Posted by Frank [67.84.160.37] on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at 22:26:25 :
I have never seen this problem posed on this forum before. I have a ’47 WDX and I am in the process of reassembling the knuckle after needing to replace an axle oil seal. Upon disassembly I noted that the knuckle flange had no pre-load and attributed this to worn components. I also found that there were no shims at the upper (steering arm) bearing cap. The upper bronze cone was not damaged or showed any sign of ware. I did find three (donut shaped) shims on the lower trunnion pivot pin underneath the roller bearing that did not belong there. I removed these shims and replaced the lower cone and cup with Timken units even though the original bearing (Bower), after cleaning, looked serviceable. Assembled the flange, torqued the bolts to 85 Ft./lbs.’, replaced the bearing caps and placed a .005 thick shim on the upper cap (adding shims reduces pre-load correct?) Still have no pre-load. Dis-assembled again and sourced an NOS upper bronze cone bearing and a Timken brand cup and reassembled. The flange is tight with no play and I now only have about five pounds of preload. I carefully examined the trunnion pins for damage or possible previous incorrect replacement but I can’t see how it could be incorrectly replaced because these pins have a shoulder that sits in the axle ball end that determines their height and the mounting height of the bearings. What can I do or check next?
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