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If you think your M37 is chunky, take a spin up to Aberdeen and look at some of the stuff sitting there, its worth the trip.
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Hey, been a while since I posted. Traveling a lot for work, blah blah blah you know how it goes. Got back in the saddle the other day, back to work on the axles:
I've got the axles pretty much torn apart at this point. Cleaned all the grease off, next step is to hit it with the wire wheel, prime and paint. I'm going to order new seals for everything too. No sense in putting old crummy parts back on. Got to start fresh!Comment
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When I first started working on the rear dif, I discovered a welded bolt on the 3rd member. I thought to myself, hmm that's strange? Why did Private Snuffy weld that sucker on there? So of course, I removed it to find out. When I did, the bolt came right out, and then a little piece of metal dropped in to the pumpkin. After fishing it out, this is what I saw:
Does anyone have any idea what it is for? It looks like it was being held in with nothing but that one bolt holding pressure to it against the ring. Was it to hold the gear in place under high torque situation? I imagine if you took this thing off while the truck was together, and then rolled it in either direction, it would fall to the bottom and you would be forced to pull the whole 3rd member out to fish for the part. What's up with this? I guess it explain why it was welded shut......Comment
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You got it right. It's a thrust pad for the ring gear. It should be set to .006" to .008" gap between the pad and the ring gear at it's tightest and then gets tack welded so the adjustment can't change.Comment
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So that's a factory thing? Guess it's not meant to be removed once assembled?Originally posted by Desoto61 View PostComment
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Made a little more progress on the rear axles yesterday.
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Need to save a little cash before I can buy the new bearings, seals, etc so I think i will start cleaning up the transfer case and transmission next. More to come.Comment
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Started cleaning the transfer case and transmission this weekend. I figured before I start taking them apart, I should probably try to get the last 50 years of crap off of them!
I had my work cut out for me.Comment
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Pulled the E-Brake assembly off.
A broken seal made for a nice drain point when I lifted it up with the hoist.Comment
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50+ year old transmission fluid, didn't smell as bad as I thought it would. Bonus, no metal chunks or swirleys in there, so hopefully the insides are in good shape.
Before soda blasting, I wanted to get a majority of the dirt and grease off. This heated pressure washer they had at the shop did a nice job.
I wasn't too worried about getting water in anything as I am going to take it all apart and drain everything anyways.Comment
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After everything dried the next day, I started with the soda blaster. This one is from Harbor Freight, it was about $150. Once you get the hang of it and have it going, it's really quite impressive! I wouldn't use it on body panels or anything as the nozzle shoots kind of narrow and the media is expensive ($37 for a 50lbs bag) but for engine, transmission, stuff like that it's a dream. It's not like sand, so you really don't have to worry about it getting in to places it shouldn't. It easily dissolves with water, or pretty much anything.
Progress
Not bad, considering what it looked like when I started!Comment
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On the downside, it does make quite a mess. The good thing though is a few minutes with a garden hose, it was all gone.
This week I plan on tackling all the seals and figuring out what parts I need to order. Then I will prime and paint. Is there anything I should be aware of or be looking out for while inspecting the trans and transfer case?Comment
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So today I went from doing a transfer case refurb to a transfer case rebuild. I guess you can say I got a little happy with the wrench, and then things slowly started to fall apart....
Trying to keep it all organized.
"Made in USA". That's reassuring!Comment
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Hmm, what's this?
OK, this is where I should have stopped! But.....Comment
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Houston, we have a problem.
These little roller bearings were pouring out all over the place. I have no idea how you even get them back in. This is going to be quite the crash course. Carter, you out there buddy?Comment
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