This is something of a shot in the dark for me, 'cause I'm no spridget
axle expert. Since you sound a bit desparate, it might be worth thinking
about.
When I redid my rear axle I replaced my wheel studs with 7/16" ones for
racing. The stud holes in the axle were a bit of a tight fit so I tapped
the axle a soft hammer to help it move down the stud. Then I found the
hub would interfere with some of the brake parts (one of the outer
cylinder seals, from memory). Upon close observation I realized that by
tapping on the axle the inner bearing would move in the housing, allowing
the whole axle/hub assembly to move inwards. I found that I had to reset
the bearings and start over and be sure that I put absolutely no pressure
on the axle when inserting it (I actually reamed the stud holes slightly)
so as to be sure I didn't move the bearing and the hub. It seems to me
that tapping on the axle with a lead hammer would definitely make it
bottom out eventually as the hub will move. Did you happen to notice if
the bearings were still seated after you did this? Did you try and spin
the hub to see if it cleared all the brake parts?
As far as the gaps are concerned... At the last races a friend had a
leaky rear axle. Upon removing it he found evidence that it had been
dropped, which might have bent the flange such that is was no longer
perpendicular to the axle, and/or perfectly flat.
Finally, when sealing the rear axle run ALL FOUR lug nuts down the studs
and get them as tight as possible. Then put a little loctite on the
phillips screws and insert them. The screws are OK for holding the axle
in, but you will never get enough torque to seal the flange. You may be
doing this already, but I thought it worth mentioning.
Good luck!
David Littlefield
'62 MGA MkII
'51 MGTD
'74 MG Midget vintage racer
'88 Jaguar XJ-S
On Thu, 07 Jun 2001 18:28:32 -0700 Maclean Mike <macleans@earthlink.net>
writes:
> I'm at the end of my rope on this one. I've been battling this hub
> face
> axle flange gap issue for months. Both sides, the right side is
> about
> 3/16ths inch and the left about 1/32nd inch. I picked up an axle
> casing
> today that is definitely for disc wheel cars. It measures the same
> as
> the one that is in my car. Does the machined step that the bearing
> seats on have a different dimension when measured from the back
> plate
> mounting flange? I don't know yet. I am going to swap the axle
> casings
> out and try again. If that does not do it, time to grind a quarter
> inch
> ar so off the end of the axles. I replaced the bearings and seals
> yesterday in an attempt to stop the oil leak from the right side.
> Probably ruined the seal in the hub taking off so many times to shim
> it
> in an attempt to stop the oil leak. So I replaced everything and
> removed
> the shims. The machinist that pressed in the new seals and bearings
> said to paint the end of the axles with nail polish and install.
> When
> the axle is all the way in, tap it with a lead hammer. If the nail
> polish is disturbed, you are bottoming out. Guess what? the nail
> polish proved it is bottoming out on the pinion shaft! I'm confused
> by
> my car again. Steel wheel axle casing and steel wheel hubs and
> steel
> wheel axles, the axles bottom out. Huh?
> Mike MacLean-60 Sprite
>
>
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