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Re: [GMCnet] Final Drive Intermediate Axle questions [message #322515 is a reply to message #322513] Tue, 22 August 2017 22:07 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Kosier is currently offline  Kosier   United States
Messages: 834
Registered: February 2008
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Senior Member
Rick,
''It's because that strut is only used on the Eldorado.

Gary Kosier
77PB w/500Cad
Newark, Ohio

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Richard Denney"
Sent: Tuesday, August 22, 2017 10:13 PM
To:
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Final Drive Intermediate Axle questions

> What strut? I don't have anything like what you are describing even on my
> 3.07. The axle assembly includes the axle (flange and shaft), bracket
> (what
> I've been calling the hanger), the bolt-on retainer, the bearing
> sandwiched
> between the bracket and the retainer, and the pressed-on slinger. The
> bracket bolts to the side of the block with 7/16 screws and large, special
> washers. One of them has an addition stud for the horse-collar bracket. I
> don't see anything else connecting the bracket in the right with the final
> drive on the left.
>
> Rick "pictures?" Denney
>
> On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 8:08 PM Ken Henderson
> wrote:
>
>> Rick,
>>
>> I have zero experience with the 3.21. But one idea popped into my mind:
>> Do you have the strut that connects the final drive to the stub axle
>> hanger? Or is one even used with the 3.21? Seems to me that the
>> presence
>> of that strut would help to position the hanger properly, at least
>> against
>> lateral movement which might result when you tighten the bolts into the
>> engine.
>>
>> Ken H.
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 3:40 PM, Richard Denney
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Sorry, I can't think of any way to present this briefly.
>>>
>>> After installing the new final drive, and reinstalling all the stuff I
>> had
>>> had to remove, my last step was installing the intermediate axle, which
>>> extends from the final drive through a hanger that bolts to the
>>> starboard
>>> side of the block, and provides the flange for the starboard half-shaft
>> to
>>> bolt to. This axle just inserts into the final drive, and the spline
>>> engages the spider (or, in the case of this rebuilt 3.21, the planetary
>>> gear). The manual says to adjust it around to find the middle of play,
>> and
>>> then tighten the two bolts that hold that hanger in place good'n'tight
>> (50
>>> foot-pounds). Those bolts have specially hardened and thick serrated
>>> washers to hold the hanger in that position.
>>>
>>> I anticipated this would be easy, but, of course, it's the easy stuff
>> that
>>> surprises us.
>>>
>>> 1. I can't find the middle position--the play accommodated all extremes
>> of
>>> the holes in the hanger. I looked for a position that provided easiest
>>> rotation (not easy to discern) and didn't seem to distort the seal
>>> (also
>>> not easy to discern).
>>>
>>> 2. The real problem is that when I tighten those hanger bolts, I get a
>> very
>>> loud bearing noise in that hanger bearing when I spin the axle by hand.
>> I'm
>>> expecting some roughness provided by the rattling of the gears in the
>> final
>>> drive, but this sound was definitely coming from the hanger bearing.
>>> That
>>> bearing is new, and smooth as butter when not bolted up to anything.
>> When I
>>> hold the hanger in what seems to be the best position but don't tighten
>> it,
>>> I get what I think is only final-drive noise when I spin the axle.
>>>
>>> Yes, I have filled the final drive with gear oil.
>>>
>>> Manny had never experienced this issue before, but these hangers come
>> from
>>> salvage yards and be slightly tweaked if the car was wrecked in a way
>> that
>>> affected the right front wheel.
>>>
>>> So, possibilities: A. The hanger isn't quite straight straight, and
>>> it's
>>> not holding the bearing square with the axle. B. The hanger is too
>>> close
>> to
>>> the final drive (or the bearing isn't seated all the way in the hanger)
>> and
>>> it's binding axially. C. The slinger (inside dust cover) is rubbing on
>>> something and ringing when the hanger is tightened.
>>>
>>> Questions:
>>>
>>> Has anybody experienced this issue?
>>>
>>> Does anybody know if there is a standard piece of pipe that I can use
>>> to
>>> press against the slinger that covers the inside of the bearing? Or any
>>> other advice on how to reseat the bearing? The manual calls for a
>>> special
>>> tool, but it just looks like a piece of pipe that fits over the axle in
>>> a
>>> press that bears on the recessed part of the slinger that pushes
>>> directly
>>> on the bearing.
>>>
>>> Manny suggested that I could move the axle to the old hanger (they are
>> all
>>> the same), given that I have a press, but I can't see how to get the
>>> slinger over the larger diameter of the seal race and spline on the
>>> final-drive end, and I think that slinger is just sheet metal that is
>>> crimped on the axle when the right pressing tool is used. Or, I'm
>>> missing
>>> some obvious point about how it's attached. The slinger covers the
>> retainer
>>> to provide a dust shield for the bearing seal. I'm just not sure I
>>> won't
>>> mess up what I have. He also suggested that I could "adjust" the hanger
>> so
>>> that it hangs at the right place, but my attempts to do that have not
>>> solved the problem. I even wondered if I could put a thin washer under
>> the
>>> hanger, but I don't know what the axial tolerance is supposed to be.
>>>
>>> Alternative is to ask Manny to ship me a replacement 3.21 FD
>> intermediate
>>> axle if he has one available, and send this one back for his far more
>>> expert inspection.
>>>
>>> Rick "advice welcome" Denney
>>>
>>> --
>>> '73 X-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
>>> Northern Virginia
>>> Offlist email: rick at rickdenney dot com
>>> _______________________________________________
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> --
> Rick Denney
> 73 x-Glacier 230 "Jaws"
> Off-list email to rick at rickdenney dot com
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
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