Sugga #443

[costin moga]

DRIVE SHAFT

Drive shafts were in good condition too.

Universal joints showed no sign of wear, same with the slide body.

Cleaning, degreasing, paint job, greasing.

Done.

[costin moga]

AXLES

Well, this one was hard. First of all due to theis shear weight. Until one tries to move an axle, you have no ideea how heavy they are. Especially the front one ! My guess is front axle is the heaviest single component of the vehicle after the engine. Therefore moving them around proved to be a pain in the ***. Seccondly, because the oil seal in front axle is so difficult to mount. Basically all components have to be removed. Seal is to be mounted through the differential using a special tool. It was the one only operation in all mechanical restoration I asked a 'specialised' 4x4 service to perform. And they did it wrong.

The story:

1. CLEANING AND PAINTING

Axles were removed from the chassis and sandblasted. They shown leaks around differential caps and at the wheel hub (front one). By taking out the shaft one can notice the oil seal (front axle) is sitting on a larger section (see picts) inside the axle and can be remove only through the differential. Ok, I said - I'll sandblast them, paint them, take them to a service garage where they will replace the oil seal before mounting ath axles on the chassis.

[costin moga]

1. CLEANING AND PAINTING

[costin moga]

AXLES

2. SERVICEING

While the 4x4 'specialists' were working on the axles, I had time to take some pictures of the differentials. These are quality components ! Just have a look at how these are build !

Serviceing included:

- front axle: oil seals, bearings

- rear axle: oil seals (bearings were in very good shape)

Work was performed with axles off the chassis, therefore no brake lines, vacuum...

[costin moga]

3. SERVICEING AGAIN



Well, after using the car for a while (time passed since serviceing and car was completed), front axle started leaking again through the hub.

Disaster - this means something wrong with the oil seal !!!



Oil seal had to be changed (again) in the front axle. Any ideea what this means ? No ? Well, we thought we can access the differential just by removing the front drive shaft, but, hell no !, there is no room to get the differential out, as it won't clear the oil bath. Axle has to be removed from the vehicle. :huh:

So:

- front drive shaft was removed

- brake lines removed and (some) brake fluid lost

- vacuum hoses removed

- front leaf springs unbolted

- car suspended on jacks just after the leaf spring rear mount

- axle removed (remember this is heavy !) :wacko:

- wheel removed

- brake cylinders removed

- all hub assembly removed

- differential removed

- axle shafts removed

- oil seal replaced



- reverse all operations + brake fluid topped and brake sistem air cleaned

THIS WAS A 2 DAY FULL JOB / 2 MEN !!! all for a stupid wrong mount of the oil seal !



What went wrong / mistakes:

1. Seal was placed wihout using the special tool needed - you can't perform this job properly without it

2. Use of a seal which did inot have a solid metal housing

3. By using the car, seal came off from its place allowing oil to pour along the axle shaft, thinning the grease in the joint and finally leaking through the hub - have a look at the 2 shafts - one with thinned greas, one with normal grease !



What to do:

- make yourself a tool - see image 18 (first one) - there is a metal tool looking like a cylinder in the left lower corner

- seal has to be put on it (it has same OD outside diameter as the ID inside diameter of the seal)

- tool has then to be placed inside the differential housing and bolted on a very long bolt passed through the axle end

- pull this long bolt out untill seal reaches its place and press it there (using a nut and spanner)

- use a solid metal housing seal to withstand pressure applied when squeezed in its place



Please, if you have leaking hubs needing oil seal replacement, do the job yourself to make sure it's correctly done !

Remember the vintage image attached - this is the job they performed.

[billysugga]

looking good costin . Are you talking of the seal inside the axle tube which goes onto the half shaft?

are you going to fit radios? if not are you interested in selling you lower transformer(onmformare 102) mounting frames?

thanks Glynn

[costin moga]

Yep, that's the seal, that little sucker !

I will not fit radios, but I do not have any ideea what is the lower transformer. Picture ?

[costin moga]

Here you have a technical drawing of the seal mounting tool.

[costin moga]

LEAF SPRINGS

Leaf springs were disasambled, cleaned and painted. First two blades were replaced (ALTYCO).

These came complete with bronze bushes.

I still regret not to have them sandblasted and powder coated.

[mo]

Sorry to say now: Whenever safety-wiring, try to draw the wire as seen on the bolt at 1:40pm, not without a fastening orientation as on the others, at 2:20am for example.