Babbit Thrust Washers

[Dennis_Brown]

Are there babbit thrust washers in a ruxtel axle? I have never had one apart and if there are, are there are, were they used on both the right and left sides?

[George House]

Yes, theywere installed in a T Ruckstell when new but should be replaced any time rear end is rebuilt. And they were used on both sides

[John Warren]

Ruckstell only has one thrust washer on the right hand side.

[StanHowe]

Free advice, take it for what you are paying for it.

Ruckstell rebuild.

Replace the ball bearing and the bronze plate. Those two pieces are critical to the alignment of the ring and pinion. Virtually every one of the bronze plates is dished inward -- some slightly and some a bunch and do not hold the ring gear/carrier/axles, etc., in the correct position.

The correct ball bearing s SKF #7212becby . Size is in MM as all bearings are: 60 x 22 x 110.

There are some on ebay right now for $75-80. Best bearings in the world, USA made, last forever.

Best investment you can make rebuilding a Ruckstell.

Then put a bronze washer on the other side instead of the babbitt after you get the new parts in and you are good to go.

--------------Your mileage may vary, all warranties between seller and buyer, no animals allowed in restaurant area, etc., etc.

[infotfordnl]

Maybe you can find Some information out of this video
Nice regards
Bert
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IbOIl8dHq4k

[speedytinc]

are they really babbit? i tried to melt on once, nope. i think they are pot metal. explains how they expand & crack with time.
asking the experts. am i too old, F.O.S. or both??

p.s. agree on the bearings. must be 7212, or it wont thrust for long. have seen 6212's being passed off. costly mistake.
i have straightened the brass bearing support successfully, but, there is usually too much wear inside. (P145 locking plate)
supports all the weight on that side.

[StanHowe]

7212 is the size, Becby is the 40 degree angular thrust designation necessary for the Ruckstell application .

[Original Smith]

If you support the bronze plate while pressing on the ball bearing, they won't get dished.

[speedytinc]

to stan. maybe you got that backwards.
example: 6212-zz. the 6212 is a radial thrust bearing (same dimensions as 7212)death to rux. the 7212 # indicates side thrust. in our example , the the alphabet soup part. -zz stands for double shielded. that other letter combination refers to other features like bearing cage - bronze, sheetmetal, phenolic. seals or shielding etc. one need not limit oneself to your specific alphabetic suffex. however, sulfer based lubes can eat the bronze bearing carrier & rux bronze plate. (seen it, looks like termites)

[StanHowe]

SKF does not manufacture a ZZ bearing. What you are referencing may be a 2Z.

6212-2Z
Deep groove ball bearings
d= 60mm
D= 110mm
B= 22mm
C= 55.3kN
C0= 36kN

It is not an angular thrust bearing according to the SKF site. It is a radial thrust bearing, not suitable for angular thrust applications as in a Ruckstell.

https://www.skf.com/group/search-result ... tem=metric

7212 BECBY is the same size but is an angular thrust 40 degree bearing, which is what the first B designates. The other letters are construction indicators as to the type of seals, ball separators, etc.

https://www.skf.com/group/search-result ... ngle%20row

[StanHowe]

I have a five gallon bucket half full of Ruckstell bearings I've pulled out during rebuilds. I routinely replace the bearing and the bronze plate with very few exceptions. I've done over 70 Ruckstells over the years but have too much other stuff going on to fool with them other than the ones I'm trying to get time to work on to go under my 27 coupe.

Bought these yesterday. They will go in mine and one for backup in the drawer where the last 50 or so went through. =)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SKF-7212-BECBY ... 2749.l2649

[Dennis_Brown]

Thankyou Burt for posting the video and to all of you for the information.I learned a lot. I am sure the grease in mine is as thick as in the video, has not been run in 50 years. I want to get the motor running and then go to the Ruxtell. I think I will not have excessive expense there as I have quite a few spare Ruxtell parts. Thanks again.

[Original Smith]

I bought a '13 a few years back, and needed to pull down the rear end to change the ring and pinion. The old babbit thrust washers were perfect!

[Steve Jelf]

The old babbit thrust washers were perfect!

Did you leave them in?

[Original Smith]

Hell no! I've heard too many bad stories!

[speedytinc]

yea, did you reuse them? thats amazing. did you at least give them the drop test? I have not even seen a N.O.S. one i would buy or use.

[Steve Jelf]

I've mined several rear axles for parts. In all but one the thrust washers were in pieces or completely gone. Here's the single survivor I've found.

[speedytinc]

if you want to know if is was usable do the drop test. hold it up about 5 feet. drop it on edge.
it will probably shatter like glass. i have only had a few pass the test.(maybe 2%) still WOULD NOT USE them.
but its amusing to see how close to failure the rear end was.
that one you show looks like it will shatter.

[Wayne Sheldon]

I have had (still have!) several original thrust washers as nice as the one Steve J shows! However, oh so many years ago, the very first model T rear end I rebuilt, I found the nicest one you could ever find. I had set up a work station at the back of my parent's place. When I was done putting the thing together, including the new bronze washers (I had gotten and followed good advice!), I was walking back to the garage to put some tools and things away. In one hand were a couple tools, and this absolutely perfect looking original thrust washer. It was clean, and shiny, smooth and beautiful with its flawless oil grooves and Ford scripts. And I stumbled stepping in a gopher hole. My hand tightened a bit, fingers only on some wrenches and that perfect thrust washer. And the thrust washer snapped into three pieces!

I have never seen a definitive report of what they were made of? Babbitt is defined as a wide range of soft metals used as bearing surfaces. They clearly are not Babbitt in the sense of main and rod bearings. But they are in the Babbitt spectrum. And they do resemble pot metal.
From that day I stepped in the gopher hole, I would never trust an original Babbitt thrust washer in a model T rear end. With age, they just cannot be trusted. No matter how nice they look.