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front axles and hub bearings

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cod

Out greasing the 418 the other day and got to thinking about ways to possible decrease the clearance between the front wheel bearings, the two washers and the cotter pin.  I suspect there a variety "shim" type washers that might work but has anyone tried threading the ends of the axles ( 3/4-16 ) and using a castle nut instead to adjust the clearance.

I've seen articles where folks have mounted a trailer hub on their axles but I'd prefer not to go that route but it seems like there is loads of space that could be taken up perhaps the bearing may last longer.

 

Cod

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JPWH

:think: never really thought about it. Might work.

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rmaynard
17 minutes ago, cod said:

... but has anyone tried threading the ends of the axles ( 3/4-16 ) and using a castle nut instead to adjust the clearance.

 

Do you mean like what is on the 520-H with swept forward steering?

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JAinVA

The down side to what you propose is that the normal bearings on the 3/4 axles are ball bearings and not tapered roller bearings.A ball bearing of that type is designed to take a large radial load( up and down)but is limited in axial capability(in and out).If you try to eliminate axial play with a castle nut you could overload the axial capacity of the bearing.I would recommend shims or ignoring small amounts of play as this will keep you from possibly destroying a bearing.These machines have been operated with this setup for many millions of hours and only had the tapered roller bearing upgrade to handle the greater weight of a 60" deck or loader.

Edited by JAinVA
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JAinVA

 After rereading my post I think I should clarify one point.There are some ball bearings that are specifically designed to handle an axial load as its primary function.I just wanted to say that the 3/4"front bearings as used on the WHs were not.

Edited by JAinVA
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cod
21 hours ago, rmaynard said:

 

Do you mean like what is on the 520-H with swept forward steering?

Bob,

I've never seen the axles on a 520 up close so I really don't know.

 

JAinVA wrote:

The down side to what you propose is that the normal bearings on the 3/4 axles are ball bearings and not tapered roller bearings.A ball bearing of that type is designed to take a large radial load( up and down)but is limited in axial capability(in and out).If you try to eliminate axial play with a castle nut you could overload the axial capacity of the bearing.I would recommend shims or ignoring small amounts of play as this will keep you from possibly destroying a bearing.These machines have been operated with this setup for many millions of hours and only had the tapered roller bearing upgrade to handle the greater weight of a 60" deck or loader.

 

Jim,

I agree with what you wrote and I only mentioned it as a means to "possibly" make it easier to keep the axial play low.  It might be that the ball bearings aren't affected by a certain amount of play and I'm over thinking it..

 

Cod

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JAinVA

Cod,

   Questions like what you posted give us all a chance to think of the possibilities to improve these machines.The basic idea you proposed would definitely allow axial play to be drastically reduced quickly.

I certainly appreciate, the what if.I may even experiment with it.Who knows when the next,why didn't I think of that before idea will pop up.Luck,JAinVA

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