repairing rear axle housing bearing races..

[Lowsquire]

I have been warned off the sleeves sold by various parts houses to do this job, so I went to my local bearing supply, and couldnt find an equivalent roller bearing inner sleeve size. the closest I got was a 2 1/16 "dia outer but it is only 1.5" long, not 2 1/4 " as required.

two Questions..

has anyone used the sleeves available thru Macs, etc? are they properly made and hardened?

If there is anyone who has deciphered a bearing part no. to these parts so i could order a reputable bearing locally,could you let me know it?

Its Kinda hard down here to get this stuff, and ordering just a pair of the sleeves from America gets expensive.

[Lawrie]

Go to one of the heat treatment places in Melb,ask them to recomed a machine shop to make the sleaves from the type of material they would recomend,have the machine shop turn up the sleaves get them heat treated ,get the machine shop to fit them ,then get them to grind to the original size.
Lawrie

[Lowsquire]

Thanks Lawrie, but that is a very expensive method, compared to finding the correct size, already hardened part and just turning the bearing faces down to a press fit. this is why I want to find if an inner bearing sleeve 2.0625 " OD and 2.250" long exists.The ID isnt as important, but will probably be 1.750" or 1.8125".

Has anyone in the States used the available sleeves, and had good luck with them?

[fordscript]

I have just had a pair done like Lawrie suggests, nice job...$600.00 NZ.

[Lowsquire]

yep I'd imagine that would be close to what I would pay here..

just trying to get better value for money..This diff will hit close to five grand if Im not savvy here and there..(its a Columbia)

[PeteVS]

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I had this done to a '48 rear here in the US. I think it cost me about $400 US with the sleeves (C & G,) annealing (myself,) turning, grinding, pressing on (long threaded rod, myself.) I SHOULD HAVE just swapped the bells left for right which would have put the worn surfaces on the top where there's no load and the good surfaces on the bottom where the load is, but I just couldn't bring myself to that.
PS: Car isn't on the road yet, so I can't say how good they are.

[JWL]

I have used the Mac's journal repair sleeves you asked about. They worked ok. Not a simple job to install. The sleeves were a mile out of round and required some careful study to select a proper diameter to machine housings for the desired press fit. I am also of the opinion the wall is excessively thick which removes more material from the housing than I was happy with. I checked for straight, rough turned with carbide, finished with grinding wheel. If I do any in the future I will make the sleeves, as recommended above, rather than purchase those with the extra-thick wall. I will also do them in one operation in the crankshaft grinding machine rather than a lathe.

[Lowsquire]

Sleeves are listed at about $26-30 each on the various online vintage ford parts sites. I assume they all come from the one supplier.
wish I knew who.. or if they are just a standard catalog bearing part marked up heavily. This is the info I'm digging for.

[jimTN]

Lawrie, Call Johnny Stooksbury 865-690-7585 eastern standard time. If you can call the US, he is the person to talk to, he is the master Columbia machine shop man. He has told me about having to be careful about where the sleaves come from and I do not remember what he said his source is.

[Randy]

John Connelly at Columbia Two Speed Parts did a couple for me. He has his own sleeves made to his specifications:

http://columbiatwospeedparts.com/default.aspx

[4dFord/SC]

Originally Posted by Randy

John Connelly at Columbia Two Speed Parts did a couple for me. He has his own sleeves made to his specifications:

http://columbiatwospeedparts.com/default.aspx

I believe the Johnny Stooksbury gets his from John Connelly, too.

[philipswanson]

Originally Posted by Randy

John Connelly at Columbia Two Speed Parts did a couple for me. He has his own sleeves made to his specifications:

http://columbiatwospeedparts.com/default.aspx

I second that. This is the way to go!

[Walt Dupont--Me.]

About 7 yr's ago I bought sleeves from Snyders Antique Auto for my Model A. I had my crank grinder man do them in his crank grinder and press them on. I don't remember what it cost but wasn't bad. I've put 15K miles on the car, seems fine. Walt

[V12Bill]

I did this job on my 1946 Lincoln (they have the same size hub, 2 1/16") . I bought the sleeves from Job Lot and had my local machine shop do the job for about $350. My concern was that nearly 1/4" of material has to be removed from the hub to press the sleeve on. I was concerned with the structual integrety of the remaining virgin metal on the hub. The car is nearly finished, but has not been on the road yet.

[Kerk]

I had a pair of early 32 axles done and then went a different route. I would be glad to part with them for $ 300. + S&H kc

[meric42]

Finally here are the pictures I promised, sorry for the delay.

In the first pic you can see the inner spacer held in place by the factory inner hub seal cir-clip and the two ball bearings between which is another spacer @ 1/2" wide. There is a third spacer identical to the inner spacer but fitted on the out side of the outer bearing. The second pic shows the inner seal cir-clip and the inner spacer and the third pic is a close-up of the inner/outer spacer

The width of the spacers is not particularly critical, the complete set-up should be sized to fill the space right out to the seal retaining clip grove. The inner hub seal is no longer required as sealed bearings are used and should require no further lubrication.

Remember the bearings used are only a loose fit into the hub so a thin sleeve is required between the outside of the bearing and the inside of the hub. I have used loctite on mine to secure the bearings and prevent movement in the hub.

I hope the above explanation is clear, if not then please feel free to ask any questions. If anyone is interested I may be able to supply the bearings and spacers in the form of a kit with full instructions, just let me know if interested and I will price up the parts.

Kind regards, Meric42

[Lowsquire]

Stupidly I didnt even think to ask John Connelly...of course he would make them himself. his parts are immaculate, I used his stuff to rebuild the Columbia.

Thanks all, It seems from pouring thru online catalogues, the standard bearing inner sleeve I seek isnt actually made, so Ill give John an email.

Thankyou everyone!

[meric42]

I've replaced mine with four sealed ball bearings 2 each side with a spacer between the bearings. Will take pictures of all the parts if anyone is interested in the mod. Much better and more permanent than the original roller bearing set-up.

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Lowsquire

Stupidly I didnt even think to ask John Connelly...of course he would make them himself. his parts are immaculate, I used his stuff to rebuild the Columbia.

Thanks all, It seems from pouring thru online catalogues, the standard bearing inner sleeve I seek isnt actually made, so Ill give John an email.

Thankyou everyone!

Since I'd retired, John has done all of mine. Always top rate quality at a reasonable choice. You won't go wrong with the man...

[Lowsquire]

Sounds like some good new zealand ingenuity!

I would love to see this.

did you have to machine the hubs and axles to a stock bearing size?

what was the cost?