I may be in over my head but I can't be the first. I started out just doing some minor jobs to my early HG/ Cletrac 68...now it's down to a frame with a transmission/diff. case. The spindles are bad and I have some very good final drive housings with spindles from a 42". The question is - How hard is it to remove the spindles and replace the bad ones? Has anyone done this and how do I proceed? My guess is that I grind the weld on the inner trunnion and press toward the outside on the spindle...perhaps heat the outer part of the trunnion? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks Cork
I think your plan is correct. I have not needed to changed any, but have seen several where the shaft has come loose so they can't be pressed in there that hard. When you put it back to gether put the shaft in the freezer over night and it willl go in easier.
Robert, Thanks for the reply. Glad to know that it might not be that tight of a fit and freezing the new spindle makes sense. Cork
I pressed them out on one of mine several years back, to press in a temporary axle to hold a fly cutter to re-shape the inner trunnions after building up the worn bottom and front of the trunnions with braze.
Took them to a shop with a fairly substantial press, put a piece of heavy wall pipe over the axle to support the casting, and pressed. As I recall, it took a fair amount of pressure to pop them loose. There was a bit of galling as the axles came out.
In hindsight, probably applying penetrating oil for a week or so in advance might have been a good idea. I don't recall heating the casting around the axle, but that also might have made the process a bit easier.
Sounds like I'm on the right path. Thanks for all the help. Cork
If you can, some pictures of the process would be a great addition to the information on here. I always love looking at build/repair pictures.
What makes a spindle bad???? It appears that the bull gear was run loose on my Dads OC-3. The thread is worn part way.
(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww45/gazer1960/the%20disasembly/IMG_0924_zps730c7d92.jpg)
What do I need to look for???
I would appreciate some feedback. I am at a point where I have the final drives apart and would like some feedback on what to look for. By the picture you can see that the threads have been worn down from having a loose bull gear. When do people decide to replace the spindle.
If that spindle were mine, Gazer, I'd just add washers under the nut to move it farther out on the shaft, so it has mostly full depth threads under it.
how far down does the nut go in order to hold the gear tight? the washer idea is good
Scottie
Thanks for the input, I will have to put the bearings and bull gear back on to determine where the damaged threads fall. I will do that before I go any further. I want to decide before I start the assembly process. Can I assume that if the bearings fit tight the rest of the spindle is OK?
(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww45/gazer1960/the%20disasembly/IMG_0904_zps806b848a.jpg)
probably, just be sure not to put too much preload on the bearings, you may have to put some shims in behind the bearings
When I get to the assembly process I will be using all new bearings, but the old bearings will tell me what I need to know.
From memory, there's a hole in the track frame shaft, and in the nut so that's where the nut is supposed to advance to. You pin them together. You get the correct drag by adding shims. 6-8 pounds of drag on the bull gear. It a bit trial and error. The you do same on the pinion shaft [axle] (2-4 lbs drag, I think), before reinstalling the whole final drive unit back to transmission. But could be that on an OC3 the track frame shaft nut has those ear-things that need to be peened to lock the nut. Could be why your threads are squished?
Just remembered a bit more. The nut on an HG is a castle nut, so the split pin goes through the nut and track frame shaft. And, yes I think the nut on the OC3 and OC4 is peen-locked to the track fame shaft. Otherwise there's nothing much to stop it loosening itself.
I can scan the whole process out of the OC4 shop manual, if you like, Cork?
added later: sorry, that's Gazer. I looked at one of those nuts today. They have two tabs to peen for locking. I am sure there's a special name for those nuts? Axle nuts?
Gazer, Sorry I didn't get back sooner. I would also check and see if the trunnion is tight on the spindle. Mine was so loose it wobbled on the larger part of the shaft and ruined the threaded end of the spindle, it also made the shaft somewhat egged shaped. The bull gear was so loose it chewed up the bottom edge of the inner bearing for the pinion and tried to grind its way through the final drive cover. Check also to make sure the outer bearing race for the bull gear is snug on the spindle shaft...it's not a pressed fit but should not wobble. I tried to post pictures from photo bucket and was not successful. I'll get it figured out soon I hope. Cork
OK, I give! Spent a few hours trying to grind and press out one of four spindles...I don't want to work this hard! Thanks to Chris I've made arrangements to replace my final drive housings with good ones from him. I'm not the smartest Oliver owner out here or grammatical wizard...on my last post I made up the word "egged" :-[ Frankly I would be a bit concerned if after I re-cut the threads they may be substandard. Counting on the cotter pin to subsidize the lack of good threads might be a temporary bandaid. After working on mine I have no regrets about replacing my poor parts with quality parts. Cork
If I find out that the spindle is bad, I will shop for a final drive. I figure that there should be a few people that have spare final drive castings out there. I have a spare set of final drives, but they are from the newer frame. I had them all primed and ready to paint when I found the correct frame for my early OC-3. I still could go that route, but choose not to.