Well the '06 got "Goin' to Church Duty" today by dint of being parked nose out, and needing fed.

Michelle doesn't mind feeding her Fiat 500-C, it seems like the little Italian beasty runs forever on $10 worth of gas, and she hates spending more than $10 on gas so finding the '06 running on fumes didn't surprise me...after four days in San Francisco, I knew the adorable little snot would burn up my gas.

But the Hummmmmmmmmmm from the left front as we burbled to the Red Robin in Mooresville for lunch did. "Didn't I just replace that hub?" thought I.

After our burgers, I pulled the maintenance binder from the under the load floor, and I did change that hub. 129,000 miles ago, ahem.

So that was a Timken hub, and now I've got a Moog 513237 hub to install, and yes I know...they probably do come out of the same Chinese factory.

So consider this a "Maintenance Experiment", it's my 401,200 mile old HHR, and at this point I'll muck about with different brands of replacement parts if I feel like it.

 

And I thought you didn't know the words! Get busy and change that hub, bub!

 

Actually, I'm going to Hummmmmmmm to work with it tomorrow and let our newest Aircraft & Powerplant Technician Intern/Trainee see if he can do the job.

He's only in his first year at Technical College and he needs to learn that not every job will be on an antiseptically clean Hi-Bypass Turbine or Turboprop engine. And since we don't have any old "Piston Pounders" in our fleet, he'll get his hands a bit dirty working on what my crews call "One of the Boss's Flightless Birds".

Plus, I'll pay him $100 and buy him lunch from the Roach Coach err...Gourmet Food Truck.

 

We call 'em Gagging Wagons!!
At least he'll remember the day after he fixes your flightless bird!!!
And be singing That Ring of Fire!! By Johnny Cash!!

 

Well it took A.J. four and a half hours to change the hub out, and he earned the crisp $100 bill and lunch on me.

His comment was "I'll stick with aircraft maintenance if that's OK Sir, what a miserable job that was", poor kid looked like he'd been coal mining when he was done...and I keep my rides pretty spotless underneath.

But like I told him, when you finish your training and get out into "The Real World", you'll be the new guy, the lowest tech on the Totem Pole...so you'll get the crap jobs at first.

But if he keeps his head down, his grades up, and graduates from his A&P training, I'll hire him. The oldest aircraft in our fleet just turned four years old, so no "crap jobs" to deal with really.

(Well OK, occasionally one of the "Plane-A-Potties" acts up, but we call in the techs from Aircraft Technologies Inc. They're the people who supply the "Flying Outhouse" hardware, and fix 'em when they..umm..crap out)

 

Nice to teach the lad a few tricks, my first bearing hub change took awhile back and forth to the tool chest for sockets extensions and a BFH when my air chisel wouldn't rattle the hub loose.
Last change was 47 minutes to do both sides, it helps to know what goes where and what has to be removed or not

 

As long as he didn't go to one of the PT Cruiser sites for info he's hireable. :)

 

Agreed, check his phone!!

 

Ugh, perish the thought, A.J. had the 2006 FSM opened to the proper section and placed on top of the airbox for quick reference.

He's just inexperienced with mechanical work on motor vehicles, he's going to school to be an A&P Technician, but he did rather sheepishly admit that he's never even changed the oil in his Imprezza.

I did look over his shoulder from time to time, and he rode along on the "Test Flight" after he'd finished up.