Floating hub

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Russ T Fender
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Floating hub

Post by Russ T Fender » Wed Mar 13, 2019 8:59 pm

I have had my '14 Touring for over 10 years and when I got it the previous owner told me that he had completely redone the rear axle so other than checking periodically for play I have not done anything to it. It has Rocky Mtn. brakes but the previous owner did not put the Ford service brake drums back when they were added. I thought that was odd but I have not had any issues as a result. Recently, after a week of touring I noticed some grease on the brake lining so I pulled the wheel and discovered that the car had some kind of floating hubs.
I have never seen floating hubs like these before but it looks like there are felts around the axle to keep the grease in. It also looks like there is no way to grease the bearings because when I removed the grease cup there is a blind hole. My first question is are these sealed bearings and if not how are they lubricated. My next question is how can I stop the grease from getting out. My inclination is to pack new felts around the axle. My last question is can I put the small Ford service brake drums back using longer hub bolts or will that create a problem.
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Allan
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Re: Floating hub

Post by Allan » Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:21 pm

Val, often the sleeve in the axle housing on floating bearings has an oil seal on the inside end. It usually does a good job sealing around the axle. Your oil leak may be between the axle housing and the sleeve. Some types have an O ring to help here. I prefer to use a loktite red flange sealant instead.

Your bearing has metal shields. It may or may not be sealed. A sealed bearing also acts to keep oi in the right place.

Allan from down under.


Allan
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Re: Floating hub

Post by Allan » Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:25 pm

Val, I forgot to add that the original emergency brake shoes may have been left out because the nuts mounting the bearing carrier in the hub fouled on the brake shoes/springs. This is even more likely given thAt the mounting nuts on your carrier look to be standard thickness rather than the thinner original nuts.

Allan from down under.


Nv Bob
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Re: Floating hub

Post by Nv Bob » Thu Mar 14, 2019 12:00 am

Just now putting a set in from Dan Maceachen (sp)
Was told there is room but its going tobe tight ny looks of things
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Allan
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Re: Floating hub

Post by Allan » Thu Mar 14, 2019 1:53 am

Bob, this is one occasion when a single rear axle shim can help. It stands the wheel a little further off the backing plate and gives more clearance. The problem is usually the nuts scraping on the perch nut. The proper thinner nuts for the wheels that the vendors sell can be the difference between clearance and not.

Hope this helps.
Allan from down under


Topic author
Russ T Fender
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Re: Floating hub

Post by Russ T Fender » Thu Mar 14, 2019 8:20 am

I will order the the bolts with the thinner heads and try it with the Ford service brake drum using a shim on each side. How does the bearing come out of the axle housing? Does it just pull out or is there more to it?


Topic author
Russ T Fender
Posts: 404
Joined: Sun Jan 06, 2019 5:39 pm
First Name: Val
Last Name: Soupios
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: '10 touring, '12 touring, '13 hack, '14 runabout, '14 touring, '14 speedster, '22 centerdoor, '27 touring
Location: Jupiter Florida

Re: Floating hub

Post by Russ T Fender » Thu Mar 14, 2019 11:09 am

Would it be possible to turn down the heads on the bolts, including the perch bolt, to get the necessary clearance or would that weaken them too much. I am no metalurgist and assume that the bolts supplied with the new kits are somehow stronger to allow for the thinner head. I have turned down nuts in order to line up holes for split pins but turning down the head of a bolt seems like a whole other issue.


Nv Bob
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Re: Floating hub

Post by Nv Bob » Thu Mar 14, 2019 3:50 pm

Allan you are correct thin nuts and ofcourse lock. Tight and peen them i use blue locktight
Some yimes you grind a little bit off as well of the bolt end.
Going as well with sure atop brakes so nice tight hub is a must
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Dan McEachern
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Re: Floating hub

Post by Dan McEachern » Thu Mar 14, 2019 5:56 pm

On small drum rear ends, reducing the height of the perch nut is a hug help in avoiding interference with the wheel hub bolts. Machine the nuts down so that about one third of the hex portion is removed and then shorten the threaded portion of the perch accordingly. Don't forget to redrill the cotter pin hole. This is not necessary on 26-27 rear ends because the perch is located at a larger radius from the center of the housing.

If you want to add the small brake drum in addition to the Rocky mountain drum, you can avoid the use of hub shims by moving the axle gears closer to the end of the axles by remachining the keeper groove in the gear end of the axle and using a fatter axle spacer between the axles. This will allow the hubs to be located slightly farther apart and give you room for the extra thickness of the Ford drum.

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TonyB
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Re: Floating hub

Post by TonyB » Fri Mar 15, 2019 9:12 pm

I have read about moving the axles out a little by widening the slots for the axle key and adding thicker (or more) fiber washers but who has the skill to do it??
Dan certainly can but who else. I suppose Herm and a few other machinist could do it, but us normal guys who have a lathe because it looks good and it’s useful for polishing, it appears to be way beyond what we would tackle.
I guess we guys miss out and are saddled with buying new oversized axles.
Tony Bowker
La Mesa, California
1914 Touring, 1915 Speedster, 1924 Coupe.

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