Young Ed Posted July 8, 2009 Report Posted July 8, 2009 With the hub/drum removed its 5 bolts for the backing plate and the brake line. I believe you are right that you'd have to bleed the brakes again. Here's the only picture I could find of my truck when I did all this. Quote
n1gzd_plymouth Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Posted July 8, 2009 thanks for the pic. did the axle shaft just pull out? Is that a spacer that I see on the backing plate that is sitting on the floor? If so, then it goes behind the outer bearing, pressed against the axle shaft housing? I guess I need to look at the picture again. I sure would love to see more pictures if anyone has them. Thanks, again. Also, next time I will make sure to have my camera with me too. Rebecca Quote
Young Ed Posted July 8, 2009 Report Posted July 8, 2009 I cant tell if thats the spacer or the dust seal. If its a spacer/shim its sitting on the wrong side of the backing plate. The axle needs to be pulled out but its a lot easier then the drum. You can use a slide hammer or what we do is a piece of PVC between the drum and axle. Turns the drum into a giant spacer to pull the axle out. Quote
RobertKB Posted July 8, 2009 Report Posted July 8, 2009 You do not need to pull the axle to get at the shims. Remove the backing plate and any shims you have should be held in place by the five bolts you see on the end of Ed's axle housing or they could be stuck to the backing plate by old oil, dirt, etc. If there are none, you probably need some. Quote
n1gzd_plymouth Posted July 8, 2009 Author Report Posted July 8, 2009 Ok. this seems easy enough. Friday I will pull one of my hubs off again and check end play and proceed from there. I will report back what I find out. Thanks for all the help. Rebecca Quote
Young Ed Posted July 8, 2009 Report Posted July 8, 2009 Hopefully someone can confirm this but I seem to recall having to check with both drums removed. Quote
n1gzd_plymouth Posted July 9, 2009 Author Report Posted July 9, 2009 I have been staring at the drawing in the book and now I think that I must have too much shim (and that is why I can't torque it correctly without it being too tight). The back of the hub is jamed up against the backing plate because the shim is too thick. I will confirm this friday. If I need a thinner shim, where do I get one? I am assumign that there is one shim (it is not a stack that can have one leaf removed). I am guessing that I just have to measure how thick it is and get a thinner one. We shall see. I guess as an experiment, I can assemble it without the shim to prove that my problem is fixed (but of course then the end play would be too much - just an experiment to prove that it would no longer be too tight). Rebecca Quote
RobertKB Posted July 9, 2009 Report Posted July 9, 2009 Most times there is more than one shim on each axle. They are often of different thicknesses and you can remove whatever is needed. A micrometer is handy. There are several thicknesses shown in my parts book. If you are stuck for one of the right thickness, PM me as I have many saved of varying thicknesses scavenged over the years. Quote
Merle Coggins Posted July 9, 2009 Report Posted July 9, 2009 You should not have to remove the drums to check axle end play, although it would eliminate any brake drag resistance. When the drum is tight on the axle shaft, the shaft should still be able to float back and forth. As for the shims... too few shims makes the bearings too tight (no end play), and too many shims makes the bearing too loose (too much end play). If you tighten up the nut and the drum locks up, you need to check to see if the drum is contacting the backing plate. If this is the cause of the drum not turning then I suspect that your replacement drum has a worn out tapered bore. This causes the drum to go onto the axle shaft farther before becoming tight. In which case the drum now contacts the backing plate and drags or binds up. A worn bore can happen when the drum was left loose on the shaft, allowing it to work back and forth and wear against the shaft. Merle Quote
n1gzd_plymouth Posted July 9, 2009 Author Report Posted July 9, 2009 Thanks for the info. My drum hub is not worn. It is NOS (and clearly looks like it). The old hub did not have this problem. However, the previous owner did mess with it (and even appears to have ground off not just the rivets but a tiny amount of the metal). I wonder if they were trying to fix a problem that should have been fixed by adjusting the shims. I am trying to understand why too few shims creates no end play and tight bearings. Is it because the shims stack outside of the diameter of the bearing and thus protect (preserve) a space where they will sit so that they can't be squeezed. If so, this has to be my problem. However, I don't understand why more shims does not cause the hub to hit the backing plate (because the backing plate would more further out towards the end of the axle shaft). I would think that too many shims could also cause the hub to hit the backing plate and bind up there. In other words, tight bearing due to too little shims could cause tightness but also too many shims could cause tightness due to backing plate pushed out towards the hub and the hub presses against it. Does this make sense? Rebecca Quote
billwillard Posted July 9, 2009 Report Posted July 9, 2009 Now youve done it. Do we have to make sense???????????? Quote
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