Stub axles - like new after sandblasting

[Nelsonpharmd]

Got these suckers back today from the local sandblaster. Aren't they perty?!!! Does anyone know what the small hole is behind the hub? At first I thought maybe they were spaces for a girl but can't tell. Now to paint them. Any recommendations? After that (or perhaps before) to replace those rubber pivot bushings....

[Nelsonpharmd]

Took to the bushings today and they are a pain. Looks like they were tacked onto the axle (which makes no sense to me since the bushing is captured between the flanges that it's bolted to under the trailer). My one question for those of you that have replaced these is...is that metal lip that sticks out the back end part of the bushing or part of the axle itself? I'm afraid to start banging on that just in case it's part of the axle itself. Looking at the new bushings I got i think they meñay actually be part of the bushing itself but wanted to play it safe and ask the group first...

[Nelsonpharmd]

It worked! So I used my jigsaw with a metal cutting blade to cut some grooves inside the outer metal jacket then used a hammer and chisel to fold the metal inside. Liberally sprayed PB Blaster and out she came. Pressing the new one in will be another story.

So, for those of you who are brave enough to replace your central pivot bushings here's the order of events:

1. Use the biggest drill bit that you can fit and drill out as much of the rubber as you can. I made about 6 holes altogether then used a screwdriver to pry out the rubber.

2. Very carefully, use your angle grinder to ear away a little at the tack weld that was used to hold the bushing in the axle. Personally I think that was overkill

3. Use a metal cutting blade in your jigsaw to cut some grooves inside the outer metal jacket (once you've removed the rubber and central metal bushing) and using a hammer and heavy duty chisel or pry bar, hammer in the metal into the hole itself, with a downwards movement and out she comes!

[silverloaf]

Looks familiar. The rubber bushing is encased in a metal sleeve . It is the sleeve that is difficult to separate from the the axle. I seem to recall it may have been tack-welded. After beating my brains out to remove the old bushing, I headed to a repair facility with a press.

Just a reminder the bushings do have a orientation from front to back. If I recall, the flange on the steel carrier faces forward on all axles. Not sure why except for maybe stabilizing the bushing under dynamic conditions.

[Nelsonpharmd]

Thanks Bob. Yes you are correct. Fortunately, I'm stkll able to see where the old tack welds are so I plan on using that as my visual marker of what side faces forward. The 4tha and last sleeve is being stubborn so I stopped by Lowes last night to get a smaller cold chisel
I plan on finishing that one once the sun comes up. The comes the challenge of pressing the new ones in. We'll see how frustrated I get with that until I give up and take them into a shop somewhere.

[silverloaf]

Check if the hole in the axle and the new bushing have a taper. I'm beginning to think the old Ford stamped control arms were tapered to keep the bushing snug.

[silverloaf]

Check if the hole in the axle and the new bushing have a taper. I'm beginning to think the old Ford stamped control arms were tapered to keep the bushing snug.

[Salty]

Got these suckers back today from the local sandblaster. Aren't they perty?!!! Does anyone know what the small hole is behind the hub? At first I thought maybe they were spaces for a girl but can't tell.

There's a couple of holes on the Axles. One, on the shaft is a mystery to me. No understood purpose. Behind the hub on mine were tapped for either a #6 or #8 machine screw. Not sure what was supposed to be attached there.

[Nelsonpharmd]

Definitely perplexing for sure. So I took a stab at pressing in the new bushings with my bench vise. What an ordeal. After getting to the point where I just couldn't physically turn the handle any more (even with a cheater bar) and this is how far I got. Do you guys think it's far enough? I do think I recall that the original bushings were all the way flat with the face of the opening but not sure at this point if this is significant or not?

[silverloaf]

The lack of full depth might affect the desired shim count on each side of the hanger bracket. This, in turn, could impact the toe angle at the wheels. I recall the OEM shim distribution is 5 on the front side and 4 on the rear. Perhaps you can compensate by distributing shims to make up for the lack of full insertion of the bushing.

Remember, these tapered bushings were design to fit into a stamped steel control arm. The as-cast tapered hole surface in the half-shaft is rather crude with little precision. I think the bushing's metal carrier was tack-welded to the shaft to keep it from popping out when new.