Re: Front axle nuts

[jlandry@domain.elided (John A. Landry)]

On Thu, 18 Dec 1997 07:07:31 -0600, Todd Thomas
<tthomas@domain.elided> wrote:

>Anybody know where I could buy the correct locking ring(s) for the spindle
>nuts on the front axle of my 77 Terra.  I am getting tired of having to tear
>down the front hubs just to tighten my nuts after a 4 wheeling trip.  One
>good thing though, my bearings get repacked frequently.

Todd,

I'd like to offer a suggestion to you will effectively put an end to your
hassles forever... just your axle nut hassles that is.  When I first bought
my Traveler and decided to give the brakes and front axles the once over, I
found the lock rings pretty much chewed up and trashed.  The lock nuts
weren't much better off as some enterprising mechanic used a chisel instead
of the proper 2-1/16" socket to loosen and tighten it.  When I pulled the
locking hubs off, I found the lock nuts loose!  So much for torquing with a
chisel!

I'll admit being on the anal retentive side when it comes to mechanical
work, so chisels and trashed lock rings weren't going to cut it.  A few
telephone calls reveled lock rings of the sort we need aren't readily
available (around here anyway).  At the suggestion of a fellow 4x4
enthusiast, I believe I did find some at a local auto dealership parts
department (for the life of me I can't remember what make) but they were
like $20.00 each... whoa!  So again at the suggestion of a fellow IH owner,
I took a trip to a local 4x4 wrecking yard to do some scouting around.

Apparently *many* other truck makes using the Dana 44 front axle system
have the same spindle threads our Scouts do.  Most of these other makes use
special circular lock nuts unlike our IH rigs.  To lock these nuts, they
use a different looking round lock ring (washer) that goes between the
nuts.  The big difference is this - in our case we are supposed to bend the
lock ring over the flats of the nut to keep the nuts from turning, but on
these other makes the lock ring has many holes drilled (or stamped) around
it's face.  Just like ours, the lock ring with the holes has a tab that
protrudes into the "key way" (slot) in the spindle.  The way this setup
works, is that the *rear* circular lock nut has a pin protruding from its
face.  Once this inner lock nut is properly torqued against the hub and
bearings, the special lock ring (with the many holes) is placed against it
so that the protruding pin engages one of these holes.  In case the pin
doesn't exactly line up with one of the lock ring holes, the lock nut is
moved very slightly so it will.  Then, the outer lock ring is installed and
torqued heavily to spec.  No bending, no fuss.

I brought my spindle to this wrecking yard and found literally a wall full
of these circular lock nuts and lock rings hanging on nails.  Unfortunately
we cannot convert straight over to this system, because these circular lock
nuts are thicker than the ones we use on our rigs.  We run out of spindle
threads.  So what I did was to retain the use of the stock IH lock nuts
(after cleaning them up and filing the chisel burrs off) but adopt the
circular style locking ring.  I purchased two circular lock rings and one
circular lock nut with pin.  I brought the circular lock nut home and
punched out the pin.  Using my IH spindle as a sort of drilling jig, I
threaded one of my flat lock nuts on first, then I snuggly threaded on the
circular lock nut sans pin.  Next I selected an appropriate gauged drill
bit and drilled completely through the empty pin hole of the circular lock
nut and IH lock nut.  Using some small diameter stainless steel drill rod I
had on hand (for gunsmithing) I fashioned new pins to tap into my IH lock
nuts.

So when the axles went back together, on went my properly torqued IH lock
nut with pin first, followed by the new circular lock ring with the holes
and then the outer IH lock nut.  It looks and works wonderfully... no nasty
bent washer to contend with.  After about 8,000 miles I took the locking
hub off to check the lock nut torque, and it was still exactly where I left
it.  I haven't had the need to remove the lock nuts yet, but I've heard
that sometimes the pin protruding from the inner lock nut will shear upon
removal.  This is considered more or less normal and the pins are simply
and easily tapped and replaced.

Happy holidays,

John
------------------------------------------------------------------------
jlandry@domain.elided             |
Conservative Libertarian        |  Scout(R) the America others pass by
Life Member of the NRA          | in the Scout Traveler escape-machine.
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Commercial Helicopter - Inst.   | 1976 Scout Traveler, V345A, 727, 3.54
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