I talked to a friend that use to work on race cars and he said most of the time he replaced axle shafts and the splines were tight he would take a wire wheel to the splines to knock the edge off until the spline fit.
I am going to use the old side gears so that I can check the fit and wire wheel as needed until they slide on and take photos of just how far they fit..
Used my JD tractor and forks on the bucket and wrestled the assembly into the truck bed. Then took the assembly to the machine shop with the axle shafts.
1. The run out of the shafts will be checked
2. The run out will be checked on the rotors to make sure the housing is not bent
Called tech support at Lock Right and they seem to think the spline ID of the coupler plates may be at the lower tolerance the axle spline OD may be at the upper end of the tolerance so right now there is an interference fit.
Then, once the checks are made will do skim cuts on the OD of the splines until they slide into the locker.
Went to town and picked up some steel to fabricate a brace to secure my diesel tank that I use to fuel my tractor with the clamp on forks and also make fork extensions to get the rear axle out of the truck when I bring it home from the shop.
Went to the shop today to check on the progress of installing the shafts and the spline OD is right, there has been just a slight misalignment and they both engage and slide right up the inner plates in the locker the same as the side gear slid on. They are just a little long and will be trimmed so that the snap ring keeps the other end, making contact with the plates inside the locker.
Used my JD tractor and forks on the bucket and wrestled the assembly into the truck bed. Then took the assembly to the machine shop with the axle shafts.
1. The run out of the shafts will be checked
2. The run out will be checked on the rotors to make sure the housing is not bent
Called tech support at Lock Right and they seem to think the spline ID of the coupler plates may be at the lower tolerance the axle spline OD may be at the upper end of the tolerance so right now there is an interference fit.
I bought those tires in 1991 right before I totaled it out.
When I got them mounted the ex was on the back porch watching me drive up and when I got out she asked why the tires were so Small. I replied that was all you would allow me to spend. They replaced N78-15" Ground Hawgs.
Grabbed the Birfield snap rings and the set of conical washers and went to the machine shop. When I got there both shafts had been shortened in the lathe about 0.330" and the drive flanges mated up to compress the gaskets without the shafts making contact with the inner plates of the locker.
Drive flange flush against the wheel hub and the groove for the snap ring right where it should be.
Using the tractor and fork extensions to reach both tires. One ratchet strap to pull the axle to the tractor and the other one to squeeze the channel against the other tire so I did not drop that end as I lifted the axle.
Made it inside without dropping the axle
Transferred the weight to the wheel dollies
I then came in to check the manual for the torque spec for the hub studs and lock hub cover bolts. I torqued the hub studs to 14 lb/ft and did not have a 1/2 drive shock in 5 mm so I did the cover bolts by feel.
When I was rolling the axle back an forth getting both wheels on the channel I could hear the locker and sounded like a popcorn popper so it is working without much torque to allow differential action.
We had snow and winds overnight and our road got drifted in and was spending my day get the road opened back up and for the first time had help from a guy that brought over a bigger tractor. Got the tractor stuck a few times and was pulled out with help from the other tractor and the last time I had to get my Ram 3500 and use the winch to get it out of the ditch and the hole the front wheels were digging.
Last night most of the State had either closed roads or no unnecessary travel.
After being at two different sites from February until last week and now that the snow is gone and the weather has warmed up I started working the the front axle getting the final cleaning and prepped for paint.
Started cleaning the inside of the axle and had to swab out the old greasy mess.
Cleaned up the rust around the seal area
The other end cleaned up in the seal area and the condition inside the tube
Switched to set up the knuckle for the short side to scribe the line.
Bolted on the spindle with the caliper adapter because not sure where the old bolts are and these came with the big brake kit
Removed the busing so that it will fit the spindle bushing
Scribe tool installed in the spindle bushing
Rod installed and rotated with the scribe against the rod to scribe the line was prying the scribe up against the rod with the tool for the short side
Measured the short side knuckle, I measure both and they were with in .001" of each other. Was hard to hold the caliper and take the photo at the same time
Measured a new trunnion for the bushings I also measured the rod but didn't take a pic
Made a data sheet in Excel for the shim calculations that I can just plug in the numbers to do the calculations
