My M35A2 Project aka Big Betty

[TMNT]

The left side trunnion was nasty. The right side wasn't so bad. Instead of breaking it all the way down, I scooped and washed as much of the peanut butter out as possible. Then I pumped fresh grease in until clean grease was coming past the grease seal. I'd really rather disassemble them and clean them up right, but that'll have to do for now. I'll have to study up on how to break the trunnions down. It looks like quite a project.



I test drove the truck this evening and all I can say is "Dagnabit!" I have the bearings too tight in the rear hubs. They're running about 150 degrees instead of the 115 or so that is normal. So tomorrow morning I have to pop them open again and back off of the adjuster a little bit and try it again.

Ah Betty, you are sometimes a cruel mistress.

 

[Heavysteven]

I use a torque wrench and follow the Tm. I know others can do it by feel but I can't. So far I have had no problems(hot hubs).

Looks like your making great progress...nice tires.

 

[TMNT]

I use a torque wrench and follow the Tm. I know others can do it by feel but I can't. So far I have had no problems(hot hubs).

Looks like your making great progress...nice tires.

Steven, I'm going to get back into those hubs again today. I read through the TM's last night and I don't see a torque spec for the adjuster nut. I see a torque spec for the lock nut but that wouldn't have any effect on bearing preload. Am I missing something?

The TM says to tighten the adjuster until the wheel binds and then back off an eighth of a turn. I think my problem is that I set it for NO sideways movement and the TM says "there should be very little sideways movement."

I'll go through the process again, aiming for a bit less preload and see what happens there. Like Clint said, you just have to develop a feel for it. After I do this a few more times I should have it down.

 

[TMNT]

Re-set the preload on the rear hubs this morning. No test drive yet, but I'm pretty sure I've got it nailed down now.

I went on with the middle axle and figured I'd get that done today before the wife gets home from Florida.

The right middle hub was filled with 90wt. Not much evidence of grease there but at least the bearings were getting good oil bath.

 

[bigginstactical]

keep up the good work! Very informative. I'll be doing mine soon. Thanks for the write up

 

[TMNT]

Success!

I finished all four rear hubs, adjusted the brakes, cleaned the axle vents, and put in fresh 90wt in both rear axles.

The hub temps are 115-120 after about 12 miles at 45-50 MPH.

I still have to do the front hubs, but that ain't likely to happen tomorrow. Wife is home from Florida and I'm pretty sure I'll have other stuff to do.

I found each one of the four hubs to have a different condition. The best one was the left middle. There was no intrusion of 90wt or water. The rest had various amounts of 90wt intrusion with the right rear having some water. Fortunately all the bearings, races, and brake shoes look good. The drums are a bit scored but serviceable for now.

One tool that I need to acquire is a "seal knocker" to set the inner seal. I did ok with a brass drift and a hammer, but the right tool would be better.

 

[TMNT]

I'm working on getting the front hubs serviced this morning. As always here, I'm racing against the coming rain.




The left side doesn't appear to be in bad condition. So far.......

 

[TMNT]

Well, I beat the rain with getting the left side front hub serviced. Judging from the looks of the grease, it was pretty much undisturbed from the last time it was serviced.

It wasn't bad, but now it's better.

This is the old grease that I found when I took the drum off. Looks like the mechanic shot a few extra squirts of grease onto the spindle and it was still there.


Same thing inside the hub. A little extra was there and it looked undisturbed.


Clean inside bearing freshly packed and reinstalled with fresh grease.


Outer bearing and bearing nuts reinstalled.


Cap with new gasket and fresh grease ready to go on.


I didn't see the need to go any further with this axle. The seals looked good, the bearings were clean and there is no sign of any leaks.

I adjusted the brakes after reassembling and torqued the wheel back on. If I catch another break from the rain, I'll get the right side done and that will be all six hubs serviced.

Almost rally ready!

 

[TMNT]

I'm working on the right front hub now. The last one and all 6 will be freshly serviced and rally ready.

The right front was pretty much the same as I found the left front. Clean, well greased, not contaminated with water or 90 wt.

I'm cleaning it out, repacking the bearings, and adjusting the brakes. Everything looks to be in good working order with no signs of leaks.

The zip up boots that I put on last year are showing some signs of breaking down. There's a few surface cracks but none go all the way through yet. Not bad but I'll probably replace them before the rally. Wish I had them now so it would save me the trouble of taking off the front tires again.

...I tried to upload a photo but Tapatalk says the forum has disabled photo uploads from this app. I hope that gets fixed soon!

**Edit- I reloaded Tapatalk and the image uploaded seems to work now.

 

[TMNT]

I took the truck for a 20 mile test run to Lowes and back this evening. All hubs operating at normal 110-120 degree temps, no unusual noises or vibrations, and she doesn't drift or pull to the side coasting or braking.

Mechanically the truck is rally ready. I still hope to get those hummer seats installed, but my schedule is very full between now and the rally.

 

[TMNT]

I had a few minutes this evening after dinner and I decided to check the fuel gauge sending unit. My fuel gauge has started reading between 3/4 and full, with no relationship to how much fuel is in the tank. I've been meaning to check it out but I've been preoccupied with other stuff.

Removing it turned out to be far more simple than anticipated. None of the screws were seized and a right angle driver popped them right out. It took me a few minutes of trying different angles before I found the magic movement required to get the unit out of the tank.

I found the support shaft had a bit of rust on it and the rheostat was gunked up with black oily stuff. The tank looks clean and I use the fuel up pretty regularly. The fuel doesn't get a chance to get old, but I'm going to start running some antibacterial agent in the fuel just in case. I cleaned the sender out with brake cleaner and took a wire brush to the rust. It tested fine with an ohm meter, near 0 ohms at one end and almost 30 ohms at the other. I can't remember which was which at the moment.

I hooked it back up to the fuel gauge wire and grounded the unit to the truck ground, and then moved the float arm through its entire range with the switch on. The fuel gauge followed it smoothly and accurately. After that, I reinstalled it and it seems to read about right for the amount if fuel in the tank, just below 3/4 tank.

The end of the wire to the fuel gauge is a bit dry rotted and it needs to have a new end put on it. I ran out of daylight and time, so that'll have to wait until later.

 

[TMNT]

So I'm at work today and my son sends me a text and a photo of a puddle of oil in the driveway. Upon closer inspection, he finds this:



Looks like the left rear hub is leaking pretty badly so I have to go into that one again. That was the first one I serviced, so I must have done something wrong there. I hope to get it done tomorrow because that will be the last opportunity I have to fix it before the rally.

Dang it! Kicking myself for not getting this done right the first time.

 

[TMNT]

I'm not at all sure why both rear hubs started leaking so badly so soon after servicing them. I'm going through them both again today and double checking everything. Fortunately, I have more new seals sitting here for "just in case."



The only thing I see as even a possibility, is the plug of silicone in the keyway may have not sealed well enough. I hope I get it right this time!

 

[BlipOnTheRadar]

Please forgive my ignorance, but the keyway? I was a tech for a lot of years, mostly cars and light trucks, but i did get into off road diesel and the like before I got out of the biz. The three reasons i have seen for a axle seal to go was first, damage, improper installation, or pressure in the pumpkin. You don't strike me as a hack, to straightforward about the work and the prep work is excellent, so damage and improper installation are out... Pressure? Or can you show me this keyway and how it interferes with sealing?

Thanks...

Me.

 

[TMNT]

Please forgive my ignorance, but the keyway? I was a tech for a lot of years, mostly cars and light trucks, but i did get into off road diesel and the like before I got out of the biz. The three reasons i have seen for a axle seal to go was first, damage, improper installation, or pressure in the pumpkin. You don't strike me as a hack, to straightforward about the work and the prep work is excellent, so damage and improper installation are out... Pressure? Or can you show me this keyway and how it interferes with sealing?

Thanks...

Me.

Look at the first photo in post #268 above. There's a channel or slot machined into the spindle tube. It's only purpose is to keep the outer seal from turning when the lock nut is torqued.

The TM calls for a small chunk of cork cut to fit. Most just put a dab of silicone in there.

No damage to any of the seals. Maybe the silicone in the keyway wasn't enough.

I think I overfilled the rear axle. The vent is working ok and clean. I'm pretty sure I just overfilled the rear axle when it was parked on a slight slope. That kept too much 90wt out at the hub end of the axle tube and flooded the hubs.

I've got it all put back together now and I'm going to let it set for a day or two before re-filling and testing. This time I'm going to keep the lube level about a 1/2" below the fill hole.

 

[TMNT]

Took Betty to breakfast this morning and so far, so good on the hubs.

Michael and I decided to tackle the hood hinge replacement. The new hinges have been sitting on the work bench for months now.

The part that I dreaded was accessing the hardware on the bottom side of the hinges, under the dash/cowl.

That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The passenger side was easy after taking out the glove box, which was a 3 minute job. Easy.

The driver side was a little tougher, but not bad after I took the instrument panel out. I disconnected the tach and speedo and it comes out far enough for my hand to reach in as far as the hinge nuts.

Michael (12-year old) and I were able to lift the hood off the truck and put it in the driveway.

 

[TMNT]

My high-speed grinder and a stripping wheel made quick work of cleaning up the rust and old paint.

 

[TMNT]

Call me crazy but I put a light coat of silicone on the back side of the new hinges. I let the silicone cure pretty well before I installed them. I think it will help prevent the rust that develops when you have metal on metal contact.


Fresh paint on the backing plates and acid washed hardware. I noticed that I forgot to reattach the defroster hose. Have to fix that tomorrow.


I cleaned and painted the glove box before putting it back in.


All finished.

 

[TMNT]

Betty hauled the first load of stuff over to the new house. Man, loading up that big ol' cargo bed is like stacking stuff on a basketball court.



Betty at her new house

 

[TMNT]

.....and Dagnabit! I inspected the axles and hubs after I backed her into her usual parking spot. The right side middle hub is slinging oil.

I don't know what the heck I'm doing wrong but the hubs didn't leak at all with the old seals. They needed service for sure, but they never leaked to the outside. Now, with new seals, new grease, and new lube, I can't get them to stop leaking.

I'm going to keep an eye on the lube level and keep going for now. After we get moved, I'll break into and see what is going on. I've been into all 6 hubs, some more than once. For the life of me, I can't figure put how the seals would keep the oil out of the hub anyway. I have to study on that one some more.