There's been a whine develop in Pete's driveline of late. It really started rather abruptly about a month ago. It was odd, I thought, in just how it acted, but I was sure it meant some sort of repair work in the not too distant future. Since I've had a freshly rebuilt 3.73 rear built and waiting for "someday", I figured that someday was approaching fast all of a sudden.
What was odd about how it whined was that it took about a half a mile before it started off - and while it was really sounding off at 40 MPH, prior to that - and to a lesser degree after 50, it wasn't so bad.
So I was driving back from town today and hit a long section of country blacktop with no traffic visible behind me or in front. I decided I'd see what it might sound like at 70 or above.[}
] I put my foot in the Edelbrock and Pete responded accordingly. 70 was upon us in short order and the whine - while there - wasn't as bad as it is at 45.
Well, I had SHORT opportunity to assess the situation because there was one HELL of a BANG! Checking the rear view mirror, I caught sight of a road alligator departing off my right rear quadrant[B)]. Naturally, I let off the throttle and wondered why the truck hadn't started to do wild gyrations that you'd expect when you'd lost your right rear tire! But there was NO gyrations, no ugly sound of a bare rim on blacktop - just the sound of Pete decelerating as it should be.
Cautionsly I gave the gas pedal a push again and it was as tho nothing had happened. I srove on the remaining 3 miles to home.
During that 3 miles, I was wondering what ugly grief would confront me when I got home and took a look.
I got to the driveway, shut Pete off and thought about what damage awaited my gaze. It wasn't as bad as I'd imagined, but it wasn't pretty either. The fender is bent and split in 2 or 3 places, the rear section of the bed is dented badly and the right wing of the step bumper's bent up. And the tire's tread section is all but completely gone! Amazing that the belted inner core held air and the beads stayed sealed to the rim to where I could drive on home![:I]
These are Brigestones that show amost no wear after bing put on in Sept of '01. They were put on because the LEFT rear had come apart on the way to a zone meet in Los Angeles that year! That incident really clobbered the rear fender that time. That incident is the reason Pete ended up with blue fenders. It so happened I had a spare set and it was just after 9/11.
Anyway, I guess I'll be shopping for tires this week!
Edit: BTW, the whine's still there, so it wasn't the tire.
Miscreant Studebaker nut in California's central valley.
1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President two door
What was odd about how it whined was that it took about a half a mile before it started off - and while it was really sounding off at 40 MPH, prior to that - and to a lesser degree after 50, it wasn't so bad.
So I was driving back from town today and hit a long section of country blacktop with no traffic visible behind me or in front. I decided I'd see what it might sound like at 70 or above.[}
] I put my foot in the Edelbrock and Pete responded accordingly. 70 was upon us in short order and the whine - while there - wasn't as bad as it is at 45. Well, I had SHORT opportunity to assess the situation because there was one HELL of a BANG! Checking the rear view mirror, I caught sight of a road alligator departing off my right rear quadrant[B)]. Naturally, I let off the throttle and wondered why the truck hadn't started to do wild gyrations that you'd expect when you'd lost your right rear tire! But there was NO gyrations, no ugly sound of a bare rim on blacktop - just the sound of Pete decelerating as it should be.
Cautionsly I gave the gas pedal a push again and it was as tho nothing had happened. I srove on the remaining 3 miles to home.
During that 3 miles, I was wondering what ugly grief would confront me when I got home and took a look.
I got to the driveway, shut Pete off and thought about what damage awaited my gaze. It wasn't as bad as I'd imagined, but it wasn't pretty either. The fender is bent and split in 2 or 3 places, the rear section of the bed is dented badly and the right wing of the step bumper's bent up. And the tire's tread section is all but completely gone! Amazing that the belted inner core held air and the beads stayed sealed to the rim to where I could drive on home![:I]
These are Brigestones that show amost no wear after bing put on in Sept of '01. They were put on because the LEFT rear had come apart on the way to a zone meet in Los Angeles that year! That incident really clobbered the rear fender that time. That incident is the reason Pete ended up with blue fenders. It so happened I had a spare set and it was just after 9/11.
Anyway, I guess I'll be shopping for tires this week!
Edit: BTW, the whine's still there, so it wasn't the tire.
Miscreant Studebaker nut in California's central valley.
1957 Transtar 1/2ton
1960 Larkvertible V8
1958 Provincial wagon
1953 Commander coupe
1957 President two door
BP
We've got to quit saying, 
Comment