Smoked my TT left rear bearing running at 35 mph. Doesn't look bad but replaced it anyway.
Anthony,
Of course it's difficult to tell in the photo, but that bearing looks like it's been lubricated with oil instead of grease, which would indicate that the inner seal has failed as well as the felt just outboard the inner bearing. Is there a lot of oil on the hub and brake parts? If so, the rear end should be taken apart and ALL seals and felts replaced, otherwise it will happen again.
Also, did you check for excessive wear on the axle shaft where it comes into contact with the bearing? When I took mine apart I found the axle worn down by over 1/8" diameter due to the bearing having improper lubrication (a little oil instead of lots of grease).
Good luck!! I hope your problems are just the bearing, but I thought I should mention a few other things just in case....
Anthony,How can you tell you smoked it, it does not look damaged in the picture.
Willie, I had to stop on CR 146 because the smoke coming off the hub was significant enough to cause considerable horn honking by other drivers. I almost put the fire extinguisher to it! It took awhile to cool off.
Henry, there was no significant ridge on the axle sleeve. There was considerable grease and oil on the brakes and hub. I agree the seals probably need replaced.
Thanks for the comments, Tony
Are you sure one of your brake shoes wasn't dragging?
Hey Tony, just how fast were you driving that thing?
Bill
I think Tony just had too much Ice Cream and over loaded the truck.
He said he was doing 35. Can't imagine the gear combinations to get to that speed
Well it is a TT Express! =)
Even with low ratio rear end gears, with an auxiliary transmission overdrive 35 MPH is not out of reach. High ratio rear end gears will get you past 40 MPH.
Tony,
I didn't mean the bearing sleeve, I meant the axle shaft itself where the bearing comes into contact with it. The sleeves are pretty durable. It's the shaft that I worry about.
Bill, I think my Muncie was in overdrive when I had it up to 35 mph.
Dan B., I didn't change anything or mess with my Bennett outside brakes, nor my inside brakes?
Henry, what is the axle diameter supposed to be?
Bobby, I only had one bowl of strawberry ice cream!
BTW, my TT has high speed rear end gears, a Simmons straight through carburetor, a high volume intake manifold, a Muncie auxiliary transmission (which I suspect has issues?), high dome aluminum pistons, a Stipe 'drive' cam, no magnets, no coil ring, stock head, a Type E stock T crankshaft, a recently borrowed Texas T distributor and an driver with no common sense!
Tony,
I don't remember what the diameter is, but excess wear is easy to spot. Just run your finger over the axle from inside of where the bearing touches it out beyond where the bearing touches it. If you can feel a noticeable depression on the contact surface it's probably pretty worn. Remember that the axle diameter at the bearing is machined further inboard and further outboard than is absolutely necessary, so it should feel pretty smooth.
If it does seem worn, measure it and post the measurement here. There are guys on this forum who do know what it should be and how much wear is acceptable.
TT axle diameter is 1.625 with up to 5 thousandths wear acceptable with no galling or pitting. This is per Glen Chaffin's axle book.
I didn't notice any wear like that when I had it apart. I ran my hand over the axle and did not notice that kind of excess wear.
Then I wouldn't worry about it. Just be sure to keep it well greased and check things from time to time.
Remember that assembly was originally intended for speeds under 30 MPH, even with high ratio rear end gears.
Putting chocolate ice cream in the grease cups is a poor substitute due to a lower melting point.
Dan B. you were right! Both of my rear Bennett auxiliary brakes were dragging. I loosened them both and it made a world of difference. Both rear brakes are running cool. No more bogging down. I got her up to 40 mph. She even accelerated in Muncie overdrive. She runs like she used to.