Axle Rebuild Tooling

[m-11]

So I've been researching for information on rebuilding/resealing the axles and knuckles. I found a gentlemen that posted some info on tooling for the steering knuckle rebuild and he recommended the OTC 6540 slide hammer puller and also a HF tool that I crossed to an OTC 4518 Split bearing puller. Has anyone else had experience with OTC tools good or bad? I looked into the company and their stuff is made in the US, Germany, GB, & Japan. The cost is double of the HF stuff but at least its not made in China.

[milstencil]

M-11,
This site: http://imageevent.com/moosecreekmaple/s ... o1.eagle_s
has one of the best how to on the front axle rebuild. I used it for mine.
Hope it helps!!
Rick

[m-11]

M-11,
This site: http://imageevent.com/moosecreekmaple/s ... o1.eagle_s
has one of the best how to on the front axle rebuild. I used it for mine.
Hope it helps!!
Rick

Rick,

I found that link after I started this thread. I cut and pasted to a word document and printed it off. I still need to know out about tooling.

Tim

[RMS]

just a note from the link: "
I am also making a modification to the top bronze bushing. I am changing the bronze bushing to a Timken 23100 bearing and a Timken 23256 Cup. This eliminates the bronze bushings, which are mostly very low quality reproductions, some not even in spec. This modification should also make for smoother steering, at least in theory. The modification is painfully simple, and will be shown in detail as I proceed with rebuilding the Knuckle. "

this modification is fine for tarmac queens but not recommended for off road pounding

[Monkey Man]

The roller bearing mod is fine, it will take the abuse of off road with no issues, the grease nipple retrofit on your bottom bearing plates is highly recommended also as you can keep your lower bearing well lubed up with only 1 pump of the gun now and then....

MM

[m-11]

The roller bearing mod is fine, it will take the abuse of off road with no issues, the grease nipple retrofit on your bottom bearing plates is highly recommended also as you can keep your lower bearing well lubed up with only 1 pump of the gun now and then....

MM

I planned on doing both mods. As far as the bearing mod, my truck will spend most of its driving time on the road with an occasional off road trail ride. I really don't understand how some folks who put so much time and money into their rebuilds, take them off road and beat the snot out of them.

[RMS]

I really don't understand how some folks who put so much time and money into their rebuilds, take them off road and beat the snot out of them.

the nice thing about the m37 is that it's so capable that you never need to beat the snot out of them
like the saying "if you have to work hard get a bigger hammer"

[Murf]

When I did mine I just used a pilot bearing remover on the sliding hammer. My local auto parts store loaned them out for free.

[outsider]

OTC tools have been around for a long time, and those that I've used have been of very good quality.

Steve

[m-11]

OTC tools have been around for a long time, and those that I've used have been of very good quality.

Steve

This is what I've been waiting to hear. Now If I can get someone to respond to my transfer case shift seals I'd be golden.

Thanks
Tim

[06boblee]

The roller bearing mod is fine, it will take the abuse of off road with no issues, the grease nipple retrofit on your bottom bearing plates is highly recommended also as you can keep your lower bearing well lubed up with only 1 pump of the gun now and then....

MM

Can someone point me to the instructions for the grease nipple retrofit on the bottom bearing plate?
Thanks,

[Elwood]

The roller bearing mod is fine, it will take the abuse of off road with no issues, the grease nipple retrofit on your bottom bearing plates is highly recommended also as you can keep your lower bearing well lubed up with only 1 pump of the gun now and then....

MM

Can someone point me to the instructions for the grease nipple retrofit on the bottom bearing plate?
Thanks,

Maybe this information will help. From this old thread: http://www.g741.org/PHPBB/viewtopic.php ... ease#p3201

Re: Steering Knuckle Grease

Postby MSeriesRebuild » Sun Feb 17, 2008 12:36 pm

HingsingM37 wrote:
I know this was posted on the old forum but I cannot remember how much (tubes?) grease got packed into each of the the steering knuckles? It seems it would be easier to pack the grease in during the axle assembly rather than pump forever with a grease gun through the zerk?

Each joint holds approximately 2.6 lbs. of NLGI#2 grease. You could pack some into the joint cavity during the build up however you will never be able to fill it completely that way. The easiest way to do it is to remove the zerk fitting from the top bearing retainer plate, install it in place of the plug on the surface of the axle tube ball. Pump grease directly into the cavity until it comes out the hole in the top retainer plate. It is now full, pumping directly into the cavity is much easier than pumping through the top bearing. Replace the zerk in the top plate & install the plug.

[MSeriesRebuild]

It is easy to fit a grease zerk into the bottom plate. Just look at the top plate, drill a hole in the same center location in the bottom plate that is sized suitable for tapping a 1/8" NPT tapered thread. Only takes a few minutes and you have exactly the same set up as the top plate.

Our experience with a couple of other questions asked concerning OTC Tooling, basically you can assess the quality by looking at price. OTC offers some really good tools, we just bought a 6,000# engine leveler which is a GREAT quality tool with ball bearings on the adjustment rod, length adjustments on both ends, and had a rather hefty price tag too, but when you see the OTC brand on new tooling with a "cheap" price tag, you know the drill, they offer some cheap stuff that might work for a one or two time use, but would be useless in our shop when put into a repeated use scenario. Just go on line and read the reviews before purchase is a good way to help make an informed decision before you pull out the credit card.

T/case shifter shaft oil seals are no big deal; however the shifter shafts themselves are generally the matter that must be dealt with in order to fix a leak. In almost every case we tear down, there is a rust pitting issue on the hi-lo and front axle shifter shaft right in the area where the seal mates with the shaft. You would be surprised how many people install new seals and never give a thought to the pitted or grooved shaft. The truth is simple, you can install new seals every week, the leak will keep right on dripping because the mating area on the shaft is dinged, rust pitted, or grooved, etc., which prevents a new seal from doing its job properly. NOS shafts aren't much better because the material they are cut from will readily rust, so in just a relatively short while the same issues are causing the same dripping problems to reoccur. This is what prompted us to machine new shafts from stainless steel which eliminates the most common issue, rust pitting of the seal mating area from being a recurring problem. We also incorporate a defined "NEUTRAL" position on the hi-lo shaft, a really nice feature at routine service time and great safety feature when you need that case locked into the neutral position. We have used stainless shafts for several years now in all our rebuilt cases with a perfect track record thus far.

When changing from bronze knuckle top cones to 23100 tapered rollers, this is a very good upgrade which we use all the time. The thing to remember is the bearing preload specs change from original; the preload spec changes to 60 INCH LBS. when installing the tapered roller bearing. This is measured off the center of the bearing with an inch lb. torque wrench. An easy way to do this is to install a 1/8" NPT plug with a hex head in the grease zerk hole in the top plate. This enables the use of a 6 or 12 point socket on your torque wrench, and you are checking values from the perfect center location which yields a precise preload setting. We ALWAYS pack both the top and bottom cones on our bearing packer before installation, this insures an initial start up with full lubrication.