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September. Oh No! Another tale of woe! What is it with Septembers?
You may recall my mishap 12 months ago at Elvington - The not so usual story of the locknut failing and the lower wishbone heading rapidly for the tarmac. Result 'Wobbly Wheel Syndrome'. It's really not very nice. Well, I was coming home from work when Wobbly Wheel Syndrome struck again! Fortunately, not going too fast and slithered to a stop on the side of the road. Three hours to get home, courtesy of the Breakdown Truck. In all my years of motoring, the first time I've ever had to use one.

Initially, it looked like the ball-joint had completely failed/sheared but it wasn't as I suspected. It was incredibly worn and basically it had simply pulled straight out!

Now, the suspension did used to bottom out quite readily when the zimmers were on but I'm on Gaz Shocks now. I couldn't believe that this amount of wear was usual for only 10000 miles. I'm the first to admit though, that these Ball Joints have have probably not had the easiest of lives. The roads up here in North Yorkshire are atrocious and the run out from Smallways to Whitby in the summer for example, nearly shook my eyes out of their sockets! If the ball joints were new, I wonder if they were OEM? Anyway, picked up two new QH Ball Joints and the socket from my local motor factors. The Ball Joint casing was an absolute beggar to get out. I had to get my pal over. He's used to working on stubborn farm machinery and even he couldn't believe how tight it was! Resorted to a bit of heat and stilsons on a long bar (oh and a large hammer) in the end. Anyway, two new Ball Joints now in place and tabbed so that they can't unscrew. Locknuts drilled and split-pinned too.

So, all fixed now and back on the road. I have never been happy with the design of this. If you can imagine the forces at play here and the whole lot is simply being held together by a (not very big) ball joint, no wonder it failed. For what they cost though, I now regard these as consumable items and will be replacing them every year.
Thanks to everyone for their help, info and advice etc, on getting this all sorted.

Stafford Show. Not a big show this, but good all the same. The camaraderie was as excellent as usual. Much concern amongst the Hoody fraternity regarding the failed wishbone ball joint. It was also pointed out to me that the top wishbones could do with being raised -- Read on.....

October -- Busy Busy. I ordered a pair of Dummy McPherson struts from GBS. These are taller than the originals and allow the wishbone to drop more before binding on the top ball-joint. With the originals, I discovered that these were binding just before the shock got to its full extent of travel. With a bit of modification (as is the norm with all things Robin Hood) and new top ball joints too for good measure, they were eventually fitted to my satisfaction and seem to be doing fine.

I then set about tackling the camber as I'd noticed the insides of the tyre treads were wearing a bit more than the outsides. The tracking was good, so it wasn't that. Upon inspection, the camber was miles out. I'd had the car four-wheel aligned after SVA. Either the guy hadn't set it right or things had settled a lot. Not easy to measure, as I only had a builders set-square, but I've now got it much better than before. I had a go at the rears too, as these were also bad. Both camber and tracking is now pretty much spot on.

Also finally got around to sorting out the wheel wobble under braking, which had become just a bit too annoying and was generally spoiling what was becoming a really pleasant drive. All I did was swap out the front discs. Yes, they were warped as suspected - Now fine.

What with the ball-joints, the McPherson Struts, the camber issues and the discs, now that these have all been addressed, the car is completely different to drive. The steering is lighter and the handling generally, feels much sharper. I didn't realise how bad it was, as it'd always been heavy on the steering from the start. Not any more now though!

The Tax ran out at the end of October. I'd ran the car through most of last winter, but the salt took it's toll. Time for a bit of general TLC, so it's now on SORN.

Quite an eventful year then!

The next bought of 'Winter Tinkeritis'? Here's the plan:

 • Ammeter (Too sensitive)
 • Seats (Lower?)
 • Sidescreens (Velcro)
 • Coolant -- Drain (also fit new Thermostat & Sender)
 • Engine Oil & Filter change (New spray bar too)
 • Adjust Tappets
 • Valve Stem Oil Seals
 • Clutch Cable (so I have a spare)
 • Back Axle -- Oil Change
 • Gearbox -- Oil Change
 • Prop Shaft -- Grease

November
This month has been pretty quiet. Gathering together the service items I need and starting the car every two or three weeks just to keep it all from seizing up. I'll be setting to my 'Service & TLC List' fairly soon, if it warms up a bit!

Steve...