Re: [Amc-list] New toy ...I need a TSM

[WILLIAM SERCKIE <realtorbill@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Frank,
   
  As always, thank you for your input and wealth of knowledge.  Th seller of this car, in my opinion had no idea of the problem as he was/is a thirty something business planner for a mid-size corp., who appeared to have zero mechanical knowledge or ability, and I doubt that his hands ever got dirty.. I say this as it appears that everything that has been  done to this car has been done by professionals and has been paid for dearly, I have the receipts...actually this was his wifes car, and she used to tote their 2 and three year old around in.  When he bought the car in 2005, he paid considerably more than I paid him, not ot mention the previously stated work.  I'm in no way sticking up for the seller but I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, which I do not do often...
   
  Tomorrow morning I plan on de greasing and disassembling the front suspension  take inventory the damage.  I say degrease as the side plate inspection covers leak terribly.
   
  The wheel began to collapse on the tow dolly, but I was able to successfully remove the car   and limp it to my garage very slowly and cautiously.  The collapse actually occured while
   I was pushing the car  backwards into the garage by hand.  There was very minor front fender lip damage, which should tap out with a rubber mallet.  
   
  Tom Jennings stated that this entire front end job is a real pain...any thoughts on it being different than any other front end overhaul ?  Out of all of the Ramblers that I have ever owned, I have never had to perform any sort of front end repair with the exception of an idler arm on my 1970 Rebel, back in 1979.
   
  As always, thanks for your help and additional input is always welcome.
   
  Thanks again,
   
  Bill
   
   
   

Frank Swygert <farna@xxxxxxx> wrote:
  Plan on rebuilding the entire front suspension. The usual cause for what happened is that the steering knuckle has pulled out of the lower trunnion. This is caused by blatant neglect -- hasn't been greased in ages. The other joints will be in similar condition. I'm assuming the wheel went up and back in the fender well. If you're lucky you didn't bend any of the arms much and they can be tweaked back into shape (pretty easy since they are stamped steel). If the joint comes apart while traveling the upper arms usually get a real nasty twist, and they may need to be replaced. Chances are that the joint came apart and the seller put it back together to move the car. Luckily the lower trunnions are easy to replace and find, and aren't expensive (< $100 should replace both). The trunnion is slightly softer metal than the steering knuckle, so the trunnion will go first by design. 

All the joints ride on standard 5/8" threads on those models (58-63 American, 58-61 big cars). The lower trunnion has a threaded hole, the steering knuckle a threaded stud that screws into it. Holds things together and provides a pivot. Simple engineering! Think about it -- how much wear does it take to pull a 5/8" nut off the bolt? One heck of a lot! That's what happens when the car isn't greased for YEARS and THOUSANDS of miles. So don't blame the design -- it's sound.

The upper trunnion can be a problem. See Tom's page on that! (www.wps.com, the Rambler section). 

=============================
Date: Fri, 30 May 2008 19:40:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: WILLIAM SERCKIE 

Today I unexpectedly scored a super cool 1963 American 440...It did not sell on e-bay and the seller was local (87 miles away) so I went ans saw and bought...52xxxoriginal miles, new interior carb and radiator.

The bad news...I lost either a tie rod, tie rod end, or trunion as I was putting it on the trailer, 
and the passenger front wheel collapsed...got home too late to start to investigate.

Does anyone have a spare TSM for a 1963 American, I will gladly purchase it...I'd rather buy from a list member than e-bay if at all possible..

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)

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