Smiles Per Gallon

[Fatboy 18]

Well this happened last week!

[71firebird400]

Congrats!! Get another 10k on it!

[Fatboy 18]

I had taken the car over to France again to meet up with my Friends of Viper Passion
We stayed in some nice Chateaus and enjoyed a great mini break





The Dining room


The Mayor greeted us to a Champagne reception






We then took a short drive to a Very old Hunting lodge where they look after the Hounds
Thanks to Jean Fred for the organization




We then Drove to a Ranch for lunch and entertainment.








A Great weekend with Friends.

We then said goodbye and Myself and the Boss left for the next Chateau Hotel












Cheers Mark

[Lemay88]

Wow, looks like you had a perfect outting.
Must be very special driving around Farnce in a Viper.

[Fatboy 18]

Wow, looks like you had a perfect outting.
Must be very special driving around France in a Viper.

I love France, the Roads are so much better than the roads in the UK, but the French have Just lowered their National Speed limits
the main A and B roads are now only 80klm with Variable limits in built up areas. It can be a bit frustrating when you can see for miles ahead on a straight road, but the Motorways are still good at 130klm (80 mph). But the great thing is there is a lot less traffic compared to the UK.

[Lemay88]

I get loads of thumbs up here in America and there are known to car guys here.
French Car guys must get crazy when they see your Viper, let alone 3 in a row...probably less Vipers in Europe that there is Ferraris and Lambos...

[Silver GTS]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Looks like a beautiful place to enjoy your Viper

[capevettes]

Looks like a great time. Those Chateau Hotels are amazing. Thanks for the pics.

[uvbnbit]

amazing. thanks for posting

[Bill W]

Beautiful cars, beautiful country! Thanks for sharing.

[Fatboy 18]

Those Chateau Hotels are amazing.

Some of them are and the thing is they are no more expensive than a chain group of Hotels. Of course some rooms are better than others, but the Setting is always perfect.
Lots of them only offer Bed and Breakfast so you have to make sure when booking that they have a restaurant or evening meal option

For Viper touring its the only way to go

[monsstr]

Beautiful pictures and looks like a fantastic time was had.

[sonicbloo]

Great pictures Mark, really looking forward to the meet next year in Germany (any more news on this yet - deposits etc?)

[Fatboy 18]

We made the French Papers!

[josh]

Man, I'd love to be able to tear up some European roads!

[My98RT10]

That must have been another awesome trip. Great pics and thanks for sharing!

[Fatboy 18]

Sadly during my drive home I noticed some odd noises coming from the cars rear end.

Turning a Left hand corner I got a loud Rubbing rotational noise which seemed to be coming from the RHS rear wheel area. Sort of noise you would get from a worn wheel bearing?

In a straight line the car was fine and drove fine, but making a left hand corner the noise would appear. I then pulled into a Supermarket car park, I put the car in reverse and backed up making a Left hand turn, moving slowly back I felt a Jolt like you would if you just slightly bumped a kerb. I got out of the car and checked I had not run over anything then reversed back again, it felt like I may have jumped a cog or something or a faulty UJ?
I drove slowly to the ferry port and put the car on the boat back to the UK, the car drove the 60 miles home ok.
So this weekend 11/11/18 I put the car up on stands in the garage and hand rotated the rear wheels I could not hear any abnormal noises coming from the diff, half shafts are fine, UJs and Straps are all fine, no noise from wheel bearings.

So the next step was to start the car up, put it in reverse and see if I could replicate the noise. With the engine running and the car in reverse I carefully got hold of each wheel and slowed each wheel down individually, I could not replicate the noise and the UJs and Half shafts were running fine.

Extreme caution is needed if you ever attempt to run the driveline with the wheels off the ground, really check those Axle stands to make sure nothing will slip!

So next step was to switch everything off and drain the diff oil.
Now I service my car regularly and have changed the Diff oil in my car at least 3 times, which is far more than the Manual recommends.

I also added a convenient drain plug to make things easier.
Draining the OIL it came out like mercury in a thermometer, Pure silver! OMG!
So car is now off the road for a few months until I can save some money and rip the rear end apart to find out what's gone wrong?

Im now wondering if this is the reason I have been breaking UJs, with perhaps the diff not balancing out the Power evenly causing undue strain to one or other Half shaft?
Have to say this cars been really testing me this year

[devas]

Hauser racing, Northants. Speak to Geoff, knows all about these diffs, all the best..

[Fatboy 18]

Thanks, sent them an email.

[LifeIsGood]

Damn it Mark, I hate you're having another issue. Good luck.