Fixing the unbreakable G60

A couple of weeks ago whilst out exploring in the Flinders Ranges I hit a rock with the spring hanger and bent it back on to the chassis rail. After a quick bush mechanic job I got the spring back into position again and continued on with the weekend activities. On arriving home I found that a rear front spring stud had snapped off and that the spring centre pin had broken. With the Nissan G60 the right hand side spring is clamped on by one U-bolt and two bolts which screw into the axle housing.

Today, together with two mates, inside a workshop and in a full size pit we got to work on a one to two hour job. Well…it took 9 hours and all of us are reasonably experienced at breaking and fixing old trucks. There was me (bush mechanic), a fitter and turner and a real mechanic. The easy-out would not work and we had to drill the high tensile broken bolt out. That took a while. Then we had to tap a new thread. As we had the G60 over the pit we could not lift the body up high enough to let the axle drop and to pop the spring off so everything was done with levers and jacks. The spring leaves had shifted and had snapped the centre pin. So we hit the leaves with hammers and finally positioned the new centre pin. Then the spring would not slip into its place in the axle housing. So we had to release the tension on the opposite side U bolts. Finally it all slipped in to place and three very tired old blokes were allowed to go home. Figured if I was paying for the job it would have cost $500 plus…..my mates don’t drink so I will have to shout them something else but these are the things that we do for each other out here in the bush.

Cheers,

Willie

Never a dull moment