On the way down to Bristol I started hearing noises characteristic of a failed bearing. It seemed to be coming from the right rear so I pulled that axle at the track. Several years ago I converted to "Green" ball bearings on my 8 3/4 rear. The bearing seemed to have too much play in it and turned somewhat roughly but I decided to not do anything about it at the time. On the way home I kept checking the center of the flange and the bearing bore area of the housing to see if was heating up. I drove almost 600 miles on Sunday night without starting a fire, and I got to thinking that maybe it was another bearing in the carrrier or transmission. The thought of having the bad bearing bathed in lubricant was reassuring.

Monday morning I decided to risk it and drive around Chicago where you really don't want to lose a wheel! I made it to Beloit, WI about 1PM and did another heat check. This time the right side was definately warmer than the left. I jacked up the right rear and jiggled the wheel and there didn't seem to be much movement so I decided to keep driving. Part of the fun of driving a Slant 6 is seeing how much abuse they can take. I've made it over 1,000 miles with a wiped out tail shaft bushing three times! I didn't want to deal with trying to fix it in a strange place and I figured the closer I could get to home the better. On the other hand if I drove on the bad bearing too far I knew I risked ruining the axle or worse.

I stopped again in Black River Falls to do a temperature check. It was getting real hot now so I cooled it down with a wet towel and hit the road again. I stopped to eat in Eau Claire, within 100 miles of home, but I was hesitant to keep driving on it, the noise was getting really embarassing when driving around town. I talked to Gary Bruner and he said that in some cases the bearing can get so hot that the outer race welds itself into the housing. I really didn't want that to happen, so I found a couple of places that might be able to fix it the next morning. The first guy didn't seem too interested in doing anything quickly so I decided to try to remove the axle again and see how bad it looked. I was presently surprised when the axle popped out and the bearing hadn't turned blue yet. It was toasted though, the balls themselves had pretty much ground themselves up and the outer race with loose.

I tried a couple of more palces but no one wanted to work on it right away and my fear was that if we tried to press the bearing off, and it was stuck, it might be difficult to get the car back on four wheels. So I decided to play it safe and go home and get my trailer. This is the first time since I have been driving this car all over the country that I didn't make it home under my own power. Today I brought the axle to my friend Skip Lisel and he pressed the new bearing on with no problem for $15.

I would be interested in hearing from others who have used ball bearings on a street application. I know what Richard Ehernberg thinks about them but he could never get past the idea of using 9" spindles either. I don't see why they shouldn't work, 7 1/4 rears have ball bearings if I am not mistaken. Any feedback would be appreciated. In any event I will make sure I get another spare set before I go on my next trip.

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If you didn't drive it there, it's not a street car.