Pull Maintenance On Your Hubs !!!

[Michael Mayben]

I'm supposed ta know shit right???

I did a brake job, replaced the front hub bearings and seals, and generally prepped the beater truck about 18 months ago gettin' ready to tow the trailerhouse south for xmas/2007. First long tow, gross load of about 12,500lbs. Way beyond rated gcvwr but I've done it many times before (carefully) and the rig is heavily beefed for towing.

Since then we've done about 12,000 miles pullin' the rig all over this year. You would think I'd know better than to overload a ride like this and not service the axles every 6 months or so. But I'm too smart for that kinda deetale, so I just pull until fail!

On the way to the IHSTO xmas shindig Friday afternoon I fried the passenger side front outer wheel bearing. That's a d44 axle with the infamous lockheed front brakes, massive stoppers. Why? 'cause I'm a lazeeazz and didn't do maintenance on my own shit!

Result? We missed the pardee, I gotta mail out all the raffle gifts we we're taking, and now we got way too much food ta eat that we ain't supposed ta eat but I will!

Rang up the old faithful rv road service and within two hours a gorgeous IH rollback showed up ready to load out the beater and then hook up the trailer ta take us home (85 miles). And me an' josh with a+ express towing gotta lot in common, he's all hot to trot to run the obdr on his dualsport klakawsaki.

Josh dropped us about 8:30p and we walked away from tha rigs for the nite.

Yesterday I got the trailer parked in winter quarters and the beater in the shop and up on stands.

Here's a shot of the hub right after the flames died out.

 

[Michael Mayben]

And here's josh's ride and rv limo service!

 

[Michael Mayben]

The plastic portion of the warn hubs melted and drooled all over the ground. The internals were ground back into powder pretty much. As soon as I got the weight off the spindle what was left of the hub spilled out in chunkees.

For all you Scout fans...these are what we call "internal spline" hubs, quite a bit different from the "external spline" hubs used on s80, s800, and sii. The axle izza d44 open knuckle (what IH refered to as the "forty degree steering" axle as opposed to the "closed knuckle/ball" steering axle used on some'72 and earlier fullsize stuff along with the d27 axle on s80. The locking hubs for these do not interchange with the sii units, though operation is similar. The bearing/hub retention system is also different.

 

[GOLDIE LOCKS]

and here's josh's ride and rv limo service!

I May have worked on that truck?, them guys drive their trucks till the king pins fall out!

 

[Michael Mayben]

The locknut came right off, along with the holee washer. The inner nut was welded to the inner bearing race, and both of those parts were welded to the spindle. The stub axle looked ok.

No way to git the dam thang off without breakin' out the gazzaxx. So I slid a piece of toob over the axle stub for protection and made a mess.

 

[GOLDIE LOCKS]

the plastic portion of the warn hubs melted and drooled all over the ground. The internals were ground back into powder pretty much. As soon as I got the weight off the spindle what was left of the hub spilled out in chunkees.

If the new race is loose in that hub I got some glue to hold it in there!!!!

 

[Michael Mayben]

I think I'll use jbweld ta patch tha cutout hole in tha hub first goldie, then I'll glue an old, rotten race in tha hole so I kin go do this agin'! Ya gotta recycle in eujersey or you dam hippies will firebomb tha beater!

 

[Michael Mayben]

After a buncha cuttin' and wackin', the crap wuz on tha floor. At least that highdollar brake drum that wuz fresh weren't hurt! I'd modded them drums years ago so's they come off the hubs ez, no need to pull tha hubs just to do a brake job or check tha linins'.

 

[GOLDIE LOCKS]

I had a similar experience on the Scout when the pos loc "o" matic blew!!!!, I had to unscrew the nuts with the hot wrench!

 

[Michael Mayben]

I dunno goldie...thisun' May be beyond a recycle operation.

Dam guud thang that our own binderbound dan and mikee foster forced all them lockheed brakes parts, spindles, and stuff on me at the Binder Bee! Otherwise I'd be up shitcreek right now lookin' for spares. As it is, I got three sets ta choose from.

 

[GOLDIE LOCKS]

I'd use this as an excuse to swap it over to some modern day disk brakes!

 

[Michael Mayben]

So here's tha nekkid hole ta fill with refurbished guapo.

Gonna haul all my spares ta gearman's shop tomorrow (he don't know that yet) and use hiz shopstuff to freshen all tha hubs I got, along with spindles. That means four sets of wheel bearings/seals, three sets of spindle bearings/seals, at least one set of new lugs, and no tellin' what else. Maybe even sum grease to make all this shit run smooth.

Now that tha beater's hang in the air, guess I'll do the other side too. If I kin remember that far out.

And one o' them spare sets is gonna go in the truck box for a backup. Even if I'd had the spare setup with me, I didn't have a gazzaxe so I wouldn't been able to do a self-rescue.

More ta come tomorrow after I git back from dave's place.

 

[Michael Mayben]

I'd use this as an excuse to swap it over to some modern day disk brakes!

No way! These dam lockheeds will stop better'n any dam GM-crap disk lashup! And I got spare lockheed cores now to last me until they take away my license (maybe next year!!!!).

Only way I'll do discs is if they are attached to a dam d70 steerin' axle complete with a matchin' azzend pusher and four wheels that fit, complete with new tires. Needs ta be 4.10's though, prefer 4.56, and free! Free is my budget right now!

 

[wbrent7766]

Geez Mike
you sure do complain alot for one of them retiree's. Like what else were you going to do this weekend.
It does look like your having fun and that a rare thing at your age.
Wes

 

[Michael Mayben]

Hail wes, all I got to do nowadays is sit arount and bitch about how it useta be! That's the dictionary meaning of retired!

I'll never say the old days wuz "good" though! Good is relative.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Got most all the replacement parts (mix of new bearings/seals, and used spindles) ready to go yesterday at dave's shop. And in the process I learned much from the expert regarding the nuances of checkpoints and install practices I'd never thought about before.

The primary point was the fact that while the used spindles were in decent shape overall, they both had an issue which needed attention and dave assured me that most folks pay no attention when servicing this stuff. That would be the "shoulder" of the spindle against which the inner bearing seats. In the pic ya see the destroyed spindle on the left. Notice the flat surface under the tip of the scribe. See how it's noticable worn/scored from the "thrust" of the inner bearing race due to it "slipping" when in service?

When chucked inna lathe, that surface was indicated with a runout overall of over 0.060". That in turn prevents the bearing race from seating completely/squarely against the shoulder when the bearing assemblies are "pre-loaded"/adjusted during a service operation. Thus the bearing will not sit perpendicular to the centerline of the spindle. End result is the hub bearing preload cannot be set properly so that all components rotate as intended. Also, the inner spindle seal will not be able to "seal" properly, allowing water/trash to enter the spindle bearing, and grease to escape and find it's way to the brake shoes/drum interface.

The "fix" was to re-cut that shoulder square inna lathe and removing a minimal amount of material in the process. In turn, the seal lip will then run onna fresh surface on the spindle itself.

I looked at over a dozen various "used" spindles on the shelf and all exhibited similar wear. Dave re-machines those when he sells 'em.

His theory is that this issue is caused by improper wheel bearing preload/adjustment which allows the inner bearing cone to "slip" on the spindle in an erratic manner, most especially when the bearing load is momentarily increased in a tight turn or steering maneuver. That inner bearing is not an interference fit on the spindle, if it was, then you could not remove the hub for service without using a puller.

 

[Michael Mayben]

Here's a shot of the completed spindle with the new inner needle bearing and seal installed.

I've prepped two fresh spindles and two fresh hubs, equipped with timkin bearings and appropriate seals. The remaining takeoff assembly, along with one more spare set I have, will then be freshened accordingly and "vacuum bagged" using a seal-a-meal system so they will nest in the truck box in the beater for the future.

 

[Michael Mayben]

After completing the failed side hub/spindle assembly, I pulled the non-failed side for service also. While it still rotated, it prolly would not have made another fifty miles before it flamed out also.

When I pulled out the hub lock, water actually started dripping and major corrosion was present on the aluminum hub slug and in the hub spline. In fact, I had to rig the small slaphammer to extract the slug.

And whatta fookin' mess inside that hub! Dam shore happy to have prepped the second spindle set at dave's insistence! He told me it would be grunged and shore nuff it was.

Got all that side finished up last nite and the brakes hung back on. Just need to make the final brake adjustment and then go roadtest this morning.

Yes...my lack of maintenance is what left us stranded. And...that could have been a disaster if the wheel/hub/spindle had decided to leave the front axle at 55mph pullin' a trailer, so we we're more than just lucky!

But the bigger picture here is that water had entered the hub/spindle assembly. When I pulled the "good" spindle off, the guapo inside the spindle bearing looked like solids in the septic tank!

How'd water get in??? I don't do stream crossings, don't run the front axle down boat ramps, do drive inna whole bunch of rain/mud/snowslush onna regular basis in winter, etc.

Last January I drove home from texas inna major winter weather event pulling the trailer. Over 1,000 road miles of 4h slogging with cables on the front axle. Deep snow in places, continuous freezing and thawing slush with various forms of sand/pumice/salt mixed in depending upon which state I was in. When I'd pull over and park, that slushshit would soon freeze after the rotating assemblies chilled down and the snow started driftin' under the rig. Because that shit is cold, and the hubs are hot when running, that shit got sukked right through that long-neglected seal in the rear of the spindle. In fact, there is no doubt it was oem and the spindle had never been removed from the rig in 35+ years. One more "lack of maintenance" point on my part.

Same kinda thang that happens on boat trailers when hot hubs are backed off into cold water in the lake/river.

So the moral of this story is...when ya pull maintenance on 4x4 steering axle hub bearings and seals, remove the spindles also and service! It's not enuff to simply refresh the hub bearings.

Makes that closed knuckle d60 axle conversion I been looking at look even more attractive. But then, on them rigs the whole dam ball could fill with slushstuff!

Next up on the beater...replace the rear axle bearings. That was done back in 2001 at the time I had a replacement traclok installed in Auburn. Since then I've "inspected" the bearings when doing the brakes, but not replaced 'em. A fresh set of set 10's are on the bench for that now.

 

[ihpartsjeff]

So the moral of this story is...when ya pull maintenance on 4x4 steering axle hub bearings and seals, remove the spindles also and service! It's not enuff to simply refresh the hub bearings.

Servicing the spindle has to be the most neglected part of any front drive axle with this design. Most mechanics that I have worked with thru the years would never think to pull the spindle and service the spindle bearing and seals when repacking the wheel bearings. Whenever I sell wheel bearings or seals for the front axle on these IH's I always try to upsell the spindle service kit which is cheap to buy such as this one at $9.95 per side - Dana 30 & 44 front axle spindle service kit - IH Parts America Scout
This kit fits all d30 and d44 axles found on 72'-80' Scout II's and 74'-75' pickups and travelalls.

 

[GOLDIE LOCKS]

Pulling the spindle is part of the front wheel bearing service on all! Open knuckle front axles at work, and often we find them in need of service and some times replacement, the kit is a "bk1" and look closly and make sure it has a genuine "torington" bearing, some times they try to sell you a chinee one!, junk!