M116A3 trailer with tore up inner bearing race that I can't get off

[pclausen]

So the picture above doesn't really show where the bend is. This shows it better:



The spindle is bent where the arrow points from what I can tell.

Here's the other side for reference:



Nice and straight.

I found this on eBay:



But that's $800 shipped...

But maybe I can keep an eye on the other big auction site to see if I can score one for a lot less closer by where I can pick it up myself.

As for having the spindle replaced at a trailer shop, I take it that would involve cutting off the current one at the axle tube and welding on a new one?

 

[pclausen]

Did the tire on the damage side show irregular wear?

Not that I can tell. I purchased the trailer 4 years ago from a guy in Pittsburg. I drove it the 300 miles back to Virginia and it did ok. Since then I have only driven it around on my own land (maybe 10 miles total tops).

I am adding a 80 gallon aux tank to it and it will see regular use going forward to the local gas station for diesel. But no long trips.

 

[juanprado]

If the drum goes on correctly with new bearings and you can set the nut, I would say no worries on the angle. It will just wear the tire faster and slightly uneven. For the use you envision. Ymmv

 

[Tinstar]

As for having the spindle replaced at a trailer shop, I take it that would involve cutting off the current one at the axle tube and welding on a new one?

Correct.

It's a fairly common repair.
Even the Semi-Trucks will have that done to save $$$

Just make sure you do your research on the repair shop.

I'm with juanprado on cleaning up the spindle and running it as is.
You will not be driving it long distances and should work for you just fine if it all bolts up.

 

[Tinstar]

This is the reason why I almost always use a trailer to bring auction trailers home.

 

[Toolslinger]

Yea, I think it's bent a bit, but your first photo with the ruler is exagerating it a little. The ruler is sitting up on some of the damage right around the 5", 5-1/8", and 5-3/8" marks.
I'd want to clean it up first, and then you can see what you're fighting with. It might be close enough to be servicable for your needs. If it chews up a bearing set every couple/few years as a result, you can throw bearings at it a long time before reaching the cost of that axle. Reality is I've seen entire trailers cost less than that axle.

 

[Tow4]

See if there is a speedy sleeve the size you need. If there is, you can clean up the surface and put the sleeve on and be good to go.

 

[Coug]

See if there is a speedy sleeve the size you need. If there is, you can clean up the surface and put the sleeve on and be good to go.

I was under the impression that speedy sleeves were for the seal surface, not for inside bearing races.

To me there does appear to be more than enough surface to properly install a new inner bearing race, just needs the old surface cleaned up a little bit so it will go on smoothly.
If all you are talking about is a few miles into town and back with a light load on it (even with the tank and fuel it should be less than 1k added lbs, and these axles are rated way above what the Army says) I also don't think it would be much of an issue to just install new bearings and run it. Either that or find a local axle shop that can do a repair.

 

[pclausen]

If the drum goes on correctly with new bearings and you can set the nut, I would say no worries on the angle. It will just wear the tire faster and slightly uneven. For the use you envision. Ymmv

I'm not worried about the angle of the overall wheel/tire to the ground, I'm more worried that the inner and outer races are inline, which they won't be if the spindle is bent between those 2 locations.

The replacement inner bearings should get here tomorrow (assuming they are the correct ones for the A3). So my plan is to clean up the inner bearing portion of the spindle just enough to where I can get the bearing on. Then press out the old cup from the hub and press in the new one and then dry fit the hub to the spindle and see if the spindle is centered in the outer portion of the hub. My guess is it won't be, which means that if I was to force the out bearing in and then torque down the axle nut, it would put immense load on the inner bearing, which I believe is why it failed in the first place.

But yeah, depending on how bad it is, I might just not tighten the axle nut to spec and it will be good enough for the 7 mile round trip to the gas station every 6 months or so to fill up the 80 gallon aux tank.

 

[pclausen]

I put the axle nut on finger tight (took out all the slop) and used a couple of aluminum flats to measure the difference at the inner race seat:





So that works out to a difference of about 3/32". I'm sure specs state it should not be out more than a few 1000s....

I don't suppose a shop would be able to heat it and bang in back to where its supposed to be?

I popped the drum off the hub and got the inner and outer cups out. The inner looked pretty banged up as expected before removing it:



Surprisingly, it did not put up much of a fight coming out. It does look like it too spun a little:



Outer cup came out real easy as well. That was the only one with a Timken part number on it:



Not sure if that crosses to the ones I got inbound, but I guess I'll find out soon enough.

 

[pclausen]

Also noticed that the inner bearing seat is mushed at the bottom from the angled spindle which evidently caused a lot of pressure here:



The more I think about it, the more I think I was really lucky to make it the 300 miles back from Pittsburg!

 

[Tinstar]

300 miles?!

I’m very surprised it made it at all without seizing up or losing the whole wheel assembly.

It might have been fine initially and started the carnage the last 50 miles.
Who knows……..

You caught early enough to probably save it.

The heat up and bending idea would work probably.
Worth trying if it doesn’t bolt up after cleanup.

 

[pclausen]

Heating it up to straighten it out doesn't look like too bad a job:

Google Search

www.google.com

 

[juanprado]

There are maybe 20 gen set empty chassis like the one you have coming up in Albany, Ga soon on gov't planet.

YMMV

 

[pclausen]

Thanks for the heads up! I'll definitely keep an eye out for that.

The bearings that Google AI told me I needed for the A3 axle were way too small. Ordered from etrailer via the link at the top of this section.

Going to make a template from the straight spindle and use it when heating up the bent spindle to straighten it out. Of course if I can score another chassis for cheap, I might not need to go this route. Worst case (best case?), I might end up with 2 trailers. I can get a big honking fuel tank for the 2nd one I suppose.

 

[pclausen]

Albany GA is 620 miles from me, so that would be over 1,200 miles round trip, so I decided to pass on those chassis.

I cleaned up the spindle some, but quickly realized that by the time it was smooth, my clearances would be too large for the new bearing. I also found that the area of the spindle where the inner bearing would land, was not true with the spindle centerline due to wear from the forced in the inner bearing from the bend on the spindle. So even if I was successful in straightening out the outer part of the spindle, I doubt I'd be able to get everything lined up.

I was able to work out a deal with the guy on eBay with the brand new axle, so I'm going that route instead. Should be here middle of next week.

The steel brake lines are in pretty bad shape and I broke one side removing the brake backing plate. Looks like the lines are all pretty easy to re-create, so do you guys typically just buy some straight pieces and bend them yourselves and flare the ends as needed?

 

[Mullaney]

Albany GA is 620 miles from me, so that would be over 1,200 miles round trip, so I decided to pass on those chassis.

I cleaned up the spindle some, but quickly realize that by the time it was smooth, my clearances would be too large for the new bearing. I also found that the area of the spindle where the inner bearing would land, was not true with the spindle centerline due to the bend. So even if I was successful in straightening out the outer part of the spindle, I doubt I'd be able to get everything lined up.

I was able to work out a deal with the guy on eBay with the brand new axle, so I'm going that route instead. Should be here middle of next week.

The steel brake lines are in pretty bad shape and I broke one side removing the brake backing plate. Looks like the lines are all pretty easy to re-create, so do you guys typically just buy some straight pieces and bend them yourselves and flare the ends as needed?

i normally do my own line bending and cut then double flair the end.
Shouldn't be difficult

 

[Mullaney]

Albany GA is 620 miles from me, so that would be over 1,200 miles round trip, so I decided to pass on those chassis.

I cleaned up the spindle some, but quickly realize that by the time it was smooth, my clearances would be too large for the new bearing. I also found that the area of the spindle where the inner bearing would land, was not true with the spindle centerline due to the bend. So even if I was successful in straightening out the outer part of the spindle, I doubt I'd be able to get everything lined up.

I was able to work out a deal with the guy on eBay with the brand new axle, so I'm going that route instead. Should be here middle of next week.

The steel brake lines are in pretty bad shape and I broke one side removing the brake backing plate. Looks like the lines are all pretty easy to re-create, so do you guys typically just buy some straight pieces and bend them yourselves and flare the ends as needed?

i normally do my own line bending and cut then double flair the end.
Shouldn't be difficult

 

[pclausen]

Decided to remove the old axle while I wait for the new one to get here. I noticed these things that attach the parking brake cables to the backing plate are in rough shape. Do replacements exists for these?



Got the shocks and brake line removed from the axle:



Axle removed:



Took the frame outside to prep the rusted areas for POR-15:



Hoping for some warmer weather soon. Except for 2 days last week, it has been staying below freezing for over 2 weeks now here in Central Virginia.

 

[pclausen]

Saturday was nice with temps in the 50s and sunny, so I got the frame into my shop extension where I can power wash and prep it for POR-15. It was too tall to fit in there standing up:



So I laid it back down, picked it up from the side and transferred it to junior:



Even without axle and wheels, it was still everything that little tractor could do, but I got it where I wanted it:



Sitting on its side like that, I can relatively easily get to everything underneath.

It definitely got some trouble spots:







Hopefully I'll get a chance to start removing/encapsulating that rust soon.