Axle bearing race - how bad is to bad ??

[1932 V8]

Here are a couple of pics of axle bell ends . How bad is too bad ?? The bearing surfaces measure 2.063" +/ - .001" and are round . I know there are fixes for these but I am just asking this question . I have two 36 rear ends and I am taking the best ends for our 36 . The ones in the pics will be left over so I am just curious .


The above is one axle bell . The rest looks good .






The two pics above are the other axle bell end . There are two spots on this one .

[Brian]

The beauty of 35-36 style axle housings is that they can be swapped side for side, which places those pitted portions on the top, where they are not loaded. Doing so will see you out....
however you do know the proper thing to do would be to sleeve them back to standard using correctly case hardened and ground sleeves. My first option seems pretty good....

[ford38v8]

If that's all you have to worry about, you got it good! I've seen the entire bottom surface looking like that and worse, and the Fords keep on truckin'.

Even better news:

The load is on the bottom so that's where the wear is. Flipping the bells over to the opposite sides puts the worn area on top where there is no load whatsoever. This can't be done on '37 and later due to the spring hangers being integral with the bells.

[1932 V8]

The one axle end can be flipped for sure . The second one with the two pics has the wear on the top and bottom . Flipping it to the "best side is the only option .

[ford38v8]

Definitely not good, but really, you can keep them greased up and change bearings more often or fix them with sleeves now. You've got plenty of time to make that decision.

[Lawrie]

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I found a very small amount of breaking up on the left hand side on my 33,I just got the small die grinder and relieved that part,it was about 1/8 wide by 1/4 in around the circ.
I plan to source the proper bearing type steel and make my own sleeves after friends have had short life in the ones they fitted to their A.s.

My plan is to make the sleeves slightly oversize,get them heat treated and ground to a specified inside dimension and leave the OD rough, shrink them onto the axle and only then get the OD ground at the local machine shop on the crankshaft grinder.
Lawrie

[my4dv8]

Not great as it's through the hardening. But as said the beauty of 35 36 housings is that they are symmetrical and the left lower can become the right upper and vice versa , so putting the better surface at the bottom where the most load is.

[BobbyG]

I look at it this way - it has taken 80 plus years to get this far - most probably used a lot more in the 1st 40 years - how many miles are we realistically going to put on it now & how long have we personally got to last. I know my old coupe will see me out.

Happy trails

Bob

[alan]

if mine had been that good I never would have touched them--the aftermarket sleeves are not what they are suppossed to be-they just are not hard enough wear quickly

[Mr. Will]

I don't seen any pics...

[bobH]

Originally Posted by BobbyG

I look at it this way - it has taken 80 plus years to get this far - most probably used a lot more in the 1st 40 years - how many miles are we realistically going to put on it now & how long have we personally got to last. I know my old coupe will see me out.

Happy trails

Bob

I'm with BobbyG... My 47 has worse-looking surfaces. Every two or three years, I clean them up, take another look, and put them back in service. I'm not seeing any new degradation over the last 13 years. It's surely going to outlast me. JMO
(My driving habits... not too many miles per year, but when I do take it out, it's for trips of 600 to 1000 miles, usually.)

[Kurt in NJ]

From a chassis repair manual ---examine the wheel bearing surfaces at the outer ends of both axle housings , if worn scored or pitted in excess of .010 for more than 1/2 the length of the bearing the housing should be replaced.