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PB Blaster or Kroil, a plumbers propane torch and many cycles, (lube, heat , lube, heat, repeat). apply heat to the steering wheel sleeve without melting the plastic of the steering wheel itself. A tip is to use several layers of aluminum foil as a heat barrier against the plastic of the wheel. Then for a puller, a bearing separator plate and a good two bolt puller works best. Apply pressure while heating and lube, then smack the nut with a hammer lightly to shock the steel to aid in separating the wheel from the shaft. It is important to losen the nut to the top of the threads of the steering shaft to protect the threads.
https://www.amazon.com/OrionMotorTec.../dp/B07GSM7N37
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Thanks, guys! I appreciate your advice. I'll keep after it.
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A cheap heat gun from China Freight can be real good here. It will keep you from melting the center of the wheel where the hob is molded in if you are not comfortable using a torch.
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Just stuff rattling around my brain this morning but wouldn’t dry ice applied to the shaft accomplish about the same result as heat to the hub without the risk of melting parts. This assumes dry ice is easily available, it’s as rare as hens teeth here.
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Same here. If we were closer to the coast, then you can find dry ice. I use heat because I can direct the flame more accurately then trying to shrink the center shaft with ice. You do take the chance of buggering up the plastic on the wheel, but a little patience and care, it will work out. There is always more than one way to skin a goat, so if you try the dry ice route (and can obtain some), please post your results.
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If you could get the dry ice on the shaft (male portion) and not the hub (female portion) of the assembly it would have the same effect. The idea with the heat is as follows. The heat on the hub causes it to expand ever so slightly. This can and usually does, break the bond that forms as the two pieces rust and swell together. The best way to free the hub when frozen to the shaft would be to heat the hub as gm suggests, and then use wax. Heat the hub up hot, and while it is hot press the wax against the shaft and hub spline interface. The heated parts will draw the wax into the splines and hopefully draw right in. The heat and wax method has been used by mechanics for many many years. I have used that method so many times I cant count. It works best when you get things very hot. The wax will smoke and melt and draw in to the splines. I use this method on engine blocks that have various bolts and threaded devices frozen in place by years of corrosion.
I was not able to get mine to come free. I eventually destroyed the wheel until the hub was fully exposed. Even then I could not get it apart! I'll admit I never had anything give me that much trouble. In the end a cutting wheel on a Dremell was used to cut the hub and split it open with a chisel. Fortunately a nice new steering wheel was not to expensive.
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I will tell you what works for me on freezing waterline's to repair them is a propane bottle. You have to be VERY careful because liquid propane will burn/freeze body parts INSTANLEY at -44 degrees F.
I take a old propane bottle adapter with a hose on it and cut the hose about 4-5' long the have someone hold the bottle upside down and put the hose over what you want to freeze up and open the valve slowly until liquid propane stars to dribble out.
It will freeze a 2" copper waterline (full of running water) solid in about 2 minutes.
Just a thought but you really need to be careful, it will either burn you real bad or freeze you up.
That's my Alabama Hillbilly/Shade Tree Mechanic coming out :):)
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I am trying to get a bearing (hub) out of an aluminum knuckle. I cannot for the life of me figure out why any engineer would think it’s a good idea to put untreated steel inside untreated aluminum. If the aluminum gets above 500 degrees it’s ruined. New knuckle is about $500 but Ford has them locked up on a recall related VIN verification. I have been trying to get one ordered for a week. I am on my way out to cut the flange off the hub so I can remove the brake shield to give me access to use the 20 ton press. The Willys is so much easier.
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Bearing races can be removed by running a bead of weld around the inside of the race, but of course it won't help on a bearing unit like your knuckle. The weld works well with an exposed race. In your case, I would put the whole unit in the freezer overnight, then heat the aluminum housing quickly. The steel bearing will hold the cold, but the aluminum will heat quickly, releasing the bearing. Too much force with a press can distort the housing.
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Thanks for the idea. I didn’t get to try the press because I didn’t have enough pieces the right size and shape to brace and press. I talked to the dealer again this afternoon. He finally got permission from Ford to order the knuckle but no ETA yet. Wife is getting antsy without her car so I hope it is on the way. Sorry for the thread drift.
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Thanks for the discussion, guys. I don't have ready access to dry ice, but I work a lot with Liquid Nitrogen and Liquid Helium, so if I wanted, I could use the LN2 to cool things down quite rapidly. The thought that runs through my head there is that the LN2 will inevitably get on the steering wheel hub and that cold, combined with a 60 year old plastic, the plastic could just split right before my eyes and ruin it before I start. But don't think the thought hasn't crossed my mind. I think I'll try the heat and cool and heat and wax method first and see what happens.
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Well, I was ordering from KW anyways, so ordered their steering wheel puller and thought I would provide a report on it. Once I received it, I realized why it costs what it does. It is well fabricated, with welded parts that fit very well. The welds are not perfect by any means, but more than adequate and I suppose if the welds were great, the part would cost even more. Comes with a cap that threads onto the steering shaft, so that the center bolt of the puller can bear on the cap to react the load. I've been soaking the steering shaft with penetrating oil off and on for over a week in the hopes that it would help to remove it. Received the puller on Friday and finally had a chance to try it yesterday. Took me longer to put the puller together and get it wrapped around the steering tube than it did to actually remove the wheel. Slick as a whistle! I was fortunate that it wasn't really very rusty in there but it did really pop when it came loose, so I know there was quite a bit of force required to get it moving. And, I'm happy that I can reuse the original steering wheel, even though it has several cracks (gaps) on the spokes from shrinkage and CTE mismatch over the years. Those gaps in the spokes hold some memories for me, so I'd hate to lose those.
In any case, I was then able to remove the steering gear box, so will tear into that a little later when I have a chance. I did read in one of the threads on here about the proper lube to use for the gear box. However, my question on that is, should I fill (pack) the box with the lube or just make sure everything is covered well? Also, does anyone have an idea of how much is required? Is just one bottle enough? Thanks!
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Thanks for the review of the puller. It’s also good to hear you got the steering wheel off without damaging anything.
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I may need to invest in one of their pullers as well. Thank you for the review!
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Now we know where to go to borrow a steering wheel puller ... :)
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Funny, that was what I was going to say! If anyone needs it, I'd be happy to let them borrow it. No sense in everyone buying one.
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Good news on the puller and the success. gmwillys repairs the cracks in the wheel. He has a great method.
One bottle of lube fills the box. You fill it till it comes out of the fill hole.
https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys...ox-Lubrication
https://www.ecklers.com/champion-00-...QaAlOeEALw_wcB
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If you have separation in the plastic on your steering wheel, and wish to fix some,(some wheels hold family history and shouldn't be messed with). I use two part metal repair like JB Weld. Clean the gap and the steel ring as best you can. Form the epoxy to the shape of the gap, with a rough form of the finger contour on the back side. After it sets, sand it till it blends into the original plastic. I haven't found a forever paint or dye that will makes a wheel look 100 percent. But the wheel will look good for a while.
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Thanks for the info, guys. Much appreciated. I ordered the lube. I haven't taken things apart yet, so not sure what all I'll find in the gear box, but I'm expecting it to be in pretty good shape. I appreciate the info on repairing the wheel as well, but I think I'll leave them there for nostalgia purposes.
One other thing, just a question. When I removed the steering wheel, I of course found the spring and when that was removed, the snap or retaining ring below it was there, but it was loose. It was fairly easy to remove it. Should that ring be tighter and snap into place? What exactly is it holding? Thanks.
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The snap ring is there to prevent the bearing from traveling down the shaft. It doesn't need to be tight but I would replace it. It is the stop for the bearing. The steering shaft and lever assembly end play is where they wear. If the steering shaft and lever assembly is worn (item 36 in service manual) at the high point, the center of travel to pad, the steering will always have a lot of play. This is the spot where the steering wheel is dead center and spends most of the time. When steering system and king pin bearings begin to get worn and sloppy and the wheel is wiggling back and forth, the centering high spot gets badly worn. It requires a new shaft to fix it but, well worth the effort if it is worn. Its the main reason for slop in the wheel right to left. You should check it before you disassemble it. The bushings may or may not need to be replaced and reamed. Usually they hold up much better than the centering point on the shaft.
The box needs to be adjusted, shimmed and the bearings set. The service manual is a great resource for the procedure.
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OK. Got back on the steering gear box and got it torn apart. As I suspected, everything internal looked amazingly good. Nothing worn that I can see, bearings and bushings all look good. I'll replace the sector shaft oil seal, just because. But, I do have some questions.
1. Is there no oil seal at the top, where the top cover bolts to the housing? It appears that there is nothing (except gravity) to keep the oil from running past the upper worm gear bearings. I don't see a seal in the diagrams or in the parts list on KW.
2. Regarding that top cover, with the shim pack. The shims I removed were in perfect condition. Can I not re-use these or should I order the new shim pack?
3. I plan on replacing the upper steering column bearing, although I haven't taken it out yet. The snap ring is there and is tight (there was another ring on top of the bearing that the spring sat on that was loose, which is what I saw previously). I don't see a listing on KW to buy a new snap ring for this location. Is this something I can buy elsewhere?
Thanks!
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Just bumping this up in case you missed it.
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Good bump!
No oil seal at the top.
You should check the load to ensure the correct shim pack. Chances are it will need a little more drag.
I think you might be looking at part of the bearing. The bearing has a snap ring in it. It is an assembly.
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Thank you for answering my questions! Just things that run through my mind during the week...
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Well, I believe I have the steering box back together and all went well. The gear box is good to go. Only question I have now is once I install it back into the vehicle, how best to fill the gear box with that thick 00 gear lube? The fill hole is pretty small on it. Does anyone have any tips or tricks for filling it up?
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I'm also going to make sure all the other steering linkages are good to go. I think all is in good shape, except for the rubber tie rod dust boots, which I assume need to be replaced. Any other tips or things to look for on the rest of the steering?
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What lube do you have? Usually you can get it in a squeeze bottle with a trim to fit top. Just trim it down to where it fits in the fill hole. Hold it off a little so air can escape. Also a large veterinary syringe always works well. You can get them at a place that sells livestock supplies.
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Depending on your intended use, the dust boots on the tie rod ends can be serviceable as is. Just keep the rod end greased and it will keep most of the dirt out. In short I would not tear apart a perfectly good tie rod end just to replace the boot unless you are looking for a show quality restoration. On our weekly driver '46 Heep, the boots are there in a physical sense, but don't poke at them or they might crumble off.
The syringe is a great tip for filling or topping off fluids. Often times you can sneak them into places where you can't fit a bottle. You tend to have more control of the fluid being transferred because you can stop the injection, where a pump or squeeze bottle you can make a mess in a hurry.
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Thanks, guys. I appreciate the guidance. I do have the "00" heavy gear lube that you recommended for the steering gear box that is in the squeeze bottle. I just wasn't sure how well I'd be able to get that bottle nipple to match the small hole. I do like the idea of the veterinary syringe, though, so I'll see if I can pick one of those up.
Also, thanks for the tip on the tie rod end boots. I haven't spent any time inspecting them just yet. I'm not going for show room quality, but I want to try and hit everything on the front end now while I've got the engine out so that I don't have to go back after I reinstall it, when access is that much harder. I'll look at the boots closely and make sure they are still doing their jobs before I start taking things apart. The little I've looked and messed around with the steering linkage now that the connecting rod is off, everything seems to move quite easily, so I don't think there is much wrong.
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It's been a while guys. Work and coaching baseball has greatly slowed my progress, but I'm still after it.
I did finally talk to my engine builder at All Pro Engines. Apparently, they have been severely hampered by the availability of parts and supply chain issues. He says they finally have all the parts in and should have things wrapped up fairly soon. Considering that it has been almost 6 months since I dropped it off to them, I surely hope so! However, it sounds like he's doing everything right, which is what is most important to me. I asked about the one cylinder that was bad (had zero compression) and he said that the piston was broke. When I asked what exactly that meant, he said that the top ring was fine but that half the piston was missing between the 2nd and 3rd ring. He said he has seen this before.
Still working on getting the Master Cylinder removed so I can rebuild it. With the PTO drive shaft to the winch in the way, it is taking me a bit more effort to get that removed. I did finally get the drive shaft out, so it shouldn't be too much more effort to get the MC out and repaired. I have the Steering gear box completed but want to get the MC taken care of before I reinstall that.
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Good to hear its still moving along. It seems like everything is at the mercy of the "Global Supply Chain Issue"! I hope you get the time to prep the engine bay for that like new motor. Coaching baseball is the best time of your life, for sure savor it.
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Thanks! We sure do enjoy baseball. I've got two boys who play on the school Varsity baseball team and I'm an assistant coach. The HS season is over now, so I can relax a bit. The boys' summer club teams started playing games today, so at least I can just go watch them and not have to coach. I've only got two more years before both boys are out of school, so I'm doing my best to enjoy the ride while it lasts!
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Time flies by in just a blink of an eye. My eldest will be a senior in high school this coming school year. Hard to believe that it seems like just yesterday she was toddling around and eating Cheerios.
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Time flies for sure! Kids and those Cheerios. The perfect pacifier.
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2 Attachment(s)
Coaching and Jeep Work
Enjoy the time with the boys. The Jeep can wait - they can't. I'm very lucky - my kids and grandkids are past the coaching stage, but I've ended up as coach for a Junior High Power Shooting Team. Real rifles, not fancy air guns. I have five kids and they keep me hopping. I'm almost 78, but they make me feel either 65 or 100 depending on the day.
Here is a picture of my "Glamour Girls" and in case you wonder if they can shoot - here is a target the little blonde assassin shot at 200 yards, slow fire prone ---fifteen shots, all in the 10-ring with 7X.
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That's awesome, Larrbeard! You're lucky to be able to spend that quality time with your grandkids. And the target shows that you've taught her well!
I'm a shooter myself, but have only ever shot a few competitive matches so that I could buy a Garand from the CMP. That was years ago. I'm more of a hunter, but I sure do like to shoot and reload. My kids (1 daughter and 2 boys) all shoot, but my daughter isn't too into it and my boys would rather play baseball and other sports than shoot. My oldest boy does love to hunt, so at least I have him to go with me most times. Here's a quick pic of his first antelope buck in 2018. He's grown up quite a bit since then and helped me pack an elk out a few years ago.
Attachment 9485
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You two are providing what a lot of parents are missing now-a-days. There is a lot of life to live outside, without a "smart" phone. Interesting how stupid a "smart" phone can make someone.
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Well, thought I would get back to you folks after not having much to say for quite awhile. Summer, baseball, helping my senior folks out, all added up to little progress on the Jeep. I'm hoping to make a bit more headway in the near future.
Currently, I've rebuilt the Master Cylinder as well as the steering gear box. Had to buy a new outer steering column tube since the old one had a hole worn through it from one of the pedals rubbing on it for so long. I've cleaned up the area where these two mount to the frame and need to get it prepped for primer/paint before I reinstall these items. I want to get them installed before I get the engine put back in since they are so hard to access otherwise.
I am expecting my engine back from the rebuilder any day. It was mostly done the last time I stopped over. I dropped off the Oil filter housing and new hoses and new filter so he can prime the engine before he finishes up. Hopefully within a week or so I'll have it back. It has now been over a year since I dropped it off. The supply chain has really messed up his production. Constantly waiting for parts. He did show me the cracked camshaft thrust plate that he found. He had just got in the new one when I was over there.
I also took my radiator and heater core into a Radiator Repair shop and the guy did a great job in repairing all the small pin-hole leaks he found and pressure testing everything. He also painted the radiator. I didn't have him straighten all the fins and make it show room ready since I'm not going for a complete restoration off the show room floor look. A-1 Radiator off of Federal Blvd. in Denver is the place.
I do have a question for you guys, though. I want to open up the front diff and take a look and make sure all is good before I put the engine back in and wanted to know what to look for? I do know that I need to replace the pinion shaft oil seal since it appears to be leaking. Do you guys also put in a new pinion seal gasket at the same time? Primarily, I want to know what I should check once I get the cover off to make sure all is good before I button it back up. I don't want to take things apart that don't need to be taken apart, but I also don't want to leave something questionable inside while I have things open. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks!
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One other question that I wanted to run by you: The front bumper on the passenger side is bent inward, toward the front right tire. It is maybe at a 20-30 degree angle. I've been wondering how I'm going to straighten this out? Do you think if I heat it enough with a torch that I could just easily bend it back straight? If I do that, I suppose that it would anneal the steel and wouldn't be as strong in that location anymore. But, does that really matter in the grand scheme of things? I can't see that I can remove the front bumper without drilling out rivets, which I certainly don't want to do. Any other thoughts on how I could get this bumper straightened out? Thanks!
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It sounds like you are making great progress! Nice find on the radiator shop. gmwillys or one of the guys who do metal work will have some thoughts on the bumper I am sure.
On the axle, take the cover off the axle and drain the lube. Loosen all the bolts but the top ones and then slowly loosen the top while you break the bottom loose. You want to try to see what comes out first. If there is a lot of water, that will be the first thing out. Look at the condition of the lube for contaminate. Take a good look at the teeth on the ring gear. Here is a link to a Spicer failure analysis manual https://willysjeepforum.kaiserwillys...-0020-Dec-2015 This should be helpful. I would inspect the ring gear and pinion backlash. If it is out of specification by more than a few thousandths of an inch, You may want to tear it down and put in new bearings. If the front seal is being replaced and the cover is off, you aren't far from a full tear down.