Thrust Washer clearance

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John Illinois
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Thrust Washer clearance

Post by John Illinois » Tue Feb 11, 2020 2:32 pm

I put new bronze thrusts in the rear axle. Amazingly they fit with zero clearance with out having to thin the right washer. I put it together with a gasket and ended up with .012" clearance instead of the .005" expected per the book. I took it apart to check and it was the same ,no clearance with no gasket.
I then measured the gasket and it is .012. I had 4 gaskets all the same thickness.
I don't know whether to use it as is, or if a thinner gasket is available or, if I could find thin gasket stock and make one.

John


Scott_Conger
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Scott_Conger » Tue Feb 11, 2020 2:44 pm

There are multiple options.

Call around to suppliers and ask them to mic their gaskets and maybe buy a thinner gasket
Buy a thrust washer shim and install your gasket with a thrust washer shim
Don't install a gasket...just sealant, and surface grind a few thou off a thrust washer or both

I'd mostly consider the first two, but there is nothing really wrong with the third choice
Scott Conger

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jab35
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by jab35 » Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:06 pm

I recall a post where a small diameter wire was laid in a circle in one of the mating surfaces to act as a shim and a liquid sealant applied to seal the joint. Not a recommendation, just an observation.

If this was my T, I'd look for paper/cardstock of the desired thickness and try to trim a 'gasket' that was slightly narrower on
the inside of the pumpkin so there was a metal-sealant-metal junction to insure the paper did not weep oil.

I do not disagree with Scott's suggestions, just adding to list. jb


Les Schubert
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Les Schubert » Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:11 pm

I was the person that did the “mig Wire” solution. It was a desperation case on a car needed the next day. It ran all summer with no issues!!


Topic author
John Illinois
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by John Illinois » Tue Feb 11, 2020 3:21 pm

Thanks for the ideas.
I am going to check for a thinner gasket. Since I indicated the end play exactly,I could thin the washer a known amount and use sealer.

John


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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by AZTerry » Tue Feb 11, 2020 9:20 pm

My 2 cents worth. I have not done as many (a dozen plus) rear axles and Ruckstel's as other members but I NEVER use a gasket between the axle housings. I always use only sealant (Ultra Black). I prefer to adjust the thickness of the brass thrust washer instead of using shims, I believe I only had to use shims once. I prefer that no gasket also makes the pinion bearing housing opening just a little smaller but still fits and thus less error in alignment.

Terry


Kenny Edmondson
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Kenny Edmondson » Tue Feb 11, 2020 10:47 pm

+1 on using no gasket and Ultra Black. The gasket is not needed.


Plankhill
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Plankhill » Wed Feb 12, 2020 5:45 am

I am with Terry. Don,t use a gasket .


Les Schubert
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Les Schubert » Wed Feb 12, 2020 11:18 am

The concept of cutting a thin gasket from some “parchment paper” from mothers kitchen occurs to me


Scott_Conger
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Scott_Conger » Wed Feb 12, 2020 11:22 am

Les

that thought occured to me, too. My wife finds all sorts of uses for that stuff, and it really is the right thickness given the information the OP has provided.
Scott Conger

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Les Schubert
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Les Schubert » Wed Feb 12, 2020 11:27 am

I just measured some. One roll is.001” thick. Another roll is.002” thick. The stuff is quite tough!!


Kohnke Rebabbitting
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Kohnke Rebabbitting » Wed Feb 12, 2020 7:14 pm

We set clearance at .010, you will find that .005, will be hard on some parts, especially when New ring gears are warped, as they are, when operating temperature, is reached. You don;t want the gears with hard spots, or clicking, in one spot, when rotated. Both ring, and pinion should be even, on both sides.

So what would be left is a .002 thousandths Brass shim on the very outside, on the side of your choice. Then you can keep your .012 thousandths gasket.

Herm.


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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Allan » Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:18 am

If a rear axle assembly goes together with two new bronze thrusts, and there is little to no clearance, I would be wanting to know why. I have yet to build a rear axle that has not required some machining/adjustment to the thickness of the new thrusts.

When adjusting the thickness of the thrusts, I like to make one around .010" thicker than the other. That way I can swap them from side to side to get a better crown wheel and pinion mesh. It's not all just about backlash.

Allan from down under.


Topic author
John Illinois
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by John Illinois » Fri Feb 14, 2020 9:48 am

Alan,I wondered about that too. The other rear end that I did had to sand washer thinner considerably. These new washers were thinner than the original babbit thrusts. they were .198" and the babbit were thicker.
I ended up milling the bronze .005 and ended up with about .007 clearance. It turns free and it has pretty good gear contact.

John

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TRDxB2
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by TRDxB2 » Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:50 pm

Did Ford workers scrutinize the fitment of thrust washers to this degree on the assembly line back then?
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
Mick Jagger


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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by Kohnke Rebabbitting » Fri Feb 14, 2020 6:15 pm

TRDxB2 wrote:
Fri Feb 14, 2020 3:50 pm
Did Ford workers scrutinize the fitment of thrust washers to this degree on the assembly line back then?
New parts at the Factory should have been approximately, the same. So, if the clearance wasn't exactly right, the softer thrust washers would fix any thrust problems, shortly, like a babbitt rod.

Herm.

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TRDxB2
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Re: Thrust Washer clearance

Post by TRDxB2 » Sat Feb 15, 2020 12:18 pm

Herm, Thank you for the explanation.
The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either.
Mick Jagger

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