Re: [DML] Re: Symptoms of bad TA bolts

[Martin Gutkowski - DMUK Ltd <martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I wasn't suggesting doing it at 60mph! No, a simple slow-speed test at 
less than 30 is good enough. And I strongly disagree that it means they 
are seriously loose. Half a turn on the nut can mean the difference 
between nasty, dangerous handling and a positive fun car to drive. I do 
this for a living now too, and I've driven countrless D's with 
squirrelly handling. All the ones we've subsequently recommended new 
TABs have had that problem corrected as a result. I nearly crashed my D 
just after I got it 3 years ago due to the back end kicking out. All 
that needed was half a turn on one bolt.. It's worth noting that these 
bolts don't just "come loose" - they stretch and become loose that way. 
My car now has Inconel 718 bolts in it, as does a customer's car which I 
changed one bolt out (had been replaced with an M10 bolt!) but the other 
was siezed solid. I had to drive it to a local garage with a ramp to 
enable me to get enough leverage on it to free the bolt up and replace 
it. Said bolt still had all shims present and appeared tight. This 
particular car had just received our performance upgrade and the drive 
to the garage was an experience - losing the back end under power and 
ending up facing the opposite direction - thankfully only at very slow 
speeds on a wet road with nobody around. I know my own car well enough 
to know that it could easily handle what I did.

I would go as far as to say that unless they've been checked or 
replaced, MOST DeLoreans have loose TAB's (in my experience in the UK). 
Just about every car we've had in since DMUK started up has had new 
TAB's on the list of work, most often due to the owner being aware of 
the problems with them, and that's in no small part thanks to Toby and 
the DML

Martin

David Teitelbaum wrote:

>
>Easier and a lot safer to just put the car on a lift and inspect. If
>you are driving around and your TAB's are THAT LOOSE then you have
>already lost the shims and you are just asking for trouble. 
>







To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address:
moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx

For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com

To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/