2007 Fpv Tornado Ute - Tinkering & Setup

[PhilMeUp]

nice work on those spindles... so much rust! I've seen cars with 400k km on them with less rust there... The previous owner might have done some driving in big puddles haha

I've been keeping a spare pair of spindles here for a while. Just in case something like that ever happened late one night on a taxi (and I have to get it back on the road immediately). A few weeks ago I figured that I was getting a bit carried away there, and threw the spindles in the bin.

Was kicking myself about that this week.

Besides mods it looks like this car never saw a spanner

Not recently, that's for sure.

It's making up for it now, though.

You should have heard it before I replaced the two front bearing hubs last night - it really was like sitting next to an engine on an airliner.

[arronm]

It's looking good Phil

Looks like someone stole the slots off your discs

Don't forget to plug the thermo fans back in

Edited 02/07/15 02:03 PM by arronm

[kb351]

Hey Phil, thanks for posting this all up, apart from it being a really interesting read, my seat belt jammed up the day before I read this, so your guide has made the fix an easy one for me!

[PhilMeUp]

Thursday, 2nd July, 2015

I use a GPS all the time, and so when I found that there was no power from the cigarette lighter socket it was a major problem. I checked the relevant fuses and quickly concluded that the problem was in the area of the aftermarket facia setup. How the hell am I supposed to know where all the fixed-location cameras are without my trusty TomTom to yell at me whenever I get near one?

This had to be sorted out.

I started by removing the facia with the cigarette lighter holder to find that the cigarette lighter wasn’t even connected. Ah, that was an easy one to solve. But, that didn’t work - there was still no power to the GPS.

I tried a few things with the GPS charger and an iPhone charger but couldn’t get power to anything.

I went inside, printed a diagram of the fuses and went back out to locate the blown fuse.

The bottom right fuse (ie number 15) is a 30A fuse for the cigarette light. I removed the fuse and saw that it wasn’t blown, but replaced it with a new fuse anyway.

Still no luck with getting power to the GPS cable. I moved on to removing the shelf holding the stereo.

I’m not an expert on wiring, but nothing appeared to be disconnected or out of place.

I gave up and started putting things back where they were.

I took the car to a technician, who took everything apart and tested it all. Everything tested ok, and when he put it all back together the cigarette lighter started working - it might just have been a bad connection somewhere. However, the USB ports don’t work, so if I want to use them then I’ll have to replace that facia.

I was also relieved to notice that the original Tornado gear lever surround was there.

Although I had flushed the windscreen washer reservoir a few days earlier, I had forgotten to actually test it. When I did check it later I noticed that water wasn’t squirting out, meaning that I had to go back and have another look.

Anyone who has tried removing the plastic scrivets that Ford use will know how frustrating they are. I went looking for an easier way of doing it a while ago and found these clip removal pliers on Amazon. When it arrived I took one look at it and figured that I’d probably wasted my money on a gimmick gadget that wouldn’t do what it was meant to do.

I was wrong. This thing is useful. I love it. As long as I own a Falcon I am going to make sure that I have a set of these pliers somewhere. They removed the three plastic clips amazingly easy.

I removed the pump and let the water drain. By now I was cursing myself - I seem to have an ongoing trend here of doing each job twice (eg the driver’s seat belt).

Although I hadn’t confirmed that the pump was stuffed, I had bought a new one during the day anyway. The NWP501 is commonly used on a lot of cars and is available from pretty much any car accessory shop. Interestingly, they were on the shelf at Repco for almost $30. I bought one at a cheaper price with my trade card, and at my next stop (Veale Auto Parts) asked them what their price is for the same thing. I was rather amused at the Veale price of $10.90 and decided to buy one there and return the Repco one for a refund.

When I went to Repco they offered to match the Veale price, and I figured that I might as well keep a spare pump at home. In the end, Repco actually charged me less than Veale. After the refund, the Repco one ended up costing me a bit under one third of their normal shelf price. The world of car parts pricing is a weird one.

Of course, I am sarcastically aware that now that I have a spare washer pump I will never need a new one ever again.

I put the new pump in, and connected the water tube and power connection. Utes and sedans have one pump, whereas wagons and Territorys have two pumps (ie the second one is for the rear window).

I hadn’t bothered to check the original pump when I originally drained and flushed the windscreen reservoir, which defeats the point of removing the pump in the first place. I don’t know whether water was getting through because the pump was dead or just blocked, but there was a new one in there anyway and so the old one went in the bin. From now on I’ll be sure to be a bit more thorough and check the filter on the pump.

I filled the reservoir up with the garden hose.

Replacing the pump worked. I now had working water jets.

Thanks to the clip removal pliers, I didn’t destroy any of the plastic clips when removing them. This meant that I got to re-use them, instead of rummaging through my boxes of junk looking for replacements (and cursing the entire time).

Amazon link - the ones that I bought: http://www.amazon.com/Wilmar-W86556-Clip-Removal-Plier/dp/B003WZRLZ2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436128069&sr=8-1

Or, do a search on Amazon, eBay, etc, for “clip removal pliers” or “upholstery removal pliers”. Very useful gadget to have.

[PhilMeUp]

Sunday, 5th July, 2015

There was one particular job on the list that I had been very badly procrastinating about - replacing the rear axle bearings. I just didn’t want to do it.

Like most other things on the list, it didn’t really need to be done. I just wanted to know that it had been done, and done my way and with my choice of parts.

I had a rear axle bearing collapse on my taxi a couple of years ago. It didn’t turn out to be a major inconvenience - it was on a Sunday night and I was able to limp the car to my usual workshop, where the bearing was replaced first thing on Monday morning.

Last year I set about learning how to change rear axle bearings, and now that I know how to do the job I want to make sure that I don’t have to deal with a collapsed rear bearing again. I was lucky last time, but next time it will probably involve an expensive tow and a heap of lost time.

Two different taxi workshops that I deal with have both made it clear that they only use Timken bearings on taxi station wagon rear axles (wagons and utes have the same back end). Timken 2985 bearing kits can be bought for around $30 each with some looking around (two kits are required, one for each side).

Although I had been putting off doing this job, and was likely to continue to do so, something happened today that motivated me to have a go at it. I bought a 20 ton hydraulic puller. It was advertised on Gumtree for $50 and I snapped it up straight away.

I’ve had trouble previously with removing brake disc rotors that have rusted on - it took me two nights to remove the rear discs on my previous Tornado. Plus I had the trouble removing the front bearing hubs during the week. I had been keen on buying some sort of gear puller for a while (particularly a hydraulic one) but hadn’t seen one that I could justify spending the money on.

So, having bought a tool that I thought might make removing disc rotors easier, I was keen to see if it was worth keeping.

Once I removed the wheel and brake caliper on each side it was obvious that both disc rotors were solidly rusted on. Although it was too late at night to try thumping it with a hammer to loosen the rust (ie noise and neighbours), I don’t think a hammer would have loosened it anyway.

If that hydraulic puller didn’t do the job then tonight’s carport episode was going to be a very short one.

I assembled the hydraulic puller. This thing is huge. It is called a 20 ton puller because it feels like it weighs 20 tons. You can see how it makes the 328mm disc rotor look small.

This thing was bulky, and getting it into position wasn’t easy. There is the option of using either two or three claws. The kit is missing two of the plates that hold the claws on (ie that’s why I got it so cheap) so I tried using just the two claws. I’ll get two of those plates made up later on (ie the metal bits that connect the claws to the centre - that the bolts go through).

Once I figured out how to set up the hydraulic puller (ie which holes in the claws to use, and to screw the ram through the centre to the end) I managed to get it into place. I pumped the pump with a finger until the ram started to tighten on the axle centre.

Once I started pumping with the handle I could feel the pressure build up. However, after a few pumps there was a loud bang and a puff of dust as the disc rotor popped loose. I was stoked - this thing might just work after all.

I kept pumping and the disc rotor kept sliding away from the axle. You can see the dust on the hydraulic ram from when the rotor popped loose.

It wasn’t until after the disc rotor was completely off that I realised that I had actually forgotten to release the handbrake. This meant that the hydraulic puller was powerful enough to overcome the handbrake. Blimey.

After removing the calliper on each side I hung it from the bodywork with a pot plant hook. I then used my Radum Disc Brake Pad Spreader to push the pads apart so that I could put the caliper back on easily later on. This thing is excellent for pushing brake caliper pistons back in.

Radum: http://www.radum.com.au

Stock Number: RDM-BM94-4062

Current Price: $27.00 (including GST)

Link: http://radum.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=8685

A close-up photo showing the amount of rust on one of the disc rotors and axle end. Without that hydraulic puller I would have spent the night cursing before unsuccessfully giving up in frustration.

Then it was time to use the hydraulic puller on the other side. Once again, there was a pressure build-up for a few seconds before a bang sound indicated that the disc rotor had come loose.

By now I had decided that I liked my new gadget. A lot. I got my $50 worth out of it just on the first night.

As I pumped away the disc rotor was pulled further off the axle. This thing was fantastic.

The sticker on the hydraulic ram says that the kit has a 350mm reach (ie the biggest diameter thing that it can fit over) but when I put the 328mm disc rotor in the middle it was obvious that it could fit over things much bigger than that. This was good news - it meant that it will also easily fit over the 355mm discs on the front of the car.

The kit in its plastic carry-case. This kit is big and heavy - too much to have sent via mail order. Although kits like this can be bought very cheaply out of China the freight cost makes them way too expensive.

If you’re doing regular mechanical work at home and see a kit like this for a reasonable price then grab it straight away. I’ll probably only use this a few times a year, but it will save a couple of hours of frustration each time.

The end of one of the axles after removing the disc rotor. Rust everywhere.

Even the retaining plate bolts were rusty.

The bolts from one side, after I removed them.

I couldn’t get either axle to slide out, so ended up having to put a wheel and wheel nuts back on each axle and jerk the wheel back and forth until the axle came loose.

It took some wrestling, but eventually I got both axles out.

Throughout the last year I’ve been trying different methods for removing the old axle bearings. Workshop mechanics use an angle grinder and cutting disc to cut the collar off, and then smash the bearing off with a hammer and chisel.

I’ve tried using my hydraulic press to pull the collar and bearing off with some success, but it’s frustrating and fiddly getting everything to line up.

I’ve tried using a Dremel once before and wanted to try doing it that way again. This is more precise than using an angle grinder, and eliminates the risk of damaging the ABS rotor with the cutting disc (I’ve got two wrecked ABS rotors here from using an angle grinder).

The Dremel cut through the collar and bearing cage easily enough, and I was able to cut through the collar on each axle until I was just short of cutting through to the axle.

I went through a complete cutting disc on each axle.

[PhilMeUp]

I was able to remove the collar, bearing cage and seal on each axle easily. This just left the inner ring from each bearing.

To help get each collar off I used a large flat-blade screwdriver and tapped it in with a rubber mallet. After doing so, each collar slid off easily.

The only thing left to remove was the inner ring from each original bearing. For this one, I put the axle in my hydraulic press (ie I don’t have a work bench and vice). It only took a couple of moderately firm hits with a hammer and chisel to slide the ring away.

For removing the old axle bearings, using the Dremel to remove everything except for the inner ring on each axle worked well. After cutting a groove in each inner ring it was easy to knock it off with a hammer and chisel.

Then it was time to start cleaning up the axles. You can see how the disc rotors were rusted on to each axle end. That hydraulic puller really came in useful.

The same axle end after application of the usual drill and wire brush.

The retaining plate on each axle was also covered in rust.

Each retaining plate was cleaned up with the drill and wire brush. I seem to spend way too much of my life cleaning rust off things with this drill and various wire brushes these days.

Then I used some aerosol cleaner and a rag to clean each axle shaft. I wanted to make sure that there were no metal filings left on there after using the Dremel to cut the collar and bearing cage off each axle. This also ensured that the new bearing and collar would slide on properly.

I used the drill and a smaller wire brush to clean up the retaining plate bolts. I held each bolt in a pair of vise-grip pliers for this.

The backing plate on each side was also rusty.

The rust on each backing plate was also cleaned off with the drill and wire brush. I spent a bunch of the night swapping and recharging batteries.

In one of the axle tubes there were rubber fragments from one of the axle seals, indicating that my decision to do this job wasn’t completely unnecessary after all.

One of the outer bearing rings was difficult to remove, so I used a crowbar to lever it out.

Some of the rubber fragment mess in one of the axle tubes.

I cleaned out the end of each axle tube, particularly the ridges in each the axle seals sit when the axles are in place.

Things were progressing well. Various problems, such as rusted on disc rotors and difficult to remove bearing rings, were disposed of relatively easily.

Once again the drill and wire brush were put to use.

I always make sure that the insides of disc rotors are clean to ensure a metal-to-metal contact with the rear axle (or front bearing hub) when they are put back on. This helps to reduce the chance of brake shudder resulting from discs that aren’t aligned properly.

One of the backing plates in place. Lots or rust was removed from each one, and each ABS sensor was also cleaned. I was being meticulous.

I even washed the handbrake shoes in detergent and water, before roughing up the braking material with some wet & dry sandpaper.

[PhilMeUp]

At last, I had a pair of axles that was ready to have new bearings pressed on.

Finally, it was time to press the new bearing kit onto each axle. I use Timken 2985 bearing kits.

I pressed on each bearing kit up to a moderate 10 ton of pressure. Having the pressure gauge is useful.

Two completed axles, ready to go back into the diff.

My work area.

Ready for the axles to go back in.

I put each axle back in.

I was so thorough that I got the torque wrench out to tighten each retaining bolt to Ford’s specified 45Nm with my Snap-On TECH3FR100 torque wrench.

I had cleaned each of the wheel studs earlier with the drill and wire brush. For reassembly, I put some grease on each wheel stud, as well as some grease in the end of each wheel nut. I also put new wheel nuts on.

At last I was ready to put the wheels back on.

Back on four wheels again. Everything had gone quite smoothly, but the night would have been a disaster if I didn’t have that hydraulic puller to pull the rusted-on disc rotors off.

By now it was almost 3am and I was hungry. I took my camera with me to the local 24 hour supermarket to see if I could get some good photos with the carpark lighting.

The passenger side.

The same car, in the same position, with the same carpark lighting. The only difference was using the camera flash - the previous two photos were without the flash. This shows how digital cameras have trouble capturing the Breeze green colour.

[barnz]

I need one of those gear pullers! Last time I did my rears I had to give up and let them soak in wd40 overnight to get them off.

This ute is coming along very nicely mate, really love the colour and the interior looks to be in very good condition. I would swear that last photo is your other ute though!

[arronm]

Just remember Phil don't use the same torque setting to tightenen the wheel nuts after you greased them.

It will be less

[PhilMeUp]

I need one of those gear pullers! Last time I did my rears I had to give up and let them soak in wd40 overnight to get them off.

I've known for a while now that some sort of gear puller would be handy for pulling disc rotors off (ie front and rear).

But, it would have to have enough reach to fit over a 355mm Brembo front disc. The biggest ones go to 350mm, and they cost a fortune.

Despite this one having a reach of 350mm it's obvious that it could fit over a much larger disc. Maybe a smaller and lighter 15 ton puller would fit over a 355mm disc.

I'm pleased that I had the hydraulic puller to get the back discs off last night, but I also wish that I could have used it on the front bearing hubs last week.

Each disc rotor made quiet a loud bang noise when it broke loose. They were very well stuck on.

All this hassle with getting disc rotors off is part of why I'm so thorough with removing rust with the drill and wire brush. Makes it easier next time.

Keep an eye on Gumtree - do a search for "gear puller" and "hydraulic puller". If you see one that's worth getting then grab it straight away. You'll have it forever - it's not like it's going to wear out.

With my other Tornado, I ended up winding the brake caliper bolts through the caliper bracket until they pushed each disc off - http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?p=5278853#post5278853