"If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." - Anonymous

A brief post tonight at the end of a long day. I left the house at 2:15 and got home about 8 p.m. so my brain and body are both spent.

I went out to the garage early to figure out why the brakes pull to the right. The left front drum did NOT want to come off, which was the opposite of what I expected. If it pulls to the right during braking it should be the right drum that's hung up, but it took my 2 lb. hand sledge to get the left drum off. When it finally released I figured out the problem.

Each wheel has an inner and outer bearing. On a '66 Rambler they're roller bearings, not ball bearings but the principle is the same -  a series of rollers, or short metal rods, held in place by a cage with a race behind it. It's all supposed to be a unit.

Maybe a picture will help. On the right is the smaller outer bearing. Looks good. On the left is what fell out when I finally got the drum off.
Notice anything?

I've ordered a set of new bearings (you always replace both inner and outer at the same time) and seals. I'm hoping that this will fix the pulling problem. Long explanation I won't bore you with, but it's very possible this bad bearing was the issue. More importantly, when bearings fail on the road it's always bad.  Because you almost never know it's happening, it basically melts, welding everything together. The wheel gets red hot, locks up, and ... get out the credit card. So even if this doesn't fix the braking issue I'm thankful I discovered it with the car up on jack stands in the garage, not out on the freeway in the middle of the desert.

Lots of stuff in my brain but no energy for writing it. So for those of you who are totally bored by my automotive episodes, my apologies. Tomorrow I'll wax philosophical.
or not