Day 74: Tue 04 Aug 26 - Kings Canyon to NT/SA Border

Tue 04 Aug  26 - Kings Canyon to NT/SA Border (370km)

8 to 24 Clear with NE Winds

We drove away at 0900, and checked the wheel temps along the roadside about 70km from Kings Canyon, and the left rear wheel was very hot. We drove on a about another 30km to a large rest area, and it had become too hot to touch. The same wheel I have had intermittent troubles with since we bought the van. At this point, I decided to remove the wheel and replace the bearings thinking this was the issue. Task done (I thought), and onwards we continued. I stopped a few more times, and each time I checked, it became too hot to touch. We took it slowly to Erldunda crossroads, refuelled then I removed the wheel and re-tensioned the bearings again. We drove another 95km to the NT/SA Border, stopping twice to check, and each time the wheel was much hotter again. Our overnight stay is in the rest area at the border crossing, with five other vans. As soon as we pulled in, I set about removing the wheel again, unsure what I was going to do. No sooner did I have the wheel off, a bloke on one side of us was a mechanic, and an older guy 2 vans down with 35 years experience working on wheels and bearings came to help out. The wheel specialist guy quickly identified a major issue with the holes not being drilled straight through the stub axel for the split pin to pass through the castle nut to give optimum tension on the bearings. He essentially said this was more than likely the cause of the overheating issues over the years, just lucky it hasn't always happened. Between to the two of  them they managed to replace the bearings again. The mechanic happened to have a grinder with him, and with a bit of ingenuity, he ground the corner of a one of the crowns on the castle nut to allow the split pin to pass directly through for optimum tension. Timing is everything, and we were very fortunate to have these guys on hand to help out. We won't know until we hit the road again tomorrow if we've fixed the problem, either temporarily or permanently, but I'm sure it would not be any better than today if we hadn't done anything. Fingers crossed it will get us home at least, then I will set about replacing the stub axel (after being told previously by Red Centre that it couldn't be done without great expense) - or maybe the even caravan! Today put a bit of a dampener on our wonderful time visiting the red centre.

Red Centre on the Red Centre Way

Overnight on the border - Where we're heading

Where we came from

Nice sunset to end a frustrating day

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