Posted by David Dannenberg [108.52.148.64] on Saturday, December 06, 2014 at 11:40:35 :
In Reply to: Re: PW--what else? Project beginning to start. posted by Joe Cimoch [75.131.145.86] on Thursday, December 04, 2014 at 17:48:55 :
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. I am having fun and learning a lot.
I agree that it is best to conceive of the overall project as series of little projects; thanks.
I just made a dropbox folder of the dismantling of the rear axle. I did it down to the backing plates a long time ago and finally got the backing plates of this week.
Dually lug nuts/studs are really cool. I have 9 of ten of them. Is that the way modern duallies are set up--fact to face off set wheels nesting studs? I once read that the military found out in the early 40s that big singles worked better than duallies (on duece and a half's anyway) but stayed with duallies rather than "high singles" for decades. True? Influence of the tire lobby? Is there a tire lobby?
in anticipation of some of your questions:
Yes, that 3rd member shows some rust; I have access to many others.
Yes, had I better understood the way these things are assembled I could have removed the drum with the hub and had access to the nuts on the back of the bolts that were used to BOLT the drum to the hub and would not have had to drill the out. Is it standard procedure to bolt the drum to the hub? If so, why? The wheels will hold it on just fine and there seemed to be threaded holes intended to let one drive the drums off of the hub flange with bolts (as was the case with so many vehicles). I had to drill those buggers out; big PIA.
For backing plate removal, the Hillitool directions are better than my initial method. I had tried cutting the heads of the rivets off with a diamond wheel on an angle grinder and it was slow and made a mess of the backing plate (who cares though, right?). Then I tried an abrasive wheel with similar results (but even more sparks).
Then I used center punch, and drilled with progressively larger bits then used a cold chisel (ultimately a bigger one than the the knuckle buster in the picture) and a punch to drive them out. Still a process, but predictable and effective and relatively clean.
I have a link below to absolutely thrilling (haha) pictures on Dropbox. If that doesn't work I will try to find out a way to invite the forum to look; otherwise send me your email and I'll send you an invitation.
Dave
https://www.dropbox.com/home/Power%20Wagon%20Rear%20Axle