How Hard To Replace The Front Axle Pin..??

[KRS_MED]

Trying to finish up the NAA before I spray the chassis. While replacing the front wheel bearings noticed that the front axle has a lot of movement or flex from front to back that seems excessive to me. I read the shop manual. How hard is it to remove the center axle pin and replace it? I don't have a slide hammer, will any thing else work if its not threaded in?
Thanks,
Keith

 

[Bruce (VA)]

I think the slide hammer trick would work on a pivot pin that was in place for 2 or 3 years.....not 40 or 50 like most of them.

I just pull the axle apart & get the center axle w/ the front motor mount flat on the floor. I soak the pin a few times w/ PB Blaster, remove the bolt & get out my BFH & a long drift. Get the drift (or chisel)as low as you can on the bottom of the tear-dropped front of the pivot pin & start banging away. Do it one way then switch sides. As soon as you see it move (Friday if you start on Tuesday) you've got the rust bond broken. Then, flip it over & drive it out w/ a piece of pipe, socket or my hi-tech pivot pin removal tool pictured above. Make sure you get the bushing out as well.

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[Ed S.]

Here's how I removed mine:

es

 

[Musclenut]

When you get it out what parts are needed to tighten up the front end? How hard is it to get back together?

 

[R Geiger (or)]

You mean to say they are supposed to be tight and not just fall out like mine did? lol

 

[Bruce (VA)]

Assuming it's loose because of the wear in the pivot pin....and the wear hasn't got to the axle....replace the pin (above) and the bushing. Not hard at all to get back together.
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[Ed S.]

While replacing the front wheel bearings noticed that the front axle has a lot of movement or flex from front to back that seems excessive to me.

Just thought I'd add that the axle is supposed to be able to slide forward and back a little, to compensate for adjusting your axle width in and out (which changes the drag link geometry, etc.).

It's the up and down (pin wear in the bushing) that is the problem. In my photo above, the wear on the pin is quite obvious, and the bushing was completely worn through. My 8N had a FEL on it at some point in its life before I got it, and the extra weight definitely exacerbates wear.

es

 

[Mike OH]

I just finished up yesterday installing a new axle pin, bushing and repainting the radius rods, on my Jubilee. I still had the adaptor bracket on the front end for my front end loader, and found there was no bolt securing the axle pin in place. The adapter plate kept it from rotating or pulling out. What I did was to jack up the front end of the tractor getting most of the weight off the front tires. Don't know if this helped or not, but it only took a few healthy taps on the sides of the tear drop portion of the pin to free it up and then I got behind the sides of the tear drop portion with a screw driver and pried it away from the front support and it didn't take much to remove it completely. I had the biggest problem in removing the bolts and nuts from the axle themselves than I did in getting the pin out. I used one of my 3/4" drive sockets that was just a tad smaller than the bushing hole in the axle to remove the bushing....... I also found about 1/4 of the bushing was worn away when I got it out. I cleaned up the hole in the axle and used the old axle pin as a driver in installing the new bushing. I then repainted the radius arms and shimmed up the ball end of the arms using some aluminum from one of my favorite beverage cans.. paint is now dry and I will be brushing hogging the back field this afternoon.

 

[weaveman]

The 12 ton press is how I did mine too. Unfortunately I mountede a 12 ton jack on a 6 ton press, and distorted it a little, before the pin "POPPED", and came out. I even added heat to try to make it easier, but mine was sure stuck.

 

[KRS_MED]

This is what I am concerned about. I don't have a press that I can use, just heat and a BAH....
Going to remove axle tommorow, and hope for the best! What would be the way to repair if the axle is so worn that the bushing doesn't fit tight?
Just trying to cover all the bases.
Thanks for all the information!
Keith

 

[Bruce (VA)]

Most of us don't have a press; PB Blaster & the drift w/ a BFH to loosen it up works for most of us.

If the the center axle is worn, replace it. Good used ones are available. Or, get out your wallet & head for the machine shop. They drill it out & put an oversize bushing in it. And, 50 years from now, a new owner will go nuts trying to figure out why a standard size bushing won't fit
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[KRS_MED]

Got the center Axle Pin removed with a little Blaster, and a BAH. It wasn't to bad took about twenty minutes after I removed every thing from the front of the tractor. The Bushing was in two pieces and worn into. The Center Pin had oblivious wear on the bottom of it.
My question I have is it normal to have around a 1/16" from the outer surface of pin to the inner surface of the center axle pivot hole? There is 1/16" all the way around. There was also a bushing in front of the axle that looks like a bearing race, is this suppose to fit in the center of the axle?
I thought I was hammering a Hip Prosthesis into the Femur when hammering the pin out.
Thanks,
Keith

 

[Bruce (VA)]

I'm not understanding what you're saying about the 1/16"..........try again or post a pic.

It's not a bearing race or bushing. It's a spacer. You should have 3 or 4 large washer/spacers as well.
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