Removing a Spindle from a John Deere L Front Axle

[Daniel5555]

After removing the lock pin from the steering arm, what is the best way to remove the spindle from the front axle? The year is 1939 and it does not appear to have been removed before. Should I take the steering arm off first?

 

[Janicholson]

Steering arm removal is mandatory. I can't see from the photo if there is a split on the back side of the clamp where the bolt has been removed. If so use a flat blade (possibly sacrificial) screw driver to wedge it open by pounding it is just a little. That should free it up to be removed. Jim

 

[Mcrafty1]

I'll add that if there's no split to wedge the screwdriver into you may need a little heat, be sure there isn't anything in the hole where the bolt would be that is there to 'lock' the steering arm in place.

 

[Daniel5555]

I'll add that if there's no split to wedge the screwdriver into you may need a little heat, be sure there isn't anything in the hole where the bolt would be that is there to 'lock' the steering arm in place.

The hole is clear and there is no split to wedge in a screwdriver. I am going to use heat and ball and pinion wedging fork to tryto wedge it up. I will let you know how it goes.

 

[Daniel5555]

Steering arm removal is mandatory. I can't see from the photo if there is a split on the back side of the clamp where the bolt has been removed. If so use a flat blade (possibly sacrificial) screw driver to wedge it open by pounding it is just a little. That should free it up to be removed. Jim

I can see now that the steering arm has to come off. There is not split to wedge open so will use heat and a ball and pinion fork to wedge off the steering arm. Thank you.

 

[flying belgian]

It does look like its been on a while but with heat it should come off with no problem.

 

[abuelo]

I would try an air chisel first , before heat.

 

[Janicholson]

The hole is clear and there is no split to wedge in a screwdriver. I am going to use heat and ball and pinion wedging fork to tryto wedge it up. I will let you know how it goes.

Whacking sideways on it with a 2# hammer radially around the mounting "circle" will also break down some bonds. Good luck. Jim

 

[stevieb49829]

I would add to Jim's suggestion: Back the other side with a block of steel, or a 5 lb hammer, then work your way around it hammering on the side opposite your backer. It only takes one or two thousandths of expansion to break it loose. I'd try the torch first, then the hammering if the heat fails. Can you tell if it is keyed, or splined? Cleaning the top off before you do anything, down to shiny steel will help a lot once it starts to move. steve

 

[rustred]

After removing the lock pin from the steering arm, what is the best way to remove the spindle from the front axle? The year is 1939 and it does not appear to have been removed before. Should I take the steering arm off first?View attachment 93344

get that tie rod off. the use a brass drift and hammer the spindle down. and clean up any nicks first on the spindle shaft.

 

[Keith True]

I was wondering if I was missing something,I thought to get them out you just pounded the spindle down through the arm.As others said,clean the top first,hit it a bunch of times on the sides using another hammer as a buck on the opposite side,and pound the spindle down through.You do have to use common sense and not mushroom the spindle in the steering arm.

 

[farmersamm]

Dunno what kind of heating rig you have.................but ideally it's best to have something that will heat the collar to near red very fast. One smaller area of the diameter will do if you don't have a big heating rig.

Reason you need to heat it fast is to prevent undue heat transfer to the shaft, which will cause it to expand. The idea is to get the collar to expand, without the shaft expanding.

Use a drift(3/4 cold roll round stock will do), and hammer, to whack the shaft. Using a drift will prevent mushrooming of the shaft end.

A pickle fork will apply force unevenly..........trying to cock the collar instead of driving it off the shaft.

 

[farmersamm]

Steering arm removal is mandatory. I can't see from the photo if there is a split on the back side of the clamp where the bolt has been removed. If so use a flat blade (possibly sacrificial) screw driver to wedge it open by pounding it is just a little. That should free it up to be removed. Jim

The bolt is probably a lock pin affair. Shaft probably has an indented "slot" milled in it to accept the bolt. The indentation also serves to align the steering arm on the shaft. The collar would be solid.

 

[farmersamm]

While it might seem to be overkill................and the metallurgy Nazi's will come after ya.................DON'T BE AFRAID TO PUT THE HEAT TO THE COLLAR.

I've used a 500,000Btu Oxy/Propane, spot heating tip, to get this one off. The tip is capable of actually melting the part. Most importantly, it's able to put a ton of heat into the part FAST.

Sometimes you have to do a couple of heating cycles to break the rust bond. You'll hear it ticking as it cools.

Many many years ago I gave up on simply using pullers, and hydraulic presses, to get stuff apart. It's frustrating, and can often damage the part. Heat is your friend.

 

[stevieb49829]

While it might seem to be overkill................and the metallurgy Nazi's will come after ya.................DON'T BE AFRAID TO PUT THE HEAT TO THE COLLAR.

View attachment 93512
I've used a 500,000Btu Oxy/Propane, spot heating tip, to get this one off. The tip is capable of actually melting the part. Most importantly, it's able to put a ton of heat into the part FAST.

Sometimes you have to do a couple of heating cycles to break the rust bond. You'll hear it ticking as it cools.

Many many years ago I gave up on simply using pullers, and hydraulic presses, to get stuff apart. It's frustrating, and can often damage the part. Heat is your friend.

If you have to go through a couple of heat cycles, melt some candle wax into it as it cools down. steve

 

[Daniel5555]

Dunno what kind of heating rig you have.................but ideally it's best to have something that will heat the collar to near red very fast. One smaller area of the diameter will do if you don't have a big heating rig.

Reason you need to heat it fast is to prevent undue heat transfer to the shaft, which will cause it to expand. The idea is to get the collar to expand, without the shaft expanding.

Use a drift(3/4 cold roll round stock will do), and hammer, to whack the shaft. Using a drift will prevent mushrooming of the shaft end.

A pickle fork will apply force unevenly..........trying to cock the collar instead of driving it off the shaft.

The tir rod fork did not work. The opening on the fork was smaller than the spindle diameter. What I did was to heat the collar only and then used a bolt nearly the diameter of the spindle to force the spindle out of the steering collar. It worked pretty well. Thank you for the suggestions.

Now my issue is that I cannot find anyone who has the parts to rebuild the spindle. Do you have any suggestions where I can find the sleeves, cup bearings etc? My year is 1939 and serial number is 629224

 

[M-MAN]

The tir rod fork did not work. The opening on the fork was smaller than the spindle diameter. What I did was to heat the collar only and then used a bolt nearly the diameter of the spindle to force the spindle out of the steering collar. It worked pretty well. Thank you for the suggestions.

Now my issue is that I cannot find anyone who has the parts to rebuild the spindle. Do you have any suggestions where I can find the sleeves, cup bearings etc? My year is 1939 and serial number is 629224

Try looking for early M parts. It used the same parts and most vendors carry them. Probably still available from Deere as well. Look here at YT and Sharp's. Don't know if the L is listed on Deere's website so you can look up part numbers but the M is. I can look up the numbers in my parts files if needed.

 

[Daniel5555]

While it might seem to be overkill................and the metallurgy Nazi's will come after ya.................DON'T BE AFRAID TO PUT THE HEAT TO THE COLLAR.

View attachment 93512
I've used a 500,000Btu Oxy/Propane, spot heating tip, to get this one off. The tip is capable of actually melting the part. Most importantly, it's able to put a ton of heat into the part FAST.

Sometimes you have to do a couple of heating cycles to break the rust bond. You'll hear it ticking as it cools.

Many many years ago I gave up on simply using pullers, and hydraulic presses, to get stuff apart. It's frustrating, and can often damage the part. Heat is your friend.

You are correct. Heat made the difference and in a minute or so, it was apart. Thank you.
No I need to find someone who has the parts to rebuild the spindle- bushings, bearings etc.
dan

 

[Daniel5555]

While it might seem to be overkill................and the metallurgy Nazi's will come after ya.................DON'T BE AFRAID TO PUT THE HEAT TO THE COLLAR.

View attachment 93512
I've used a 500,000Btu Oxy/Propane, spot heating tip, to get this one off. The tip is capable of actually melting the part. Most importantly, it's able to put a ton of heat into the part FAST.

Sometimes you have to do a couple of heating cycles to break the rust bond. You'll hear it ticking as it cools.

Many many years ago I gave up on simply using pullers, and hydraulic presses, to get stuff apart. It's frustrating, and can often damage the part. Heat is your friend.

Thanks for the guidance. You are correct and heat made the difference. I got them apart within a few minutes of using heat.

 

[Daniel5555]

If you have to go through a couple of heat cycles, melt some candle wax into it as it cools down. steve

Good idea. Will try that on the spindle on the left side.