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Old 09-29-2020, 07:20 AM   #7
BRENT in 10-uh-C
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Eastern Tennessee
Posts: 11,513
Default Re: "A" model rear wheel bearing conversion.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Synchro909 View Post
It has taken a lot of years but a weakness in Henry's hardening process is showing up now. The process didn't harden very well at the axle nut end of the hub so the hardening wears through - I'm sure most have seen it.

The standard repair is to put a sleeve on the end of the trumpet and in the hub, then use the smaller V8 rollers. The problem with that repair has been discussed a number of times here and in another forum. The sleeves for the trumpet tend to be soft and the rollers of poor quality. I have heard of a number of ways of using other over the counter bearings with varying degrees of success. So far no problems with this conversion on my car.

Yeah, I am not sure where this is coming from. To begin with, Ford did not make the hubs, ...Kelsey Hayes did. I have both Ford's and K/H drawings on the A-1116 hub (11456 is K/H #). The print specifies the hub to be a forging from 'EE' steel with a 'BB' heat treatment. It calls for a 51-55 Rockwell. If the bearing alone was kept saturated in good quality grease, these would have gone a lifetime. Matter of fact, type 'EE' steel is a medium carbon steel and when forged, it likely would have given many miles of service without the heat treating process.

But on to the root problem. Most owners did a poor job of keeping the hub bearings lubricated which is why the hubs wear. I have a plug we machined that allows to check the wear of the hub. Many hubs are worn out-of-round and/or on a taper. Machining for a sleeve only wears thru the case hardening. That is why replacement hubs are manufactured to keep everything within factory tolerances.
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