km from home on a country back road (ie Waikiki to Byford). Nup, they've gotten home, gotten what they want and I can piss off. The bloke dared me to sue him. Done. Time to go brush up on the minimum requirements on what used to be the Small Claims Tribunal years ago. Reckon the car might have to spend the entire day tomorrow getting shampooed and steam cleaned (ie lots of hours before the seat dries x the hourly rate). Getting a few dollars out of this moron couple will be good, but putting a black mark on their credit record will be nice revenge. Forget about getting finance for six years. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Birthday tomorrow. Done a bunch of work on a previously crash-damaged Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo ute over the last few months. Did an all-nighter on it this week and now this thing is coming along real nicely. Figured I'd grab the KTM enduro bike and head down to Augusta tonight (where I grew up). Go find some of the old tracks that I used to ride in 1987 and get all nostalgic. Been thinking about this all week and am now very, very, very keen on the idea. Mum's birthday the next day (she died 10 years ago) so stop by the grave, etc. Sleep in the back of the ute at least one night. Aussie bloke ute & bike couple of days. Oh yeah. Better get the KTM out and do an oil change. Then I remember. This week I took the header pipe off to get chrome-ceramic coated. Not going anywhere today. Bugger. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meanwhile, the Centrelnk Inc house next door is going at full noise. Four kids screaming at full decibels. Wishing that there was some sort of amnesty where we could commit murder on our birthdays and not get prosecuted. Lloyd Rainey (supposedly killed his wife and beat the murder charge) lives up the road. Need to stop by and have a chat... get some lessons. Maybe I should just do a letterbox drop for the street late one night, falsely alleging that there's a pedo in the street and to keep kids indoors? Nah, that wouldn't work... the moron next door wouldn't care. Fug it. We need an exchange program here. For every drunk alcoholic Irish f*ckwit that Ireland sends here, we send back a Centrelink kid. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The bloke who drives my taxi for day shift is moving house. Wants me to help. I’m generally a fairly helpful sort of chap. Except for helping people move house. Nup. But the XR6T ute is starting to run really well. And I wanna drive the damn thing somewhere. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On my taxi GPS (TomTom 730), I have all the fixed-location camera locations saved. I've then set it to make alarm sounds when I get to 250 metres from each location. Damn good idea. I have spare TomTom 730 that I keep for whatever personal car I have (currently XR6T ute). A quick flash of light on Thursday night reminded me that I hadn't added the newest camera to the personal GPS. Oops.

One of the greatest tragedies in the history of the world was that these things didn't have ADR compliance. I've still got a 1991 KTM540exc in storage that I'll get restored some day. Left-hand kickstart is a bitch, but ADR compliance means that it can be road licenced.

I've got a K&N filter here that I've never used (came with some other stuff that I bought a few years ago). In the taxi world (ie high km) we don't go through air filters. Pull it out every few months, maybe go over it with a brush or give it a quick blast with compressed air and put it back in. A Ford filter costs around $30 and lasts a few years. Put it in and forget about it. A K&N filter needs to be cleaned and oiled. Some stuffing around for no real noticeable gain. My conclusion was to keep using a disposable Ford filter. The while paper also means that I can see what dust build-up there is (as opposed to the dark colour of the K&N). The standard airbox and filter isn't particularly limiting unless you're doing a bunch of other stuff to get a lot more power out of the engine.

Did that to mine a month ago. Got it licenced. Came home, washed it, got it all nice and clean and then parked it in the carport. And then lost the key. Gave up a month later and got new keys cut and coded. By then the ute was covered in dust and had to be washed again. Bugger.

Yep, that will work. It's all about undoing the three screws, but without enough room for a normal-length screwdriver. Removing the glovebox just gives easier access to the screws. I'll have to dig the old fan out of the bin and see if I can pull it apart and re-grease the bushes.

I replaced the centre bearing on my CV-jointed drive shaft in the carpark at Hardy Spicer.

Air conditioning and/or heater not working? Had enough of the squeaking sound when you’ve got the air conditioning or heater on? That will be the blower fan, which is underneath the passenger side of the dashboard. It’s not particularly had to replace - it’s just hard to access. You can pick up a secondhand blower fan from a Falcon wreck easily enough. Start by removing the glovebox. Push the plastic tab and the glovebox will will be to move forward. The glovebox will then rotate downward. Pull it upward and outward to unclip it from the dashboard. While you’re there, check and clean the cabin filter tray. Slide it to the left and pull the tray toward you. Clean it with a brush or compressed air. If your glovebox is full of junk then this is also a good time to empty it and clean it out with water and detergent. I wish I knew this last year, when a car of soft drink split open and made one hell of a mess in there. Remove the glovebox and rinsing it under a tap would have been easier than spending an hour with a sponge and bucket of water. If you’ve never removed and cleaned the cabin filter tray then it’s worth doing occasionally. There is the option of fitting a cabin filter here - if you suffer from hay fever then you’ll want to look into this. Then you get to try and remove the blower fan. If you’re small and nimble then it’s not too difficult. If you’re large and not nimble then it’s going to be uncomfortable. You need to unplug the power cable. There is a plastic tab on the side to push in so that the cable will pull out. Above that cable is one of the three screws that will need to be removed. You’ll need a short Philips head screwdriver. Everything I had for this task was too long, making it very difficult to access to screw closest to the firewall. I pulled the carpet up to try and get more vertical room for a screwdriver. The heads on my screws were hard to grip. I’ll replace this another time so that the next time I need to replace the blower fan there will be new screws with undamaged heads. After wrestling with screwdrivers not suitable for the job (ie too long), I finally got the blower fan out. This photo shows two of the screws that you’ll need to remove. The third screw is above the plastic at the top of the photo. A photo of one of the two plastic hooks that the glovebox sits on. I took the previous photos a few months ago when I had to replace the blower fan in my taxi. Last night I did the same job with my ute. The tray had various tree debris. If you don’t want to have to vacuum your car after doing this then put a towel or sheet on the floor so that you can capture anything that falls out of the tray as you remove it. Another angle, showing the screw above where the cable plugs in. I bought a short ratchet screwdriver from Bunnings, which helped get the job done. To get one of the screws loose I had to pull the plastic bottom of the dashboard toward me a bit. A photo of the bottom of a blower fan. The arrows show where the three screws go. Where the power cable plugs in. The other side of the bottom of the blower fan. When I did this job the first time (ie my BFIII wagon taxi - the first half of the photos), the blower fan had completely stopped working. For the BAII ute (the second half of the photos), the blower fan was making very irritating squeaking noises. Both times, the problem was resolved after replacing the fan with a secondhand one.

I got one for my ute from Hardy Spicer a few weeks ago. You can actually peel away three metal tabs on the bracket and just replace the centre rubber and bearing part (ie cheaper). http://www.hardyspicer.com.au/driveline_products.asp Click on the "B1 - Universal Joint Kits and Centre Bearings" link for the parts list PDF. Current link: http://www.hardyspicer.com.au/PDF_Files/Driveline/B1_Catalogue_2013-14lr.pdf For XR6 Turbo and XR8, they use a 35mm bearing. Naturally aspirated Falcons use a 30mm. The complete unit (35mm): FD-30-5835 The centre part only (35mm): FD-30-5845 When I was doing mine a month ago I wasn't too sure how to pull the CV joint apart without stuffing things up, so went back to Hardy Spicer with the drive shaft and tools, and one of the staff ran me through how to fit the new bearing. Ideally, take your drive shaft to the branch to ensure that you get the correct bearing.

That... means... being... out... in... daylight... Dunno 'bout that...

Both cars are Lightening Strike (ie silver) so if the taxi loses one of the front doors some time then I can grab one off the ute. Likewise if one of the window regulators dies on a busy night - takes minutes to get a door off, so will grab a ute door until I have time to fit a new regulator (did that back at Easter with girlfriend's taxi - borrowed a door off another car and fixed her door after the weekend). I bought a Ryobi heat gun this week to get some sticker residue off one of my Aprilia SXV550 motard bikes. Reckon I'll have a go at getting those fake FPV badges off sometime soon.

Recap: bought a crash damaged 2005 BA Mkii XR6 Turbo ute a few months ago. Did a heap of work on it, got it licenced a month ago, washed it, parked it in the back of the carport… and lost the key. A month later, and lots of tearing the house apart looking for the key… got key blanks from a locksmith in Queensland, got them cut in Perth last week and then got them coded to the car yesterday (auto electrician). Paid $82.35 for three keys (2 x flip and 1 x normal key), cutting was free (know the guy) and coding cost $99 for a total of $181.35. Not too bad - I previously only had the one key so was going to have to pay for at least one more key blank and coding anyway. The rear end has been noisy. Done all sorts of mucking around with axle bearings and other things before finally resigning myself to the fact that the diff is stuffed. Managed to find a complete replacement diff recently, and fitted it tonight. Back end is nice and quiet now. Also replaced a squeaky blower fan. Found a set of ROH Flare wheels a couple of weeks ago so bought them. I’ve got the same wheels on my taxi, so this means that I can rotate wheels between cars if required (eg two flat tyres on a weekend). The Flares clear Brembo calipers - I’ve got a spare 4/4 Brembo setup here but can’t decided whether to put it on the ute or sell it. The ute currently has brakes from a BA GT (ie 325mm x 32mm front). It rained in Perth tonight, and a test drive confirmed that the unheard-of brand tyres on there right now are lethal on wet roads. I’ve been using Neuton NT5000 tyres on my taxi for the last few years with great success but they are no longer imported. Maxis Pro R1 tyres rated very well in wet conditions in a recent magazine test so will check pricing on a set of those. I put a set of Achilles 2233 tyres on the taxi last week but they are also quite slippery in the wet. Bought the diff with a whole bunch of stuff from an FPV Super Pursuit ute (including the Brembo brakes). Got Bilstein shock absorbers in the lot, but haven’t yet decided whether to put them on the ute or the taxi. The leather console lid and handbrake cover went into the ute tonight. The fake carbon fibre dashboard spears and FPV door trims will go in later. 4am… time to knock off for the night. Just a leeeeeeeeeeeeedle bit tired. Ute is now running much, much better. No diff noise and no squeaking blower fan noise. Absolutely rapt to get those two extremely irritating noises gone.

Try SSS Autos. http://www.sssauto.com.au/

Smart hunting. Auctions can be good. Sometimes people need money in a hurry. With my ute, I wasn't fussed about it being a Repairable Write-off - the damage was limited to a scratched front bumper, a possibly bent lower control arm and a bent axle. All cheap and easy to replace. 2005 BA MkII XR6 Turbo ute - owes me around $5000 now. Probably worth around $8-9000. I was talking to a tow truck driver during the week who's currently driving around in a 2006 WRX that's worth around $12,000. It's cost him $4,000 - it belonged to an Asian uni student who had gone back to China and isn't coming back to Australia. Sometimes there are cars with a few faults and the owner has been quoted big money by a workshop. But it's fairly easy stuff for someone that knows Falcons. I bought a BA XT wagon a few months ago for $450, spent a few hundred on parts and then re-sold it for $1,800. Wasn't hard to fix. There are good deals out there, but it takes some looking and some knowledge.

Yep, my ute will show up as a Repairable Write-Off if someone does a check. Will probably keep it. Bought Bilstein suspension, an LSD diff and Brembo brakes for it last night. And a bunch of other stuff from a BA FPV Super Pursuit ute. Oops.

Bought a crash-damaged 2005 BA MkII XR6 Turbo at auction a few months ago. Got it licenced a couple of weeks ago. Haven't done the tally of costs yet, but the thing will have cost me around $5,000 in total. Market value would be around $8-9,000.

Where did you get them from for $119 each?

Rang up today to order new tyres for the taxi and was told that YHI Australia aren't supplying the Neutons any more. I had been using Neuton NT5000 tyres for the last few years and NT8000 for the last lot (YHI stopped importing NT5000s a while ago). This meant deciding on which tyre to use from now on. My XR6 Turbo ute has a set of Achillies ATR Sport tyres on it, which give surprisingly good grip. But web reviews are generally critical of that model of tyre. Saw the above post, did some web searching and decided to order a set. They're being fitted tomorrow, so will see how they go. My priority is traction and braking in wet conditions.

Photo guide: http://www.fordxr6turbo.com/forum/topic/89016-photo-essay-babf-front-bearing-hub-replacement/ The part number for the Ford bearing hubs is AU22B663A. They can currently be found on eBay for $82.45 each (including postage). With the centre nut, I use a torque wrench that I bought specifically for the job (ie 300Nm) but really, just do the thing up really, really, really tight.

Might be a dud switch. It will lift out of the door trim. Find another BA/BF and try another switch to see if that's the problem. You can buy brand new switches for around $30 on Aliexpress.com Do a search for Falcon window. You'll also need to lubricate the window guides with silicon spray to help the glass slide up and down. I use this can, because I like how the tube can flip up for getting the spray into the window guides: