Drive Shaft Sleeve Install and Remove Video

K

Kevin in NJ

Well-known member
My brother (Kurt in NJ) has some simple ways to install and remove a drive shaft bearing sleeve. We put together a video of the process and put it up on YouTube.
This is our first attempt so hopefully what is done in the video is understandable.

Driveshaft bearing sleeve video

I have attached 2 pictures of tools that are used.
On the left is the KRW tool.
The middle tool is something I made based on what was posted in the past. It will work, but is not as simple to use.
The tool on the right is what my brother threw together on a whim in years past. It is a piece of 1" galvanized pipe with a 1/4"-20 screw put in offset. The handle is just a 1/2" drive socket that happened to fit in the pipe and was beat in some to hold and a sliding T handle.

The socket being used to install the bearing sleeve was just one that fit. Small enough to well clear opening and large enough to support the sleeve. This socket happened to be 1 5/16", but again this will vary on socket construction. This was the first one out of the tool chest that looked like it would do the job.

Hope this helps some.
 

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Great, thank you for taking the time. Great idea to take the edge off. Part of my not understanding was the taper in the drive shaft tube. Now that I know that all this pieces come together. I bet even in the Model A days the Wilson rep. came by the shop to show how the latest tool were to be used, your video does just that.
 
Both of these methods are VERY good. I've never seen the KRW tool used before either.

For my rear end rebuild I seem to remember removing this sleeve by a LONG piece of 1" pipe inserted from the flange end of the torque tube. Caught the seal and pushed both out the top spherical end of the torque tube.

Going back together for me was more an alignment thing, and then walking the sleeve back into position using a punch alternately.

Today I would use the lathe to make an insertion tool similar to the KRW tool (shoulder on a cylinder) but without the nib - and just count on alignment for getting the dimple to seat.

Joe K
 
Thanks Kevin, I just got done installing mine but am having a problem dropping the roller bearing in. I can tap it in but it dose not fall in. I am going to disassemble the torque tube and remove the sleeve and see if I missed some dirt in the dimple. That is the only thing I can think of that could be causing the problem. I was hoping that you and your brother were going to insert the bearing at the end of the video, but alas maybe on the next on. Ed saniewski
 
Ed Saniewski said:
Thanks Kevin, I just got done installing mine but am having a problem dropping the roller bearing in. I can tap it in but it dose not fall in. I am going to disassemble the torque tube and remove the sleeve and see if I missed some dirt in the dimple. That is the only thing I can think of that could be causing the problem. I was hoping that you and your brother were going to insert the bearing at the end of the video, but alas maybe on the next on. Ed saniewski
Click to expand...



Regardless of what method you used to install the sleeve, shine a light on it and look carefully at the circumference and look to see that the sleeve is up tight against the inner wall of the torque tube. If you detect the slightest gap anywhere in the circumference it means that the dimple in the sleeve is not properly seated in the dimple in the torque tube.

Unless you have the KRW tool or something similar you are not going to be able to rotate the sleeve. You will have to drive it out with a socket along with the seal and start over.

When you go to install the roller bearing it usually does not drop or slip in as some have mentioned. You have to consider that there is some "droop" in the unsupported end of the drive shaft that will bind on the bearing as you start it in. You may have to lift the end of the drive shaft up slightly to get it to go in. Once it starts in I use a 1&1\16" half inch drive, six point deep socket to tap it the rest of the way in. This particular socket easily slides over the splined end of a Model A drive shaft. If the sleeve is not seated properly the roller bearing won't go in over the drive shaft.

A word of caution, there are some really poor quality bearing sleeves in the market place. Some don't even have the dimple. I much prefer to use an original, but I have used ones from Bratton's and they work fine and are made the same as the original, however, I am not sure they are made out of the exact same material as an original.

Tom Endy
 
This is excelent...Just what I was looking for.

Wish I would of known about this a few days ago...would of saved me a PM!

Thanks Kevin and Kurt...

Pluck
 
The KRW tool has a spring loaded plunger, My quick made from scrap tool the bolt is short enough that it can be fitted into the hole without touching the bearing surface, it doesn't fit into the dimple, it fits into a hole ---there is no scratching or dragging across the bearing surface, the piece of pipe is smaller than the diameter of the inside ,the bolt is set to one side so it grabs the hole 90 degrees to the hole, the end of the "bolt" is rounded just enough that there are no sharp edges to dig into the torque tube, but not so much that it can't grab the hole in the sleeve ---
 

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