alchemysa
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 29, 2016
- Messages
- 203
I think I bought the worlds dirtiest 610. I had to scrape inches of encrusted oil and dirt from every nook and cranny. Every thread was rusted badly. Many of the nuts could only be removed after squeezing them with a nut splitter. Anyway, its stripped now and the old oil is draining out. In a few days I'll throw a couple of litres of diesel into each side and flush it out.
But the purpose of this thread is to explain my inexpensive axle repair. I was pretty pleased with how it worked out.
All 4 axles were leaking badly so they were all removed. The pic below shows them with arrows pointing to the badly worn oil seal surfaces. My first thought was "This could get expensive".
The axle in front was obviously not original and already showed signs of a past repair. When I pulled off the seal a collar came off with it. (See the ? mark). This was a surprise as the parts diagram shows that the sealing shoulder is a fixed part of the axle. (As it is on the other 3 axles). Its not supposed to be a separate piece. It also had the remains of an old 'easy sleeve' around it. (Not shown in the pic). I fixed this collar permanently back in position with a couple of set screws prior to it being re-sleeved. By the way, those 'easy sleeves' are very expensive and are not suitable for such badly worn axles anyway, so they were not an option in this situation.
(Below). Heres a close-up of one of the axles. You can see how chewed out the sealing surface is... a result of filthy oil and grit working its way under the seal from inside and out. All the oil sealing surfaces carry 2 oil seals so in total there are 12 oil seals. (2 on each back axle, and 4 on each front axle.)
(Below). Heres a shot of a front axle with the inner collar and the oil seals fitted. In the parts book they call this a 'stop'. Interestingly the stops have 2 seals fitted, not 1 as shown in the parts book. (I think the parts book is incorrect).
OK, now heres the good bit. The seals are 'Chicago Rawhide' or 'SKF' part number 20006. All 12 seals are the same size. They are made to fit a 2 inch axle shaft. Fortunately for me, 2" (outside diameter) is also a stock size for stainless steel tube. (For example, its commonly used for handrails). A meter of tube cost me just $13, which was enough to make a half dozen sleeves with plenty of tube to spare. The tube wall thickness is 1.6mm.
I found a guy locally who lathed down the axles and 'stops', and press fitted the sleeves for me. And he gave them a little polish too, all for $180. So for less than $200 I had the axles back into a condition that should long outlast me.
The pic below shows the tube, with one of the old oil seals around it.
And heres the finished result. (Below). 4 sleeves are pressed around the axles near the hubs, and 2 sleeves are pressed around the 'stops' at the top of the axles. The stops are part of the front axles only.
Heres another shot of the 'stops' and some leftover pieces of tube.
I've ordered all new oil seals. The best value was 'EB Atmus Co' in Massachusetts. $9.42 each with free shipping to a mate in North Carolina who will post them to me in Australia. (Over here these seals would probably be at least $30 each). The email service was also very good so I would recommend them ... http://www.ebatmus.com/seals_skf.html
Apart from a lathe (which I don't have, but want) the tools required are pretty straight forward. To remove the axles the only 'special tools' needed were a pipe wrench and a thin home made spanner to undo the the big nuts inside the case at the front and rear. The pipe wrench will do the rear nuts just fine but the front nuts are narrower and in a tighter space. I didnt have a suitable spanner or shifter so I just cut a piece out of some old 4mm plate.
To get the bearings off the axles you might need a press. The workshop manual says you can use a puller, but no way were the bearings on mine coming off that easily. So I bought this old screw press for $100. Man I love it. I should have bought one years ago. I reckon it paid for itself in a day and I've already used it for other jobs.
So thats it. Maybe the story will help someone else who is pondering the expense of fixing their leaky axles. I did all 4 for under $200 plus the cost of new oil seals.
But the purpose of this thread is to explain my inexpensive axle repair. I was pretty pleased with how it worked out.
All 4 axles were leaking badly so they were all removed. The pic below shows them with arrows pointing to the badly worn oil seal surfaces. My first thought was "This could get expensive".
The axle in front was obviously not original and already showed signs of a past repair. When I pulled off the seal a collar came off with it. (See the ? mark). This was a surprise as the parts diagram shows that the sealing shoulder is a fixed part of the axle. (As it is on the other 3 axles). Its not supposed to be a separate piece. It also had the remains of an old 'easy sleeve' around it. (Not shown in the pic). I fixed this collar permanently back in position with a couple of set screws prior to it being re-sleeved. By the way, those 'easy sleeves' are very expensive and are not suitable for such badly worn axles anyway, so they were not an option in this situation.
(Below). Heres a close-up of one of the axles. You can see how chewed out the sealing surface is... a result of filthy oil and grit working its way under the seal from inside and out. All the oil sealing surfaces carry 2 oil seals so in total there are 12 oil seals. (2 on each back axle, and 4 on each front axle.)
(Below). Heres a shot of a front axle with the inner collar and the oil seals fitted. In the parts book they call this a 'stop'. Interestingly the stops have 2 seals fitted, not 1 as shown in the parts book. (I think the parts book is incorrect).
OK, now heres the good bit. The seals are 'Chicago Rawhide' or 'SKF' part number 20006. All 12 seals are the same size. They are made to fit a 2 inch axle shaft. Fortunately for me, 2" (outside diameter) is also a stock size for stainless steel tube. (For example, its commonly used for handrails). A meter of tube cost me just $13, which was enough to make a half dozen sleeves with plenty of tube to spare. The tube wall thickness is 1.6mm.
I found a guy locally who lathed down the axles and 'stops', and press fitted the sleeves for me. And he gave them a little polish too, all for $180. So for less than $200 I had the axles back into a condition that should long outlast me.
The pic below shows the tube, with one of the old oil seals around it.
And heres the finished result. (Below). 4 sleeves are pressed around the axles near the hubs, and 2 sleeves are pressed around the 'stops' at the top of the axles. The stops are part of the front axles only.
Heres another shot of the 'stops' and some leftover pieces of tube.
I've ordered all new oil seals. The best value was 'EB Atmus Co' in Massachusetts. $9.42 each with free shipping to a mate in North Carolina who will post them to me in Australia. (Over here these seals would probably be at least $30 each). The email service was also very good so I would recommend them ... http://www.ebatmus.com/seals_skf.html
Apart from a lathe (which I don't have, but want) the tools required are pretty straight forward. To remove the axles the only 'special tools' needed were a pipe wrench and a thin home made spanner to undo the the big nuts inside the case at the front and rear. The pipe wrench will do the rear nuts just fine but the front nuts are narrower and in a tighter space. I didnt have a suitable spanner or shifter so I just cut a piece out of some old 4mm plate.
To get the bearings off the axles you might need a press. The workshop manual says you can use a puller, but no way were the bearings on mine coming off that easily. So I bought this old screw press for $100. Man I love it. I should have bought one years ago. I reckon it paid for itself in a day and I've already used it for other jobs.
So thats it. Maybe the story will help someone else who is pondering the expense of fixing their leaky axles. I did all 4 for under $200 plus the cost of new oil seals.