Pressing rear axle gear out...

[ivaldes1]

It begins. I have it in the 20 ton arbor press with some force on it. I've read the guides. I am not in that big of a hurry. Anything I can/should do to facilitate the gear removal? Heat it? I am not likely to reuse these axles as the key ways are worn out.

[Steve Jelf]

I've never had to heat one to get it off. Be very careful not to let that axle slip out and go flying. Rather than put the gear between two supports I would press into a large socket on one support. It doesn't have to move very far to get the retainers out.

[Kevin Pharis]

If you saw em off just behind the gear (band saw... not hack saw!), the axle stubs pushes right out. And this way there’s none of that “shoot outa there” paranoia

[Allan]

Kevin is right. If the axles are not re-useable, I cut them off at the inner bearing journal on a chop saw and just press out the stubs.

Allan from down under

[D Stroud]

And don't pitch those old axles. They can be used for many other things. Dave

[Matt in California]

Ignacio,
When I removed the gears off of mine, I tried to use a press like yours. No success. I used a cut off saw and they seemed to come off fairly easy. Same press, same jack. All I could conclude was the heat from the cut off saw made it easier. Putting them on, I used oil...

For press, I bought some parts at a swap meet. Basically someone who had a lathe and tools I don't have made some simple tools for the removal. If you need me to I can post photos.

Matt

[Matt in California]

Speaking of lots of things to do with these axles. Back in the day Plomb tool company use to forge tools out of the axles!

"In 1922 the insignificant wrench line was expanded. The few wrenches made at that time were made out of Model T Ford axles which were suitable in size and analysis for the company's purpose."

See: http://www.vannattabros.com/plomb/plombtool.html

Enjoy,

Matt

[Adam]

Properly support the gear. DON’T press on the tips of the gear teeth.

[CudaMan]

I cut my old axles short with a chop saw and abrasive disk before pressing them out because I wasn't planning on re-using them. I also supported the gear on a large 3/4 inch drive socket so that no force was applied to the gear teeth.

I knew my puny home press wouldn't be strong enough to press the gears fully onto the new shafts, so I took them to a machine shop that had a 30 ton press and a cage to contain the axle in case it bowed and tried to shoot out sideways like a missile.

They pressed the gears onto the new shafts with no bowing and no trouble for a nominal fee.

The next time I needed a pair of new axle shafts, I sent my gears and keepers to Chaffin's and they pressed them onto the new shafts prior to shipping the completed axle assemblies back to me.

[Dan B]

Wish I knew they did that! I would have done the same!

[CudaMan]

I figured it did no harm to ask while I had them on the phone ordering the axles. They were happy to do it, the only extra cost was the shipping.

[Matt in California]

Chaffin's sounds like the way to go! I was just happy that they delivered the axles to Bakersfield last year.

Here are the tools I bought/used. I didn’t have instructions. But you can guess use.

I used one gear to avoid the teeth or the gear that I was removing touching the base.

Matt

[Jim_PTC_GA]

I used a similar press to get mine off. I C clamped 2x4s to the frame to keep it from shooting out and hitting me.

[DanTreace]

Pressing off the gear is two steps, but goes pretty well with press and fixtures.


Now putting on the gear on the new axle, without harming the taper end is the plan.

More than one way to skin that cat.


First try was to use a Model A hub for support to the taper, which was greased, and the Model A hub since it is different size would allow easy release. But the long shaft was hard to hold upright to get a good start onto the gear.

So did a switch and improvised a beefy split- clamp to secure the shaft higher up, with the clamp resting on the press bridge. That worked really well to get the gear on and down.....but... just a little way. (note in photo you can still see 1/2 of the key exposed).

Seems when we added some WD-40 to the gear, that slippery lube ran down the shaft and made our makeshift shim stack of brass in the clamp slip, so wouldn't hold the axle up.

But easy fix, wiped clean with lacquer thinner, and added a longer grade 8 bolt to the hole in the split- clamp, and tightened that up firm on the new axle shaft. That did the trick! This improvised split-clamp held amazing, and back on the press the gear was fully pushed down to expose the key groove.

Improvised split-clamp holding fixture on axle shaft

[RustyFords]

If you saw em off just behind the gear (band saw... not hack saw!), the axle stubs pushes right out. And this way there’s none of that “shoot outa there” paranoia

This is what I did in order to salvage some nice gears that were mated to bad axles.

[John Illinois]

I used a model A hub with an axle shim to hold the taper to press it. I made a hollow spacer to fit inside teeth.

[Matt in California]

From my experience and others here a heavier press is needed. I am curious how many ton press is needed?

Matt

[RajoRacer]

I use a 20 ton and a cage.

[ivaldes1]

I think I am going to have to punt to a shop. I put it on the arbor on the thick metal plate on a 1.5 inch socket which made it just about 1/2 inch too long to fit into the press. I took out the movable shelf, put 2 x 4 wood across the legs with the metal plate on top and pressed some, the wood creaked. It did not move the gear. Tales of axles shooting out to spear me through my brain spooked me so I stopped.

[John kuehn]

If you take your axle to a shop please tell them not to try to ‘force ‘ the gear on the new shaft!
If they have a large press the operator will the have the idea to force it on and be done with it.
Ask them to mic the i.d. of the gear and the o.d. of your axle shaft to make sure the shaft isn’t to big for the gear or to close the same size of the i.d. of the gear or vice versa!
An experienced operator can tell when the axle is not in a bind in the gear when using a press.
A bent axle can happen when a large press is used. Been there and it happened to me when I took mine to a “professional” shop.
I found out later the gear was to close to the size of the axle. Should have measured both first!

[ivaldes1]

Thanks for the machine shop instructions. Unlikely to happen with just an arbor press but I don't want to end up like Phineas Gage.

[ivaldes1]

You know that if you teach a man to fish then give him a 20 ton arbor press he will spend 2 days smushing random things before getting down to business.

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

You know that if you teach a man to fish then give him a 20 ton arbor press he will spend 2 days smushing random things before getting down to business.

Similarly, if you build a man a fire, you'll keep him warm for a day. If you set that man on fire, you'll keep him warm for the rest of his life.