Oversize rear axle sleeves

[NoelChico]

I see on some old forum discussions that there are, or were, axle sleeves from some suppliers that are .002 thicker. I'm rebuilding a few rear ends and have several Hyatt bearings near 0.495" and wonder if thicker sleeves are available. I remember building a rear end many years ago and having a difficult time getting the Hyatt in, nut all my current sleeves are the same thickness, except for some that have been removed.

[RajoRacer]

Hey Doc - I try to find bearings in the .495 - .496 range due to the new, best quality sleeves being a smidge thick. Doing a friend's Ruckstell with new sleeves and am fitting bearings in that range - all my .497 - .499 are too beefy !

[Daisy Mae]

I recently rebuilt my axle and found the same to be true. I bought Lang's best quality sleeves, and along with brand new axles my 'better' rollers barely fit and felt way too tight. I ended up using .496/7's.

[NoelChico]

Thanks Steve and Kurt. I'll get some best quality sleeves.

[Scott_Conger]

A quick bit of advice that I have followed myself over the years:

sleeves and other "consumable" maintenance items represent a significant risk to continued operation if they are simply not available to be purchased - and we all know how parts are "disappearing" from our suppliers' stock seemingly every month. My recommendation to every "T" owner is to have this sort of part ON THE SHELF and in multiples if possible. In the past, every time I needed a gasket, bearing, whatever, I'd buy twice what I needed and simply put in stock. As my stable grew from 1 to 4 cars, these spare parts came in very handy and have now several times been the only parts available anywhere.

Bottom line - the continuing consolidation of suppliers and the frequent loss of sources for manufactured parts continues to be a problem and the only immediate remedy for that problem is to be your own supplier.
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