Bugeye Rear Axles

[Geo Hahn]

Asking to help out a friend with a 59 Bugeye.

He had to pull one of the rear axle shafts to replace the studs and upon reinserting it, cannot get it to go fully home... about 1/4" from being seated.

Tried and retried and rotated the opposite wheel, still no joy. Desperate, he pulled the axle shaft out a bit on the opposite side and now it won't go all the way back in either (sticks out about 1/8").

Is there something we're missing here?

 

[piman]

Hello Geo,

can't see anything, the splines must be engaged for it to get that close. Have you tried a tap with a soft heavy hammer?.

Alec

 

[Geo Hahn]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, he did try tapping. Didn't work but afterwards he had to use a puller to get it out again. That worries me a bit but he said there was no damage to the splines.

I expect he was reluctant to hit it very hard (I would be too as mine -- TR -- have always slipped in easily) and indeed if lots of small light taps do not move it then hitting it hard would seem likely to damage something.

I'll be over there tomorrow or the next day to eyeball the thing... wondering if there a bit of a burr or such on the end. Then we'll take a close look at tapping and see if we're getting even slight progress.

 

[aeronca65t]

The spline end of the axle drops slightly when you pull it out of the center section of the rear.
When you try to put it back in, you need to lift the spline-end by grasping the outer part of the axle in such a way that the spline end goes up a bit.
You also need to twist it a bit at the same time, to get the splines to engage while you're pushing.
It can be tricky to do this....use patience and keep trying. You'll get it.

 

[spritenut]

Once the axle is in place, it will not be fully home until the set screw, brake drum, and wheel slugs have been fully installed.
This pulls it all together. Now remove the wheel and tighten the axle set screw and drum screws. There is a small 3rd hole in the brake drum for access to the axle screw.
What you are doing is seating it all back into the hub.

 

[fmichaels]

i recently rebuild the rear on my 67 and agree with spritenut. the axle only goes in so far. I wouldn't recommend tapping it since you could damage the differential. the axle bearing hub floats on the banjo until it is secured to the axle head using the single set screw. if the hub is set all the way onto the banjo, it can appear that the axle is not all the way in. once the axle is inserted, move the bearing hub outward to meet the axle head. the two pieces can then be worked togther and tighten using the set screw. it takes a little time but its not difficult. remember to replace the gasket and o-ring seals as well. good luck!

 

[Geo Hahn]

Thanks for all the help... got over there today to see it in person and found the problem:

The shoulder on the old stud was .389" -- the shoulder on the Moss replacement was .3915".

The studs individually would fit thru the holes in the hub & drum but when all 4 were in place they were too widely spaced to fit... interference on the outer edges.

Examining the old stud revealed a shiny spot on what had been the outer side of the shoulder so the old studs were not perfectly centered in the holes in the hub & drum and thus didn't have an additional 2 thou to give up.

Pondering our alternatives, probably going to enlarge the 4 holes in the hub and drum ever so slightly as I don't think it is practical to machine down the diameter of that shoulder on the (grade 8) stud).