Hello Trevor, you already got some good advice from Chris P., and
the U-joint may indeed be your problem, but keep in mind that the
wheel bearing might also be the problem. Before you start to take
things apart, I'd suggest carefully checking to find out just where
the noise is coming from.
Jack up the noisy wheel, remove wheel. Block car so that you can
leave the parking brake off, trans in gear. While slowly trying
to rotate the brake drum forwards and backwards, watch the axle
shaft and any movement there, compared to movement in the flange
where the axle joins the diff. If the axle moves and then there's
a click before the flange starts to move, then the play must be in the
U-joint, and any obvious play is too much, so it should be replaced.
The next test is for wheel bearing slop.
Come to think of it, I should have listed it first, since you do it
with the wheel on. Jacked up, as above, grab the tire on opposite
sides, e.g. 3:00 and 9:00 and push with one hand, and pull with the
other, in and out, to check for play in the bearing. You should
not be able to get more than `just a little bit' of wobble; about as
much as a well-adjusted front wheel bearing, maybe less, maybe none.
Hopefully you will find U-joint slop, and not wheel bearing slop, to
explain your noise, as the U-joint is something you can fix at home,
assuming you have a bench vice and a socket set, to press it apart.
Separating the tapered shaft and hub of the rear wheel bearing, though,
is a different matter, IF I recall the Spitfire hub correctly; I think
it's similar to the TR-6 (and other IRS) hubs, which need a multi-ton
press, a re-enforcing plate on the wheel flange, and maybe even a heat-
wrench as well, to get them apart.
Hope you find your trouble, others on this list can help you more
with specific questions about the Spitfire swing-axles & hubs.
Good luck,
Tom Tweed
SW Ohio
'68 TR-250 (sold last year)
'69 Spitfire (owned '74 - '76)
and had a cracked yoke let the U-joint bearing cups drop out !!
at low speed, luckily
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