Trouble with new front driveshaft bearing

oldbugger

oldbugger

Well-known member
Ok, I got a new front drive shaft bearing and shell and seal. Installed the seal no problem, installed the bearing shell correctly with the dimple aligned properly. The bearing goes in the shell nicely untill I put the driveshaft in, then there is no way In fact I slightly bent my new bearing, I will order another. I got the stuff from Macs, looked like a nice part. What am I doing wrong? thanks in advance
 
I could not install the bearing with the drive shaft in place and had to remove the shaft then install the bearing and then install the drive shaft into the bearing.
 
If the new bearing spins on the drive shaft end and the new bearing spins in the torque tube with the new bushing but you cannot marry the two together it sounds like you have a bent torque tube.
 
DICK SPADARO said:
If the new bearing spins on the drive shaft end and the new bearing spins in the torque tube with the new bushing but you cannot marry the two together it sounds like you have a bent torque tube.
Click to expand...

Dick: Keep in mind that there's some slop in in the bearing end plates and the rollers might be able to move out far enough to allow the "loose" bearing to slide over the drive shaft and move in far enough for a "loose" bearing to fit into the sleeve. If a bent torque tube were the reason for not allowing assembly, it should be possible to slide the front end of the drive shaft into the installed bearing from the front. If the driveshaft won't go into the installed bearing in either direction from either end, I'd think that the rollers are too big in diameter. (This is all my very humble opinion based on not too much experience.)
 
Pete, I agree with you. If you have the brg sleeve located correctly in the front of the torque tube, slide the roller brg in place and then as a check see if front splined end of driveshaft will go into front of torque tube and roller brg ID. If not...it's the bearing and/or the bearing sleeve that's at fault. I have a few good original Ford used roller bearings and brg sleeves for front of torque tube if anyone is interested.
 
Wrong assumption, The drive shaft is coupled to the pinion producing a fixed point at the banjo. The central line of this axis must go thru the center of the upper roller bearing axis which is determined by the torque tube. The central axis of the drive shaft must be the same central axis of the torque tube. The drive shaft is assembled at the banjo and the torque tube slipped over the drive shaft to assemble. If the torque tube is bent the central axis of the upper bearing is positioned off center of this central axis and the drive shaft will not align correctly with the upper roller bearing. The center line axis of the drive shaft is not concentric with the centerline axis of the tube. This creates a bind in the bearing or difficult installation into the upper portion of the driveshaft torque tube as it tries to align the two operating centers center.

Just sticking the loose end of the driveshaft in the bearing and spining it in the race will only tell you if you have the correct bearing clearances, it wont tell you if you have an alignment issue.

The most common issue with upper driveshaft bearings is usually with someone who has a torque tube with the obsolete heavy wall race, this was eliminated by Ford for the more common thin wall race but some torque tubes still have them.
 
I followed this up a little more. With out taking torque tube apart and installing another race I did a mock up. The speedo gear drive spacer washer is roughly the same size diameter or just slightly smaller than the installed race so by mocking up a race, roller bearing and fitting it to a drive shaft the unit assembles and spins correctly as shown in picture. The race is very sensitive to compression so if the alignment dimple is off slightly or there is grease or dirt trapped under the race this can change the diameter enough so the bearing will not slide in. Now I can tighten the hose clamp down so the bearing binds but this makes the diameter of the race smaller than the diameter of the spacer washer so it could not be installed that way. Before you have any more problems remove the race and recheck to insure that it installs correctly and the index bump is positioned correctly. Note that the space of the bearing race V groove is roughly the correct spacing so if your groove is narrower than the one pictured the race is the place to start looking.
 

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I have heard from many V8 club members that the new torque tube races are soft metal and just about any used original is way better to use. IF a file can mark the race it is too soft. Same goes for the small
bearing that goes on the end of the pinion. the race is fine but the cage that keeps the rollers separated is soft and gets eaten up. You can easily check using a triangular file and testing on the outside edge.
 
Thanks for your time Dick I will remove the sleeve and double check everything. From your pic it looks like the spacing of the V groove is tighter when installed than your pic. Thanks
 
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