DeTomaso Mailing List: May 99, Message #123

I have 'Words of wisdom' 

Buy a 'Cherry' for $3O and put the other 15
in the bank and begin enjoying the car tomorrow!

Still glad I spent the 'Big bucks' though, (I guess).

I'm afraid to look at the total $ - but the above figures aren't far off!

W

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Orzel, Russell [SMTP:Russell.Orzel@icn.siemens.com]
> Sent:	Wednesday, May 05, 1999 9:29 AM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	RE: 10" Campys on stock car? PLUS More!!!
> 
> Anyone have an approximate price on the billet/ tapered bearing upgrade?
> Does anyone have any recommendations or horror stories they want to share?
> 
> On close to the same subject, has anyone rebuilt their P from the ground
> up?
> Is there anything I should be watching closely? Any words of wisdom for a
> person about to embark on this journey?  What items should I replace or
> upgrade as preventive measures, while I have the Car apart?
> 
> Thanks for any insights!
> 
> Russ Orzel
> Siemens ICN
> Software Development - IP telephony
> P: 561 997 3815 
> Email: Russell.Orzel@icn.siemens.com
> <mailto:Russell.Orzel@icn.siemens.com> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 		-----Original Message-----
> 		From:	MikeLDrew@aol.com [mailto:MikeLDrew@aol.com]
> 		Sent:	Wednesday, May 05, 1999 12:42 AM
> 		To:	Multiple recipients of list
> 		Subject:	Re:  10" Campys on stock car?
> 
> 		Cal wrote:
> 
> 		>It looks as though one has to modify the
> 		wheel bearings to take the large tires. Guess I'm missing
> something but the
> 		bottom line is can one put on the larger wheels on a non-GTS
> Pantera without
> 		running the risk of some damage or accelerated bearing wear?
> 
> 
> 		>>>The Pantera suffers from a fundamentally poor rear wheel
> bearing design.  
> 		It's an excellent setup for cars that see no sideloads (i.e.
> Land Speed 
> 		record car) but crappy for a sports car.
> 
> 		More sideloads equals more unwanted stresses.  The further
> the sideloads are 
> 		displaced outwards from the bearing centerline (i.e. with
> GT5 wheels with 
> 		extreme positive offset) the worse the problem is.
> 
> 		While the bearings themselves suffer, what is traditionally
> referred to as 
> 		'the bearing problem' is actually an axle/bearing
> relationship problem.  The 
> 		Pantera's axles are slightly undersize (or the inner
> diameter of the bearings 
> 		oversize, depending on your perspective) and the axles are
> also made of a 
> 		too-soft material.  The result is that play develops between
> the inner 
> 		diameter of the bearing and the face of the axle.  As the
> play gets worse, 
> 		the pounding gets worse, which accelerates the wear on the
> axles.  Once 
> 		there's measurable wear, the bearings get beaten to hell and
> the whole works 
> 		goes down the tubes.
> 
> 		I personally don't think 10" Campys put THAT much additional
> stress on the 
> 		axles/bearings, particularly in light of the fact that the
> only tires you can 
> 		now purchase for 10" Campys offer medium traction at best,
> but I have no 
> 		scientific evidence to back up this theory.  I think you'd
> be much more 
> 		likely to suffer accelerated wear if you were running
> super-sticky tires 
> 		(i.e. BFG R-1) on 8-inch wheels (and DRIVING the car
> appropriately) than you 
> 		would with Euro T/A's on 10-inch wheels, but again, that's
> just speculation.
> 
> 		The jury is still out regarding aftermarket 17" wheels,
> since they feature 
> 		tremendous negative offset and put the load more or less
> directly underneath 
> 		the bearings.  But I suspect that 17" wheels with sticky
> tires, driven 
> 		appropriately, will accelerate wear.
> 
> 		Sticky tires on GT5 offset (either 15" or 17") will trash
> bearings and axles 
> 		in a hurry.  Often they're destroyed in as little as 5,000
> miles after 
> 		fitment.  This is a very well-known and documented
> condition.
> 
> 		Not wanting to deal with the potential problems, I upgraded
> to tapered roller 
> 		bearings and billet steel axles.  Although I have 10" Campys
> I would did this 
> 		anyway (since my stock bearings and axles were trashed when
> I bought the 
> 		car.)  If my stock bearings/axles were fine I'd leave them
> alone, but I would 
> 		realize that I was simply waiting for the inevetible to
> occur.  
> 
> 		Once it did, I would NEVER replace stock bearings and a
> worn-out axle with 
> 		same-same--if I'm spending $500 a crack for new axles, you
> better believe I'm 
> 		doing it ONCE, not once every five years or 15,000 miles!
> 
> 		Mike
> 
> 		P.S.  I'm writing this from my hotel room in Santa Cruz de
> la Sierra, 
> 		BOLIVIA!  All those people who complain about AOL (and AOL
> users) need to 
> 		realize that there's no way I could be doing so with any
> other internet 
> 		provider.
> 
> 		P.P.S.  You guys would all die laughing if you could see the
> taxis here.  
> 		They purchase 5-7 year old cars from Japan (destined for the
> junkyard, 'cause 
> 		the Japanese government artificially keeps their auto
> industry afloat by 
> 		levying outragous taxes on cars older than 5 years; so much
> so that it's 
> 		usually cheaper to literally throw away a perfectly good
> 6-year old car and 
> 		buy a new one, than it is to continue to drive the old one.)
> 
> 		Problem is, the Japanese are screwed up (like the Brits) and
> drive on the 
> 		wrong damn side of the road.  While most people would be
> satisfied to just 
> 		drive a RHD car in a LHD world, I guess this is illegal in
> Bolivia.
> 
> 		Their solution is to literally RIP the entire steering
> column out of the 
> 		right side of the dash (leaving all wires dangling), hack a
> great bloody hole 
> 		in the glovebox lid and shove it in on the left side!!!!
> All instruments, 
> 		etc. remain on the right side--who cares how fast you're
> going?  Ignition 
> 		switch is relocated as well.
> 
> 		Dunno how exactly they get a LHD column to talk to a RHD
> steering rack--I 
> 		didn't really want to know since the rumor is that bicycle
> chains and 
> 		sprockets are employed!  And don't ask about the clutch and
> brake pedals 
> 		either--probably shafts running across the car.
> 
> 		I rode at ridiculous speeds at night through a busy city
> with 
> 		no-quarter-given-or-asked rules at every intersection,
> (stopping at red 
> 		lights optional), all the time wondering when the steering
> and/or brakes 
> 		would fail!
> 
> 		Shudder! :>)