The ITC continues with its low dues for the Thunderbird enthusiast

$26/year US & Canada
$35/year for all other countries!
Want to become a member of the ITC? Download our application or
Created by serious people just for fun . . .

Spring Things for T-Birds

By: Tom Hollenbach
I got the bird out of winter storage and the first ride we took the front end gave out with these horrible creaks and bangs. My wife said to me is that normal, I said hey this thing is 44 years old what do you expect you and I started to creak and things at 40 years old. I said we go through this every spring, you hear things and I don’t, just because my hearing is bad.

We went to a cruise the next day, and hear the same noises again and again she says to me that cannot be right. I said its just old. The next day we drove around on a beautiful Sunday afternoon and she keeps saying that noise is not normal. Came home from the ride and put the Bird back in her spot and went in the house. About twenty minutes later my wife calls from the garage you better come look at this the car is leaning terribly. Well sure enough it has a flat, so I jack it up take the tire off check for any punctures NONE anywhere So I take off the cap for the valve and out falls this very tiny O ring. I filled the tire up and it has not lost a pound since. So I start asking around and I find out that there are O rings in some after market caps.
So be ware when putting on after market air valve caps. That little O ring could have caused me to sit somewhere. I guess I’m just lucky. Well went to a cruise this past Sunday and home again and she keeps saying to me something is wrong and again CAR MAN me says no its just old.

Today is my day off and just to have peace in the house I had made an appointment to have things checked out. First thing he found was a loose bolt on the sway bar. Next thing was the Idler arm nut was loose next was the drivers side shock was not totally tight.

So guys if your other half has better hearing than you, and she says something is not right listen to her you could save yourself a lot of headache, not to mention maybe an accident from something coming off the car.

My technician checked it out real good and after he tightened and lubed it I could not believe the difference.

The grease points on these cars are something else and unless you know all of them you could be making something wear out. Let a real pro do it at least twice a season.

This car rides better now than it did since I have it.

Tom