Rear axle update

[Mountainrider]

Clean 105 years of dirt and grease off the rear axle housings today. No wonder my t has been marking her spot. Found this in the right side housing. Should I try to braze or weld it? Was it drill to let out oil so it would get into the emergency brake drum? Going to order all my replacement parts on Monday. The outer bearings and s leaves were replaced about 10 years ago but have very few miles on them. They are the type with no grooves on them. They fit nice with no play. Should I replace them? Where are they available with the grooves or do I order the sealed outer bearings $$$.

[Alan Long]

Hi Neil.
To me it appears to be a Breather Hole. Probably not required with the original type sealing arrangement.
However, as discussed here previously, once you upgrade Pinion Bearings and use effective Oil Seals there and in
Safety Hubs the likely hood of pressure build up is real. I have just added a Breather to a rear end and have used a clear
tube to see any evidence of oil working its way up.
You will notice that it has been drilled inboard of the original seals and Hyatt Bearing Sleeves. ideal spot. I would tap the hole and fit a low profile Breather with a Cap. Others may disagree but once tapped out, you can easily plug it later if required
Cheers Alan in Western Australia

[Mountainrider]

After going through lots of post I’ve decided to add the modern pinion bearing to the shopping list. Adjustable or non adjustable? New u joint going in and a new ball cap. Tail shaft measures 1.549 with very little run out so going with the .010 oversized.

[DHort]

I have it from VERY good authority that you do not need the adjustible. It is only for those that feel they need that feature.

[Scott C.]

When I did the rear axles in my coupe and roadster last winter, I used the adjustable pinion bearings. Reason being, that I mix and matched all of the differential parts, including the gears. One got roller thrust washers and the other got bronze. I did use new drive shafts, axle shafts, ring gear bolts and ujoints, along with all new bushings and brake cams. One axle got all new bearing sleeves and the other some good original ones. I did end up shimming one of them with standard shim, but the other needed adjusted.

[Norman Kling]

That hole looks to be at the bottom of the tube. If so it would not be a "breather" but a drain. We now have available good seals for the wheel bearings and you should not need to drain the fluid. Only exception would be if the 4th main at the rear of the transmission leaks letting oil drain down the driveshaft tube to the rear axle. If your babbitt is good at the 4th main and you keep plenty of grease in the U joint, this shouldn't be a problem. It is better for the brakes to let a little oil leak to the ground at the U joint than to let it run back to the ground. Just put a pan under the transmission at your parking spot and don't worry about it.
Norm

[Duey_C]

I couldn't get the adjustable pinion when I ordered.
I put a grease cup in that hole on one of my tubes just to mess with people.

[Mountainrider]

No opinion on outer bearings? It’s still my main question. Should I stick with the solid rollers and just keep checking them For wear or bite the bullet for the sealed ones $$$

[RajoRacer]

Depends on how you intend to drive it - personally, I run good used Hyatt/Ford roller bearings although I've been in the business/hobby for over 40 years, I've been fortunate enough to have access to good used parts. If you intend on occasional driving about, the repro roller bearings will suffice - just maintain good service intervals !

[Rosenfelder]

I had the adjustable pinion bearing on order for many months. Nobody had one and 'Fun Projects' was not expecting any soon. I ordered T-2587-M from Snyder's, which I did receive. I had to push the new bearing housing further into the original 'spool' than the instructions say to get the drive shaft end play and pinion to ring gear alignment correct. The rivet pin has to go through the u-joint into the hole on the square end of the drive shaft. (New drive shaft was also back ordered. The pinion nut stripped on mine @ 70 ft lbs., but there was no damage to the shaft threads.) Had to remove the original pinion bearing inner sleeve, which was difficult. You can also use the original roller and thrust bearings, which work fine. All worked out well. J.R.

[Mountainrider]

Anyone have two good outer axel bearings they are willing to sell me? Should be reassembling this weekend. Modern drive shaft bearings are back ordered for a unknown time. Lucking my old bearings still seem in good shape.

[Allan]

Neil, the outer bearings are the same as the inners. When looking for replacement used Hyatt bearings, those from the centre of the axle are usually in far better order. They do not have the weight of the car riding on them and are better lubricated.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

[Mountainrider]

So move my solid rollers to the inside and move the Hyatt inners to the outside?

[John Warren]

That is what I would do.

[Mountainrider]

It should have self destructed. One Babbitt thrust bearing missing. Three thrust washer rivets sheered off. I found what looks like a broken drill bit in one of the rivet holes of another. They had tried to braze and grind smooth the thrust washer to the broken drill bit. Going to be tough to get that one out and cleaned up. Pinion bearing sleeve not sitting in key way. Good thing the universal joint rivet was still in place. I do need to place a second order for parts now before it goes back together. Only good news it’s been too hot here in the afternoons to take it for a spin.

[Mountainrider]

I got the broken drill bit out this morning by slowly drill small holes around it. Would JB weld be strong enough to fill the whole and redrill or should I fill it with my wire feed? Here is the thrust washer they tried to braze to the broken drill bit.

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

I got the broken drill bit out this morning by slowly drill small holes around it. Would JB weld be strong enough to fill the whole and redrill or should I fill it with my wire feed? Here is the thrust washer they tried to braze to the broken drill bit.

I would drill out the hole further to make it round & true. Then, either press in a solid plug & drill for a standard pin, or make a special stepped pin to fit the large hole. That thrust plate with the enlarged hole is junk. I would NOT use JB Weld.

[Mountainrider]

I have new thrust washers. All the old ones were worn down to .085 and scarred. I have a friend who can mill me up a plug for the drilled out rivet. I’ll ordered new rivets tomorrow, thrust washer shims, and a few of small items needed.

[Mountainrider]

Help. I need left and right differential housings.

[Mountainrider]

Thank you everyone, rear axle assembly almost done. Replaced all the thrust washer pins first, then got the drive shaft assembly done this morning with out much fuss. Had to take off less then .005 off the drive shaft bushing using a suggestion from the forum. Glued a piece of emery cloth to a socket and used my drill to sand off a bit. No detectable endplay. Got the pinion/ring gear set at .012. Getting the axle end play took a while. Had to sand one fiber washer to .05 and the other to .055 to get the axle end play or 0. Tomorrow safety wire the housing and start finally assembly of the half’s.

[Allan]

Neil, was the axle endplay too much for just one fibre washer? We Aussies are lucky in this respect. Our bronze $1 coin is the correct diameter, and well thick enough to fit the bill with some sanding down. I use a linishing belt on my bench grinder.

Allan from down under.

[Mountainrider]

The fiber washers I received were .080. I had an older brass one that was .095. This forum has been great. Just looked up how to safety wire the ring gear.

[Mountainrider]

Didn’t get to final assembly until this afternoon. All went well and I’m very pleased with the results so far. The axle and drive shaft were with in a 1/16 inch of perpendicular with out the radius rods tighten after bolting everything else up tight. Might be reinstalled within a few days for a test ride.

[Mountainrider]

Wipe down, masking, and painting today

[Mountainrider]

So close. Installed the rear axle today with the help of a neighbor. Second try we slipped into the tail shaft. NOS shackles should be here Monday or Tuesday. Installed new inner seal, new bearing sleeves, packed the bearings and installed, and installed outer seal. Then checked the hub bolts. Guess what I now have to order. They were pretty shot. I can wait a few more days to make sure it’s safe.

[Allan]

Neil, the nuts which come from the vendors and are correct for a T, are thinner than hardware shop nuts. This is to provide maximum clearance between the inner ends of the bolts and the brake drum. Worn axle tapers/hubs will exacerbate this. However, the thinner nut will not take the same tension that others will, and it is not difficult to strip them. I try to use standard nuts first, changing to the thinner ones if there is a clearance problem.
Allan from down under.

[Mountainrider]

Hubs all Cleaned, wire brushed, painted, and reassembled. Turning nice a true. Ran the differential last week with the wheels off. Sound nice a quiet. Everything looking good so I couldn't finish looking at the rusty rear springs. All disassembled and wired brushed. Picking up some spray graphite slip paint tomorrow. Saturday finish reassembling and a test ride. I’ll post finished pictures then. Been a lot longer project then I was thinking, but worth the wait.

[ivaldes1]

Great progress. On my first worn out T so many of the hub bolts were questionable that I just changed them all for new ones. On those better safe than sorry. The hubs were much more solid after changing for new ones.

So close. Installed the rear axle today with the help of a neighbor. Second try we slipped into the tail shaft. NOS shackles should be here Monday or Tuesday. Installed new inner seal, new bearing sleeves, packed the bearings and installed, and installed outer seal. Then checked the hub bolts. Guess what I now have to order. They were pretty shot. I can wait a few more days to make sure it’s safe.

[Steve Jelf]

I would get the new hub bolts from RV Anderson or ask the parts dealer if they came from him. He supplies them because others were (are?) of poor quality.

I can confirm what Dave said about the FP pinion bearing. I believe I got the information from the same horse's mouth, so to speak.

[Mountainrider]

All assembled. Just need to adjust emergency brake, install muffler, and make sure I didn’t miss anything.

[Mountainrider]

Rearend completed. Crawled under this afternoon to make sure everything was tight, cotter pinned, and safety wired. Fired her up and went for some short test ride. What a difference. This being my only T and never driven another I didn’t know they could ride this smooth and quiet. New brake cams and bushing made a big difference with the parking break. I tried it as a Emergency brake and it stop us fairly quick too. Get the original radiator recorded and some new front tires this winter and It is all set for a while.

https://www.facebook.com/10002903338373 ... 076896768/

[Mountainrider]

Last post. Car has been running and driving great. I want to thank this Forum for all the information it provides to the hobby. Never could have done the rebuild without everyone’s help and searching old threads.