Re: [ihc] Front Spindles Heat treated?

["Jim or Ginger Aos" <jaos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James Lidberg" <jameslidberg@domain.elided>
To: <ihc@domain.elided>
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 8:55 PM
Subject: [ihc] Front Spindles Heat treated?


> Dana 44 front axle: are the spindles heat treated?

I THINK that they are. That is usually why you see a very fine grain
structure in the broken sections, when they do break.  The higher the carbon
equivalency rating, ( higher alloy steel), the higher  the heat required to
weaken it.  Or soften the heat treatin effect.  What happens when you do
overheat a heat treated object is anneal or soften it.   This reheating is
called drawing the brittleness & hardness out to make tough and just hard
enough without being too brittle or too soft.  How much depends on alloy
content.  I had to take one pice of steel up to 1200 F in order to soften it
enough to work (machine ) it.  The color range( severity of oxidation) of
steel is approximated below.  This reheating is referred to as tempering,
( temper means control).  Lose your temper = lose control.  A file is made
out of all the same steel but; the file cuts other steel and the tang that
will bend is of the same steel, and a similar file will cut the tang of
anothe file.  The difference is in the heat treating

Lt. straw             400 degrees F
Dr.    straw         450 degrees F
Lavendar            500 degrees F
Dr. blue              600 degrees F
Lt. blue               650 degrees F
Dull red on a dark day 1,000 degrees F

These are approximate and are dependant on a failing memory, and this is
more than you asked for Jim A.

>
> My bearings got so hot they cracked the hubs from the inside out and
turned the spindles blue, a rather dark blue, in
> bands just where the inner bearing races contact them.
>
> Are the spindles toast? Do they need to be replaced?
>
> The bearing rollers themselves are OK, the inner and outer races drew off
the heat, tuned black in spots,  and put the
> heat to the hubs and spindles - new one on me. I've always seen the
rollers disintegrate first before the heat built up
> so high.
>
> I think it was the grease that did them in. Morey's Red.
>
> Here is a quote from their corp web site, it sounds like the best grease
there is, and that it is great for wheel
> bearings, doesn't it?
>
> http://moreysoilonline.com/products.htm
> "Morey's Super Real Premium Multi-Purpose EP Grease protects equipment
worldwide. The ultimate in multipurpose grease,
> providing stability and performance for agriculture, industry, marine,
automotive & fleet applications. Suitable for
> all types of bearings: ball or roller/sealed or open/truck & automotive
wheel bearings/boat trailer bearings."
>
> I read from another site that distributes Morey's, and I read that  the
bearing rollers are not supposed to go past
> 5000 RPM, (I think they exceed that at 70MPH):
>
> " NOT RECOMMENDED FOR SMALL ANTI-FRICTION BEARINGS OPERATING OVER
5000RPM."
> http://www.unitedbearing.com/MOREYSsuperred.html
>
> I used this stuff at the recommendation of a local drive shaft repair
place, guess now that I should have calculated
> the roller RPM first, oh well, Live and learn, or better yet: "Burn and
Learn".
>
> I've got to say I am lucky to have caught it before it got worse, the
wheels showed no sign of being loose nor did I
> feel any roughness while spinning the wheels and listening for broken or
rough bearings, that is becasue they were
> still intact.
>
> The hubs cracked, inside, along the casting marks.
>
> The only reason I caught it was that I was hunting the source of an
intermittant "ooohh" sound, usually in 4LO, on
> rough sections of trail. It sounded like a spring bushing or spring teflon
pad or a loose ubolt/spring plate or such. I
> had taken all of those things totally apart and put them back together in
the last 2 months, and there was no change.
> The last thing was the bearings.
>
> Thanks,
>
> - Jim in Mesa
> **************
> Jim In Mesa - James Lidberg
> jameslidberg@domain.elided
> '79 Scout II/4X4/345/Edelbrock 1400/727/D20/3.07 open/PS/PB/4"Trailmaster
> Copyright 2004 All rights reserved