MTFCA Forum

I bought new axle shafts from texas t parts to use in my ruckstell axle build anybody know the specs on the inside of the axle gear or how much of a press fit it should have?

I don't know the specs, but it's a pretty tight fit. My little 12 ton press was able to start the gears on the shafts, but I had to take them to a shop with a 30 ton press to get them on the rest of the way. Also, be sure to use some kind of cage to protect against the shaft bowing and shooting out sideways like a missile.

Half-way down in this older post gives the axle gear i.d., plus good thread on pressing gears on new axle shafts.

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/41 ... 1419095968

I used a 20 ton press. I polished 1 axle .0005” to 1.6250 . One gear was a tight fit and one was very tight due to different gear tolerance. I used a model A hub with an axle shim to hold the tapered end. I froze the axle and heated the gear.
John

Here is some advice from a member of the bent axle shaft club.

In my case the it was the new axle shaft I had bought that was on the high end of the Ford recommended range that caused the tight fit. In other words it wouldn’t press into the axle gear.
The original axle gear that I was using had an i.d.that was almost identical to the axle shaft.
The result was trying to press fit two parts together that had the identical outside diameter and inside diameter.
After calling the vendor about the axle outside diameter he checked his axle bin and found that he had 3 out of 50 that had the same high end tolerance that mine was.
He did send me another axle that was in the low end of the tolerance range at no cost and it went in my gear with no real issue.
Probably I should have checked the sizes on both parts before I tried to press them together but for sure the next time I will!

That is why I put one axle in the lathe and polished off !/2 a thousandth.

John

Steven: IIRC, the original Ford specs on gear bore and axle diameter gave an interference range of 0.0005" to 0.0015", with a desired 'average' interference of 0.001". When I pressed good used Ford gears on Snyder's new axles, I measured just under 0.001" interference and it required under 2,000lbs force to do the job. I did polish the gear bores and oiled everything before assembly. Some who post here recommend high pressure lithium grease before assembly. I would definitely not polish axles to give under 0.0005" interference. UMMV, good luck, stay healthy, best, jb

I really appreciate all of the tips and advice on things to check and look for.

One thing I did to prevent bending new axles was to reinforce them with angle iron before pressing the gears on. I cut 1x1 x 1/8" angles to about 22". I wrapped the axles with tape to protect surfaces and then clamped two pieces of angles onto axles with a few hose clamps. Doing this increased the critical buckling force from about 28,000 pounds to 54,000 pounds. The press I used was 20 tons, which could have buckled an axle without reinforcement.

i am going to use a piece of square tubing over the axle 3/16 to 1/4 inch wall i will also put bolts in along the length to tighten up the axle and use a hub with a shim in it and will be able to cage the whole assembly for pressing on the new gear and incorporate many of the suggestions folks here have given me.