MTFCA Forum

Well, I decided not to let a sleeping dog lie (idiot!!!). I had a minor grease leak from the rear passenger outer seal and decided it needed to be addressed (can you hear the can of worms opening yet??? ). I had all the parts I need so I pull everything out. That’s when I discovered this little gem (note the braised repair to the torn metal near the dimple hole)…
As soon as I saw it, I knew I was up a creek without a paddle. I have pictures from several angles (in other words, I was already procrastinating knowing what’s going to happen next). My guess is that my dad broke that metal out or it was already broken and he repaired it back in the late 70s. Strangely enough, I am thinking that I might remember this being brought up when I was a boy. Needless to say, when I attempted to put the sleeve in, this happened ☹:
That hanging piece just popped off after that.

I came up with a thought . Pretty simple too… to some extent. I could rotate the location of the dimple hole in the axle housing 180 degrees along the axis (to the rear side) and rotate the sleeve 180 degrees (I’d also have to drill a new hole for the grease fitting in the sleeve). The big issue with his is the direction of the “V” (the split in the bearing sleeve) would be pointing up (looking like an upside down “V”).

I was thinking that I could just use a passenger side sleeve and then flip it to have the dimple outboard, but that puts the “V” upside down. The conventional wisdom I’ve been reading says that the “V” being upright assists the grease in moving towards the center of the bearing… I’m not sure that the bearing wouldn’t still get grease as it is rotating and the bearings are hollow with the slits in them. I can’t be certain. I talked to Steve at Lang’s and he seemed to think that the V being upside down wasn’t a good thing. Thoughts?

Next comes the damaged area where the old piece busted out. After speaking with Steve, he also pointed out that the axle housing is steel and not iron (like the slide on flanges that hold the emergency brake hardware). Apparently, this can be welded, but I’m thinking that this should be a welder with some talent. This wouldn’t involve cutting off a ring section and welding a new ring section on. It may be just a matter of cleaning up the missing material and then matching that piece with something that same general size and arc. That may be easier to say than do. He suggested just doing the weld repair and drill a new hole.

I’m going to look to see if diameter of the axle shaft is reasonably close to a standard pipe size. If I have something that has the same general outer diameter, I can likely mount it in my lathe and turn the diameter down to the right thickness (like I have that talent???... ha ha ha). It’s a matter of matching that piece’s shape, tacking/welding it in, and then filling with JB Weld and shaping it…

Does anyone have any experience trying to weld on an axle housing?

One of the guys in the club also came up with an idea to just tack welding the sleeve to the housing and then fill the damaged area with JB Weld. If it lasts another 40 years, I won’t need to worry about it. Ha ha ha. It is a simple fix that may be the easiest option!

Any thoughts any of you may have would be appreciated!

How far do they have you trim back when running safety hubs? Maybe a set of safety hubs would solve your problems

Hey Shane,

To be honest... I don't know what safety hubs are.

Can you fill me in on that term?

They are full floating rear hubs which take the load of the vehicle off the axle and allow the axle to just turn the wheel, not support the car and turn the wheel. When installing, you need to trim an inch off that flange which would eliminate your issue. Just a thought that popped in my head. I'll add a photo of the portion of the directions that instructs you to trim the housings.

That damage would be the least of the problems, the axle is stuffed.

Interesting! I've never heard of these. My gut reaction is to keep the car as original as possible (well, at least the things you can see!

I'll have to keep this in mind though. Many thanks for the suggestion!

How about if you just swap out that half of the axle housing with a different one?

Frank is right, that axle is junk. As far as the housing, the hole locates the sleeve. Beat it flush and braze it if it makes you feel better. That did not cause your leak. Your leak was caused by all the radial play from the completely worn out axle.

Andy

The beauty of safety/floating rear axle bearings is that axle is quite useable as is. All you need is a good taper and keyway, and a good thread on the end.With no load on the axle, no need for a good standard bearing journal and no need for a clean oil seal surface, all that needs to be done is to cut off the piece of axle housing protruding through the backing plate casting and fit the new bearing carrier. All of this can be done in the car just as it sits.
Sure, it means taking an irreverseable step, but that housing already has issues, and the modification is unseen anyway.
Others will have different opinions.

Allan from down under.

As far as the axle housing repair, that is why I don't like to braze anything that can be welded. That should have been welded instead of brazed as far as I am concerned. Once something has been brazed, the bronze is absorbed into the base metal and is very hard to get out, if at all possible. That repair would have been very easy to do with a welder. It still can be welded, but it will need to have some material replaced. JMHO Dave

My guess is that my dad brazing back in 78-80 ish. He didn’t have welding experience or equipment... that’s assuming that he even did the repair.

I’ve got to do some thinking on this one. Thanks for all the comments!

Shane Lach wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 20, 2020 10:33 pm

They are full floating rear hubs which take the load of the vehicle off the axle and allow the axle to just turn the wheel, not support the car and turn the wheel. When installing, you need to trim an inch off that flange which would eliminate your issue. Just a thought that popped in my head. I'll add a photo of the portion of the directions that instructs you to trim the housings.Screenshot_20200720-223104.png

There is no way I would ever grind down my axle key, (NOT "keyway" BTW), to install a floating hub, let alone tack weld it, as also suggested in those instructions!

It is an easy repair more than you think.

Get some 1/8" copper or brass sheet about 1" X 2", form to the inside radius of the tube with the sleeve removed. Take a cut of wheel on a die grinder and cut out the brazed area. Degrease as good as you can and protect the axle, etc. Take a MIG welder with the copper or brass sheet in place as a backing and weld against the area up as required. let cool naturally, then shape the tube as needed. Next, take a die grinder with nice acorn and recut the hole. Just remember to stuff a rag in the tube around the axle and inspect before assembly.

Hope this Helps, Been there done That!!!!

Hank

Thanks, Hank! This is sounding like a good possibility. I hadn’t thought about the brass or copper backing. Wouldn’t it be easier to graft in a piece of steel?

Jerry, I agree key shouldn't be ground. I have no experience with those hubs, but wouldn't it be better to just remove the key and reinstall it after the hub is on? What am I missing? Dave

David, I don't know where grinding the key came into this discussion. You cannot fit the key after the hub is fitted in either application. With safety/floating bearing set-ups, the spiggot carrying the bearing is fitted into the axle housing without the key being in the axle keyway, so that the inner oil seal is not damaged. Once that is done, the wheel is installed in the usual way, key in the axle keyway, hub over same and the bearing over the end of the spiggot.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under.

Allan, I was referring to the floating bearing hub, not the wheel hub. Look at the drawing that Shane posted, it shows grinding the key so the seal on the floating bearing hub won't be damaged when installing it. That's what I don't understand, why can't the key be removed before installing the hub, then reinstalled? As I said, I have no experience with these, just going by the drawing. As Jerry said, they say to tack weld the key, don't see why that would be necessary or even a good idea. Am I missing something here? Dave

In installing safety hubs just use a trimmed wood..dowl or something solf to lift and guide the axel seal over the key, it is at the inside part of the safety hub. I would not grind the key or tack weld as shown on the drawing, the key needs full contact with the wheel hub.

Gtcha Dave. I hadn't read that download. You are correct. The key can be fitted after the bearing carrier. I advise my customers to fit the bearing into the hub, slide the spiggot in place in the bearing, and install the whole assembly in the car without the key, but with a length of tape along the axle keyway to protect the seal. Mine come with a set screw, which is tightened when the spiggot is at this optimal depth. Then the wheel can be pulled off, the key inserted, and the wheel fitted as usual.

Allan from down under.

Yes, you can graft a piece too!

Hank