How to remove front axle spindle bushings?

O

oldmotorsguy

Senior Member
I purchased new tie rod and spindle bolts and bushings for my 1925 Model T Ford Roadster. I was also told by the guy at the parts counter that I also needed a spindle bushing driver kit and tie rod bushing removal tool to remove the old spindle and tie rod bushings (one on top, one on bottom of each side).

I for the life of me cannot see how to use the drivers I bought for removing the spindle bushings: one of them is short and appears to be used to pound in the new bushings once the old bushings have been removed, but the other tool is a much longer version, and yet makes no sense in removing the old ones.

Anyone know what I am talking about?

Thanks

Steve
 
oldmotorsguy said:
I purchased new tie rod and spindle bolts and bushings for my 1925 Model T Ford Roadster. I was also told by the guy at the parts counter that I also needed a spindle bushing driver kit and tie rod bushing removal tool to remove the old spindle and tie rod bushings (one on top, one on bottom of each side).

I for the life of me cannot see how to use the drivers I bought for removing the spindle bushings: one of them is short and appears to be used to pound in the new bushings once the old bushings have been removed, but the other tool is a much longer version, and yet makes no sense in removing the old ones.

Anyone know what I am talking about?

Thanks

Steve
Click to expand...


Does the long one have a split in the shaft at one end. Herm
 
Steve, I am a back yard mechanic and never used a removal tool. Once you have the spindle bolt out and have the spindle in your hand. Place it in a vice and get a short piece of iron slightly smaller than the spindle bolt. I sometime bend one end slightly so it will catch the inside of the bushing to be removed when it is inserter in either end.
Next I use a hammer to cox the old bushing out. This has always worked for me. Remove both bushings before inserting new ones.
Next place new bushing into one end with a hard board on top of it. They can be driven with a hammer ar this point. A press would work if you have one.
One of those tools you have may be a reamer and you will have to size the new bushings as the inserting generally undersizes them. I use an adjustable reamer and keep reaming until the spindle bolt can be inserted. You may have a fixed reamer which is the correct size and will do the job on the first time you spin it thru the bushings.
 
If the bushings are difficult to remove it is a good idea to tap the holes to a common bolt size, then screw in a bolt & drive the bushing out from the other end with a punch. ( Don't drive on the tap, you could break it)
 
To remove the bushings in the spindle body I have always used the method that Jack had mentioned. Tap the old bushing (I use a 9/16-12 tap) and thread in a bot and then drive out the old bushing with a drift punch. To install the new bushings I always use an arbor or hydraulic press. For the tie rod bolts, the tool pictured below works great for getting them out, again using a press. To put in the new ones, back to the arbor or hydraulic press.

IMG_0944.jpg


After installing the new spindle bolt bushings, make sure they are reamed and faced properly. I have the spindle bolt bushing reamer that the vendors sell for this, it also works for reaming the distributor bushing for the model A.
 
After installing the new bushings and reaming them, the faces of the bushings must be faced for a proper fit to the axle. Normally you only face the top bushing and you are looking for not more than a 0.002" clearance. Most of the vendors sell a facing tool for this job, but a piloted spot facer works very well
 
Thanks, guys. OK, I used the 9/16th x 12 tap per Criswellnk, and screwed a 9/16" bolt into the bushing, heated the spindle and with a drift punch and a three pound hammer, the bushing grudgingly came out. A friend of mine is now pressing in the bearings, after he used his lathe to trim both bushings down by .004". He also has a reamer that will align the new kingpin, and I expect that will be done today.

I have one side done. Now as I move on to the other side, I can only get the old kingpin out of the spindle about 1 inch, and now it won't budge, regardless of heating the spindle, pounding on the upper bolt with a large drift punch. Now what?

I am thinking that a press of some sort should be brought to bear on this, as additional hammering is likely to break something that I don't want broken.

Any thoughts here?
 
oldmotorsguy said:
Thanks, guys. OK, I used the 9/16th x 12 tap per Criswellnk, and screwed a 9/16" bolt into the bushing, heated the spindle and with a drift punch and a three pound hammer, the bushing grudgingly came out. A friend of mine is now pressing in the bearings, after he used his lathe to trim both bushings down by .004". He also has a reamer that will align the new kingpin, and I expect that will be done today.

I have one side done. Now as I move on to the other side, I can only get the old kingpin out of the spindle about 1 inch, and now it won't budge, regardless of heating the spindle, pounding on the upper bolt with a large drift punch. Now what?

I am thinking that a press of some sort should be brought to bear on this, as additional hammering is likely to break something that I don't want broken.

Any thoughts here?
Click to expand...


Take a Hack saw, and slice the bolt on top, and bottom of the spindle, not cutting axle, or spindle. you shouldn't have to use heat. Herm
 
When you said that you had the bushings trimmed down, was that in length or diameter? I believe that the new replacement bushings are a little too large in diameter, but I am told by more than one reputable model T person and vendor, that they are indeed the correct diameter. With that being said, I still reduced the outside diameter by 0.010" before installation.

As for reaming the new bushings, make sure that both of the bushing are done at the same time. The right tool goes a long way:

IMG_0946.jpg


The reamer that is sold by the vendors makes sure that both of the bushings are being done/reached at the same time:

IMG_0945.jpg
 
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