galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

i've known for a while that my left rear axle spindle was damaged sometime in the past from what was probably an overheated bearing. it has been galled and someone had wrapped it with a conical, thin, metal shim of some sort that's often included in a rebuild kit. i want it fixed properly.

any ideas? finding a used one could be difficult...
can i buy some sort of new aftermarket rear axle that could be installed as a replacement?
how about a machine shop removing the spindle and grafting on a new one? i'm up for just about any kind of idea. i won't judge... promise!

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

Find a good - used axle or NOS.
Period.
Once you pull the axle to be 100% certain what you have (overall length & tooth count), only then start searching.
I advise this as often enough, axles, even entire rear chassis' have been replaced at some point.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

thanks.

my understanding is that ford widened the axle in 1941 and it's a '41 only part. so finding a replacement could be difficult...

i've also been informed that axle tapers can be shimmed with thin metal to keep the hub from rubbing on the backing plate, which is probably the source of the squealing i hear from time to time back there and is the motivating force behind this thread. :)

is that a legitimate method of addressing a galled axle spindle problem? the truth is that the left rear axle spindle on my car HAD been shimmed but it was pretty much destroyed when it was removed when i put in a used backing plate the other day. it was not replaced as i thought it could have possibly been unnecessary.

...not unreasonable, despite what one might think of someone with my admittedly limited experience with Fords, in that the previous person working on the brakes forced the left-side e-brake levers into the right-side brake drum area and visa-versa, and consequently my opinion of their expertise was not high.

any opinions on shimming?

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

Shimming is a backyard fix. Ya wanna do this properly? Then find another axle.
Galling weakens the axle. Covering it up with a shim doesn't strengthen it. It only covers it up.
I would, to reiterate, not buy an axle until I knew for certain what I had that needed to be replaced.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

Replace period. P/N 81A-4235, 32.85 O.A.L., 16 teeth gear. Years used 1939-41. Fred Wilner at Southside Obsolete or Michael at Third Gen Auto may have one. My comment is assuming the original rear end is in the car. 42-48 are different, 32.70" length.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

The hub taper might be in worse condition than the axle taper.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

If I interpret the OP problem correctly, It is the axle housing bearing surface that is galled.

It seems that finding a GOOD used housing or having a machine shop fit a new sleeve over the old bearing surface is the recommended repair.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

We have different guys thinking different items. To the OP: is it the axle or the housing?

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

thus far, all my references WRT the rear axle relate to the axle itself and NOT the housing.

what i can say with some assurance is that when i pulled the brake drum off the left rear axle using a huge two-pronged (12") puller, it exposed a threaded taper to which a nut had been threaded. there was a long, square keyway in it that contained a matching long square key ( see pic below ). the taper is galled. and a very thin, originally conically shaped shimming material was more or less wrapped around it. the shimming material was not in any condition to be reused.

the pic is from ebay and are listed as 42-48 Mercury rear axle shafts. the pic is only to demonstrate what i think look like the ones on my '41.

i am trying to avoid removing the shaft and am leaning towards (although i understand it is not an optimal fix) purchasing some shimming material designed for the express purpose of addressing this issue. as i can only assume it's a common problem.

i'll probably be pulling the drum, for yet another time, in the next few days, see if i can locate that puller that i so hopefully stored away a few weeks ago thinking i'd seen the last of it but not so, and some of the shimming material that i think came with the e-brake rebuild kit, IIRC. and attempt to shoehorn that shimming material onto the shaft while holding the keyway in place and lifting the 20lb drum into position.

all in all i'm not confident that i can actually perform those tasks or that it will fix the problem...for long. smh

if not, i'll move on to plan B. which is to (as has been recommended previously) get the shaft removed. identify it, find a new shaft and a shop that can do it for me. as i am in no position to fuss with a differential.

google and the net are telling me that the '41 passenger car rear axles are, get this, EITHER 56 or 58 inches wide. which if taken literally could only mean that Ford used two different lengths of rear axles on their '41 model...but i don't believe that for a second. if i'm forced to guess the length of a '41 ford passenger car's rear axle i'd guess they are 56 inches long even though the FRAME was, i'm convinced, widened in '41 from that of the '40.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

Buy a new axle from one of the trusted sources listed above for a 39-41 Ford. Easy peasy. The hard part is properly shimming the housing on reassembly. The gaskets aren’t just gaskets. They are shims and if you measure them accurately upon removal, you should be able to use new ones of the exact size and get proper fit on assembly.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

'41 axles
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...6&d=1760380106

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

Shouldn't be a problem finding an axle.

Replacing the axle is not a complicated deal; as mentioned the most important step is counting and measuring the shims when you take off the bell. Splitting the differential and switching the axle is easy. Probably biggest hassle is pulling the hubs. Might not even need a spring spreader on a '41.

These days most trouble is getting back up to get the tool I forgot to drag under the car to start with.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

Huey, Ford rear axles are the same length from 1935 through 1941: 32.85". The gear on the inner end changed from 18 teeth to 16 teeth in 1939. Whichever gear number axle you have is matched to the set of two axles and spider. The axle you need to replace can be either/or along with the matched spider and opposite axle.
You wrote that you'll need to find a shop to do the job? Good luck on that, you're better off doing the job yourself. The kids in the shops nowadays only know how to work a cell phone. I would think you'd have already discovered that fact by now.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

thanks for the info Ford38

i'm working as best i can out of a Public Storage unit. and they don't fancy me even changing my oil in there or having access to electricity, so doing it myself even if i had the knowledge and tools is a non-starter, i'm afraid. OTOH, i found a good differential shop in Sacramento that did a good job replacing the ring and pinion on my '53 MG when i dropped off the entire rear axle a couple years ago, so they are a possibility if i find myself with no alternative but to replace the entire axle.

the plan for now is to take my best shot at adding a shim or two to the tapered end of the axle in the hope that it will prevent the brake drum, first of all, from making contact with the backing plate. as has been stated previously, it's a bit of a hack but i don't envision myself traveling over 55 mph in the car...ever. :)

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

Huey, I don't know about you. First you take me off your xmas list for not speaking your shorthand, then you use a weird drum puller against advice otherwise, but you come up a peg by saying you have (or had?) a '53 MG, but you didn't work on that gem either, so back down a peg again. Now you won't drive a Ford Flathead faster than an MG. Tell me it was a TD not a TF and you might get one point back again, but I still won't talk your gibberish.

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

ha!

i bought my first car in 1970. it was a 1961 MGA. i soon rebuilt the engine and transmission and eventually removed all the paint and interior and restored, as best a broke young man in his early 20's could, the car. i then sold it to finance my education.

now in my 70's i recently bought a well restored 1953 MGTD and put a lot of work into it so as to drive it from here in California to Ohio to visit my surviving family. it involved, among other things, new carbs, and a new rack and pinion steering assembly, which i installed myself. the differential's ring and pinion gears, originally a, get this, 5.125/1 ratio!, needed replacing so as to reach 55mph without ruining the engine with excessive RPMs. fifty-five was my personal minimum speed to NOT be a nuisance to others on the road. at that speed and with revs at about 3500 i could and did travel about 300 miles per day for eleven days to cover the distance.

currently i've got the dash in pieces and spending a few days lying upside down on the floorboards to install a new dimmer switch, a new ignition/light switch and a new ammeter. ...it's not a trivial task.

i did and still do not feel i'm competent nor do i have he tools or work space to do differential work. that's where i drawn my line. nor do i do paint or upholstery, or glass work either. i can still do some mechanical work and i do do it if time and money and ambition permits.

and BTW, that cheap 30lb two pronged puller did remove both rear brake drums without damage. getting it positioned properly on both was neither a trivial nor a pleasant task.

i've also made the trip in my 1967 jaguar mk2 and my current ambition is to get the Ford into shape to make the trip too.

so ya, it's a TD! :)

Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

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Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

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Re: galled left rear axle spindle. repair? replace? buy used or aftermarket?
 

thanks, that's good to know. as i may have to resort to my "plan B" which involves a rear axle replacement of some sort. and the thought of simply replacing the entire rear axle assembly would not be out of the question, as i think it's rather straightforward.

just musing here...

in fact, i wonder if Ford widened the frame in '41 (as i understand that that was done) and just decided NOT to address the slightly less than optimum axle length at the time. then in '42 addressed it properly. you know, re-tooling for axle lengths and housings, etc. isn't cheap. i owned a company that was a Chrysler vendor for about a decade in the 80's, so i know how they went about making engineering decisions. and it's not as logical and thoughtful one might think. in fact, they are often driven by the marketing department, if you can believe it ;)