halfshafts

[john.n]

i have found one of the half shafts to be leaking oil. i have bought (s)crap ones off ebay (complete with retainers) that i planned to swap with the current leaking one after replacing the seals. only problem is the surfaces the oil seals run on have become very rusty. is it possible to clean them up or would they have to be turned on a lathe? can anyone give me an idiot proof way to check the end float on the shaft? i have a few shims i rescued off the scrap shafts

many thanks.

[Bensdexta]

May be a Speedi-sleeve?
See

Speedi sleeves work very well. Have used them in the past with good results. Try your local bearing supplier. They do cost a bit though. The last one I purchased was for a Dexta rear axle and cost NZD80 (25-30 ponds).

from this thread: http://www.fordsontractorpages.nl/phpbb ... 9&start=25

[YorkshireDextaMan]

i have found one of the half shafts to be leaking oil. i have bought (s)crap ones off ebay (complete with retainers) that i planned to swap with the current leaking one after replacing the seals. only problem is the surfaces the oil seals run on have become very rusty. is it possible to clean them up or would they have to be turned on a lathe? can anyone give me an idiot proof way to check the end float on the shaft? i have a few shims i rescued off the scrap shafts

many thanks.

If it is leaking oil, that would be the inner seal, i would have thought, Iv'e just done a refurb on both my halfshafts and it can be quiet an operation, Imo, if you can get any shiny metal and if she's only for light use i would'nt worry, the outer ones only retain grease. As to the halfshaft end float, the workshop manual method works well. Just wedge out the opposite side with a screwdriver . then measure the gap .004-012, thou. Infact if you tighten the halfshaft nuts up , and you can feel the slight'est movement you are about right,

[Dunggatherer]

John,the end float on the shafts is almost impossible to determine,without them both being tightened in their trumpets.
Last week i had to replace my bearings,and seals.
After putting each axleshaft together i found an insane free play in the bearings.
That worried me,but i decided to testfit them anyway.
Only after fitting both axleshafts plus brakebackingplates and shims did this play disappear.
It seems the axleshafts are meant to just touch,inside the tractor,and thus tighten the bearings.
The test is then,when you turn one wheel forward,the other must turn backwards.
If not it's too tight,another shim (or a thicker one) is needed.
Axle shaft free play follow YorkshireDextamans reply.

Good luck.
Rob.

[YorkshireDextaMan]

John,the end float on the shafts is almost impossible to determine,without them being tightened in their trumpets.
Last week i had to replace my bearings,and seals.
After putting each axleshaft together i found an insane free play in the bearings.
That worried me,but i decided to testfit them anyway.
Only after fitting both axleshafts plus brakebackingplates and shims did this play disappear.
It seems the axleshafts are meant to just touch,inside the tractor,and thus tighten the bearings.
The test is then,when you turn one weel forward,the other must turn backwards.
If not it's too tight,another shim (or a thicker one) is needed.
Axle shaft free play speaks for itself then.

Good luck.
Rob.

The halfshafts must not touch

[Dunggatherer]

Then what would tighten the bearings?

[Tubal Cain]

Providing that the bearing retainer is tight against the trumpet, the only way that oil can leak onto the back plate is past the outer seal. Oil leaking past the inner seal will collect in the bearing retainer providing the outer seal is tight.

If the rubbing surface on the halfshafts are rusty this can be cleaned using very fine emery paper. If however the shaft is scored then one solution would be to fit a Speedi Sleeve. Whilst they are not cheap this is the preferred option as oil leaking from the axle contaminates the brake linings.

Turning the shafts in a lathe would reduce the outside diameter and would entail fitting a seal with a smaller bore. Another alternative is to have the shafts built up by metal spraying and reground to size, an expensive exercise.

There is a very good write up in the Workshop Manual regarding the procedure for adjusting the axle float to give a clearance of 0.004" to 0.012. As the half shafts rotate at different speeds when the tractor is turning, the reason for fitting a differential, under no circumstances should the ends of the halfshafts be in contact with each other! The fact that when you turn one wheel the other rotates in the opposite direction occurs with any differential, jack up the back end of your car and see what happens when you turn one wheel, that's assuming that it is rear wheel drive.

Gerald

[Dunggatherer]

Gentlemen,when thinking about this i fully agree with you.
However in this manual,right underneath the picture,it says they should touch.
http://www.fordson-dexta.de/downloads/section7.pdf

This is a link to Stephan's site,thanks Stephan!

Now i agree it sounds illogical to have two counterturning shafts touch,but i am still puzzled as to how the bearings are tightened then.
Has anyone ever fitted new bearings and then,before putting the shafts in the trumpets,felt the amount of play?

[pjjms]

There is nothing but the contact between the axles ends pre loading the bearings. Given they will be hardened at the spline end, are not forced together, but rather have the bearing clearance to seperate them most of the time, are rotating very slowly relative to each other, and are in an oil bath, the wear will in effect be zero on the axle ends.

Keep in mind the wear will be determined by the differance in speed between the axles, not the axle speeds, and I would suggest this difference when turning amounts to 2 or 3 rpm except for small periods when one brake is used to tighten the turning radius.

There are plenty of examples of metal to metal contact on rotating parts. Cranks, spigot bushes, selector forks, even the like of brake shafts running in the axle housing. Each uses different bearing materials depending on the speed, load and lubrication. Get the mix right and just about anything is possible.

[YorkshireDextaMan]

Gentlemen,when thinking about this i fully agree with you.
However in this manual,right underneath the picture,it says they should touch.
http://www.fordson-dexta.de/downloads/section7.pdf

This is a link to Stephan's site,thanks Stephan!

Now i agree it sounds illogical to have two counterturning shafts touch,but i am still puzzled as to how the bearings are tightened then.
Has anyone ever fitted new bearings and then,before putting the shafts in the trumpets,felt the amount of play?

Rob, On reading that page One would have to say it is rather misleading, but in no way must the two shafts be in constant contact, If they do then the bearings would run too tight and wear out, Around .010 thou clearance is ok and that makes the bearing adjustment correct. Jim

[john.n]

so the half shafts i have bought are uneconomical to replace.....never mind 99p for a spare diff and shafts. got what i paid for. is the diff for a dexta same as a major one? looks v similar.
is there a gasket between the axle housings and the retainer? can i use silicon for here? and does anyone know where i can get nuts to fit on the retainer studs i fear i may have to use a nut splitter on mine, the years of scrapping have corroded them alot.

many thanks

[Dunggatherer]

Hi John,there are no gaskets between the trumpet and bearing housing,just shim(s) and a brakebacking plate.
The seal is supposed to keep all the grease in.

If you can not find any of those nuts,just yell.
After butchering a rearend for spares i have a bunch of them left.
I'd gladly put them in a box and send them to you.

Greetings from The Netherlands.
Rob.

[john.n]

thank you very much for your offer Rob. think i found the problem and a solution. the oil seemed to be leaking out of the joint between the trumpet housing and the retainer. so i cleaned the whole back plate and drums with brake cleaner so they were oil free, then applied a fair bit of silicon around the join. this will save me hours of work if the seal holds. since there are no gaskets involved in the sealing of the shafts i fear after removing the shaft the problem would be the same. this obviously shows the inner seal has gone, is this a problem or will the oil keep things lubricated enough?

many thanks

[Dunggatherer]

Well the inner oil seal is of course meant to keep the oil in the rearaxle,and the grease in the bearings.
I don't think that the bearings will wear out when the oil and grease are mixed.

I do think however that your solution is a temporary fix.

[pjjms]

I did the same thing with a dexta a few years back, but used master gasker rather than silicone, even though I had the axles out. I replaced the outer seals but not the inners. Had no problem with leaks after that. My thinking at the time was that an oil supply to the bearings was a good thing, but in hind site I suspect the bearing life will be reduced as the oil is not a constant flow so the small quantity of it will be doing a lot of work. No doubt grease is better suited to the job.

Having said that these tractors are not doing much work these days so the bearings should last for years.