1941 pickup front axle measurements

N

nathanmac

Member
Well I'm currently having the pleasure of removing a broken perch bolt from my front axle and am at the stage where it looks like drilling is the only option. I already popped a bleeder valve on the hydraulic press somewhere around 27-35 ton (the accuracy of the gauge has been called into question), and I'm about done with repeated heating and hammering. It seems as though the end of what's left (it was broken where the threaded part starts) maybe mushroomed but I can't get at it enough to do much about that.

So on day 3 of this adventure I'm looking at setting it up in the drill press to drill out as much of the centre as possible then maybe get a hacksaw blade inside to cut a slot (maybe 2) in what remains then according to theory (or maybe just wishful thinking) I should be able to punch or chisel out what's left.

What I need to know is if the king pin boss and perch hole are parrallel so I can try and get it set up as straight as possible. It's near impossible to get a reading with spring hangers etc all over the place, so can I take a measurement from the king pin instead?

Any advice appreciated. TIA
 
Just bumping this up in the hope someone out there might know whether these share the same angle. Google hasn't been my friend on this one, and I'm hoping it's not going to come down to trying to align my eye-ometer and holding my tongue the right way while I swing on the arm of the drill press.....

Or has no-one ever needed to know these measurements?
 
I had a nightmare experience with a '40 Ford axle. Took the axle to a big shop that did work on semi's. They could not push out the perch and said to come and get the axle. They charged me $165 for the effort. The axle was wrapped up and I never looked at it until I got home. With the wrapper off I saw that the axle was totally destroyed and of no further use. I went back to the shop and they said I paid for their effort with no guarantee of anything. Why did they wrap it up? Probably to protect it from scratches in transit. Bought another axle. :mad:
 
had one that refused to let go also, we finally drilled it out, after heating to remove hardness, it is straight thru as you said and can be drilled. One of the shop mechanics said I sould have blown it out with a torch, couldn't bring myself to do that
 
Thanks, although it's not the answer I was hoping to hear. To me it looks as though the perches angle in towards the centre too and at a similar angle, but maybe it's an illusion? I don't have a bare axle I can check it out against, and it's difficult finding reasonably priced replacement parts so it's worth my while spending the time to try and resurrect this axle.

Will probably be Thursday or the weekend before I'll have a chance to set it up in the drill press anyway, but I don't want to rush it and have a heap of regrets afterwards.
 
Cut off the top, find center as close as you can... Drill from both sides to meet in center with a relatively small drill bit- maybe 1/4"... (I would buy a couple of new ones).When the holes meet @ about half way, I would make the way all the way thru... Go in stages larger to 1/2" or so, Use a 5/8" to drill most of the way thru, leave an inch or so at the other end to hit with a punch...
Don't try to set it up and drill to the size of the axle hole, you WILL miss and go into the axle... I would not try to burn it out with a torch either...
Karl


Roger- the reason it was wrapped was so that you'ld pay them...
 
Took the perch lins out of an original '32 axle that sat under a trailer for who knows long. Heated the axle around the perch pin boss, and let it cool. Then sprayed Kroil around the pin. Reheated it again, and put it in a 20 ton press, and out it came. The threads were perfect. Maybe s-luck. I believe by heating & letting it cool, the bond breaks. Then the Kroil penetrates, does it's thing. And the 2nd heating & pressing session did it. Good suggestiions on drilling the pin out, good luck
 
ive done it 4 ways

1, a rosebud and a hammer and punch

2- drill a hole through to relieve it and then fallow step 1

3- blow a hole through with a torch, the pin will heat of quicker then the axle and dont cut all the way through the edge to the axle and then use step 1

4- this step most wont even know what im talking about or have access to the equipment - a carbon arc slice torch and lance a hole right though the pin like a hot rod through a stick of butter and then back to step one.

the problem your at, at this point. the end is mushroomed out to were your just wasting effort trying to get it to move.
 
I'm not sure I understand exactly what all you have done or tried so far to remove this axle perch bolt but what has worked in the past for me to remove one that was really stubborn to get out was to drill a blind hole directly into the center of the bolt starting at what was the threaded end and stopping the drill just as it comes to the point of clearing the other end of the axle. Then keep progressively drilling that blind hole larger in diameter untill you have a wall thickness on the bolt of about 1/16 to 3/32" thick. Then heat what's left of that bolt cherry red, place a drift into that blind hole and drive what's left of that bolt out of the axle. The thin wall of that perch bolt will pull in as it's driven, allowing that bolt to be driven out of the axle.
 
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JM 35 Sedan said:
I'm not sure I understand exactly what all you have done or tried so far to remove this axle perch bolt but what has worked in the past for me to remove one that was really stubborn to get out waste drill a blind hole directly in the center of the bolt starting at what was the threaded end and stopping the drill just as it comes to the point clearing the other end of the axle. The keep progressively drilling that blind hole larger untill you have a wall thickness on the bolt of about 1/16 to 3/32" thick. Then heat what left of that bolt cherry red, place a drift into that blind hole and drive what's left of that bolt out of the axle bolt out of the axle. The thin wall of that perch bolt will pull in allowing that bolt to be driven out of the axle.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestions. This one seems like the way forward in my case. I'm just trying to be sure I don't get my drill going the wrong direction and causing myself more grief than is necessary.

The problem I've had with this perch is that it has obviously broken at some stage and still been driven on, so there is some obvious wear from that. However it wouldn't have been so bad if someone hadn't attempted to weld what was left in. So I've had to painstakingly grind and cut away weld from both around the top of the perch (I just cut the top off flush) and get a die grinder inside the bottom taper of the radius rod to get rid of that weld.

With great force I can move the perch approx 2-3mm either way, but I've reached the conclusion it is mushroomed too much where it was broken and welded to push through any more. I've bent 2 hardened axle shaft ends in the press so far as it gets to a point but won't go any further (as well as the aforementioned burst bleeder).

The other perch is complete but the thread was munted - I've managed to use a thread chaser and die to re-cut a thread on that - so someone has had a fair crack at these in the past.

Many thanks for the advice and suggestions.
 
Well I got that perch out. Was a pretty satisfying feeling to see it start backing out - after drilling then getting the die grinder in to remove the metal that had been peened over the edge of the axle hole.

And with the help of the Fordbarn I may be onto a replacement perch bolt. Things are looking up!
 
NathanMac,

This is what I do. I heat up the axle around the spring perch and then allow parafin wax to soak in. Be careful, the wax will catch fire if the axle is too hot. I let the axle cool and repeat several times. Eventually, the perch will loosen and you can drive it out with a punch. Be patient, it will come out. I needed a pair of perches from an old '37 Ford axle and wish bone and I was successful getting the perches out with this process. Good luck.
 
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