differential problem

When repairing the gears I found out that the axle end play was about one quarter inch. We reassembled the axle and the the brake shoes rubed the drum. We pressed the bearing to where we had about one sixteenth of end play and the shoes still rub the drum. we drove it and the end play is again about three sixteenths of an inch. The bearing isn't up against the raised portion of the axle shaft, is there a shim pack to adjust the bearing? why is the shoes rubbing ? they weren't before.We are going to replace the axle bearings and race tomorrow. We ground the metal on the side of the shoes to help the rubbing but didn't help. There isn't any shims in the mix.

Comments

  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    edited September 2017
    You might want to identify which year (and model) you own.

    I know that on my car (1937) there is a steel thrust button at the inside end of the axle shaft, which rides against the drive shaft thrust spacer.  The thrust button prevents the axle from moving "in".  No amount of adjustment at the outer end of the shaft will prevent it from moving in, should the thrust button wear.

    This happened to me once.  The whole axle would move in and out on turns.  When it moved in, the rivet heads that held the hub to the brake drum, would hit the wheel cylinder and "machine it".  There was a tap-tap-tap noise from the rear wheel, that no one could diagnose.

    Cure is simple.  Pull the axle out and check; if the button is worn away you can remove it and insert a new one (if you can find one!) or improvise a new one and insert that.  I am sorry, I don't know the dimension of the button protrusion from the end of the axle shaft but maybe someone will step in here with that information.  The 1934-37 shop manual says the following about removing the button:

    To Renew Axle Shaft Thrust Button
    (8) Grind off thrust button (28) on emery wheel flush
    with end of shaft. Center punch thrust button and drill
    11/32" hole through center. Tap out button with 3/8-16 tap
    and screw in 3/8-16 hex. cap screw 1-1/2 or 2" long. Place
    head of screw in vise and tap end of axle shaft with soft
    hammer, removing button. Clean out hole and drive in new
    thrust button, making sure button is firmly seated in shaft.

    There is an excellent discussion on reducing in-and-out play in the rear axle on Ken Cates' excellent StepDown website http://hudsonrestoration1948-54.com/ .  Click on REAR END under "Maintenance", in the menu.  If your car is a StepDown you should bookmark this site for easy reference, because there is a lot of good material there.   You may also wish to donate to help support it! 

    By the way, if you don't have a shop manual for your Hudson and you happen to be an HET member who is registered at the HET website, check the on-line library -- you can download a whole bunch of helpful information there.

  • sorry it is a 53 hornet with a dana 44
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Oops.  Not sure whether all that stuff I told you, is true for a Dana 44!
  • We didn't take the spider gears out we just placed the complete assembly into the housing

  • It seems as if the axle bearing is slipping on the axle
  • Thank you for aLL OF YOUR HELP. wE TORE THE DIFFERENTIAL DOWN AND THERE WASN'T A THRUST WASHER. tHERE WAS ONE IN THE OLD ONE WHICH WE INSTALLED SOLVING OUR PROBLEM. THANK YOU
  • Kid used a crush washer to set the pinion gear. I don't know why the shims need to be used as the pressure is between the two bearings when you tighten the nut? Shims would only move the tail shaft further out.?
  • The rear drive shaft is very tight? Have to loosen the center point bearing to reinstall. Is this normal? On a regular car there is some space.