Last time I EVER pack floating bearings!

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Hey guys. I have two 10.25's sitting here, one is just a shell and the other would need a new ring and pinion and carrier, but i have two of the basic axles here.
That one isnt as bad as it looked in the pic. there is only one spot where it was actually blue and with some emry cloth I cleaned up most of the peeling, we "dimpled" that bearing surface in a few spots to make sure the bearing seated as tight as the other side. The bearing fits as good as new on the spindle now, but it will never be used to haul ANYTHING ever again, except my moms butt. Not even wood, Im just not going to risk it.
This truck's going to be retired as soon as we get my moms green truck's new engine in it. But this thing keeps breaking down so much we are always working on it instead of getting to work on the new engine for the green truck.

So hopefully this thing will only be used for another month and then MAYBE it will eventually get a new rearend in it as part of its retirement rebuild.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Oh, and I forgot to add. I wasnt bull ******** about the gravel in the axle tubes!
The LH tube was almost completely layered with a 1/4" thick coating of fine gravel powder. My guess is the previous owner of the axle didnt have the breather tube attached and it sucked in a couple years of dry gravel dust.
We had to make a special tool to clean the tubes out. Used a disc brush welded to a 4ft long rod and attached it to a drill and brushed and flushed, and brushed and flushed, did that for like 3-4 hours before we were sure it was clean inside.
I should have gotten some pics of the gravel in there, and us cleaning it, it was pretty impressive. lol

 

[suv7734]

Hey guys. I have two 10.25's sitting here, one is just a shell and the other would need a new ring and pinion and carrier, but i have two of the basic axles here.
That one isnt as bad as it looked in the pic..

The bearing fits as good as new on the spindle now, but it will never be used to haul ANYTHING ever again, except my moms butt.

I photoshopped the pic and along with the bearing surface problems noted by 'RW' and 'Bigrig' there are two other things that I would be VERY concerned about.
The seal surface is never going to seal in its present condition no matter what seal you put on there.
The second and most important is the fact that it appears there are no threads left on the end of the axle tube for the 'lock nut' to bite into which would certainly explain why it came loose after the 'rebuild'.
It's your Mom's butt, but I don't think I'd take a chance even for a day...

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

For those that dont know what originally happened reference this thread.
http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showpost.php?p=263498&postcount=18

Anyway, here's a closeup of that spindle.

You must be registered for see images

Im going to take a better pic of it because the flash is making things look worse than what they are. But anyway, Im going to bed.

 

[suv7734]

Confirmation... unfortunately that axle housing is beyond sevicability. It's good you have a couple of spares so you can get going safely.

 

[sle2115]

Uh, yeah, that thing is scrap. There is a national replacement seal, maybe ford as well, that has a stationary inner race, it "MIGHT" seal, but I wouldn't bet on it long term. That seal surface looks trashed as well as the outer spindle area. The fact it won't be hauling is good, but you may just have to deal with a leaking seal until then anyway.

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

What do you guys see wrong with the seal area?

 

[riotwarrior]

Thanks for the close up.....

The circumferential scoring of both inner and MOSTLY the outer bearing surfaces will likely be the cause of a failure as a stress riser. (which is where a crack forms and the part breaks off) I can see that bearing area failing and losing the entire wheel / axle in a catastrophic failure.

All this ..... while your mom toodles along the back road and because the wheel falls off; either it (the wheel/tire) or your mom runs into a small child riding a bike along the road then flies into the ditch and flips the truck with a bag of groceries....JUST an Example....of circumstances adding up to a bad day!

IS SHE WORTH Taking that chance? I THINK NOT!!!!!!!!!!

The seal surface looks like it could use a real fine emery and it ("may" being the operative word) clean up and be OK for a farm truck but it's not like I would trust it with my mom.s butt.

JM2CW

 

[sle2115]

What do you guys see wrong with the seal area?

Looks very rough in the picture, rough and seals don't get along!

 

[subway]

i wouldent trust the dimple to tighten things up either. a dimple is a point contact not like before where the whole inside of the bearing was supported easily. that is not giving the bearing the same tight fit it used to have and can cause it to wear out faster.

i havent worked on a stearling but i assume from the talk that you cant unbolt the spindles?

i know its the harder road but i wouldent trust it.

 

[oldmisterbill]

The whole housing needs to be changed-no question about it.

While were on the subject of wheel bearings- In my opinion they are very forgiving-Why? Because I have heard so many different variations of how they should be adjusted. When I worked in a garage as a teen ager I was taught to tighten them tight back off till U could feel play then tighten them till the play was gone,never had a problem. In the army schools they taught us to tighten them tight back off 1/8 turn-no problems.I drove for a frieght company they torqued them (I forgot how much they torqued them to -never in 18 years there & over 2 Million miles did I ever see a wheel bearing fail on one of thier tractors or trailers. A differential carrier bearing is a tapered bearing just like a wheel bearing they are wedged in real tight-works fine.We used tapered bearings in machines at the plant-had a timkin rep give the guys a class on bearings-he told us to torque them-it helps transfer the heat if they are snug. For years I used to tighten them then loosen them just enough to feel play then take the play out of them-now I run them tighter then I used to.
On my 7k trailer axles -Qulity axle has recomended them to run looser then i like them (they had a lot of failure problems no matter what I did ,they were replaced under warranty-still had problems)-I miked them and went to their store in Ok and miked some new ones-they all were slightly under Dexters axle specs-HMMM I then resorted to cleaning them well and using loctite bearing mount -no more problems.I had always felt they were spinning on the shaft because of the slivers they made-company said that is normal.It isn't normal!!!!

The most inportant thing in my opinion is the surface the bearing slides on. I have never had a bearing failure in my life except on the 7k trailer axles ( Manufactured by Quality )and I know why these failed.Front wheel drives excluded -they are not servicable.
At any rate to me all the different ways I have heard to adj a tapered bearing all seem to work-Thus I feel they are very forgiving.

Comments welcome????

 

[sle2115]

I agree OMB, so many ways, so little time. No play, good lube and making sure the inner race can't spin and all is well!

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

Well I guess I could always weld up the spindle and grind it down to the perfect fit again.
Like I said it only has to run at the most 1500 miles before it wont be driven anymore.

 

[riotwarrior]

Well I guess I could always weld up the spindle and grind it down to the perfect fit again.
Like I said it only has to run at the most 1500 miles before it wont be driven anymore.

Park the truck.....junk the axle.....fix the other truck for MOM....end of story...

Weld the axle and grind it down? Come on that has to be a precision machined surface and diameter for the outer bearing race to fit on. It needs to be done by a machine shop not in a back yard.

If you can machine a perfect circle like on a lathe, then sure I suppose you could weld it up and machine it down. That being said that rearend needs to be removed to machine it so why not remove the rearend and replace it with a KNOWN good one. Or Park it and Fix the other Truck.

There is just no way to make a silk purse from that Sows ear of an axle!

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

I hear ya man. But I cant get her any other vehicle to drive right now. She's broken everything I let her have... She drove my brown truck one day and the starter went out, I let her drive my eclipse for a couple days and she came home telling me she was sorry but wasnt paying attention and the water temp in it got all the way up into the HOT red zone, she refuses to drive my red truck because it "looks to hillbilly" and thats pretty much it. She's been driving my brothers 94 for a couple days now and she almost wrecked IT this morning.
My brother wont let him drive his mustang because she would figure out something to screw up in that, and I'm still working out all the bugs in the 79 Z from the last time I let her drive it for a couple weeks.

So the moral of the story is SHES ******* VEHICLES.