Tom, you're thinking of the aftermarket sleeves for the hub. Not the sleeve for the bearing. These finish off after placement (and about 0.004 expansion for the press fit) at the same diameter as the inner race was originally. And you use the same bearing (new, of course) as was used originally.
This may not be sleeved. It is REAL hard to tell. Some early axles (the ones without any reinforcement on the pumpkin) have an actual sleeve and it was made that way intentionally - but later ones do not. (cost cutting move by Ford)
The solution is to turn off the sleeve on the lathe. You don't have any assurance that the new sleeve is at all adapted to fit on the previously machined/turned smaller axle anyway, so it's best to simply treat it as a solid axle (that may be what it is) and just turn down and sleeve using the new sleeve as a guide for machining. I think 0.004 interference fit is a good guide - and what my automotive machinist used - along with loctite and a modest amount of heat on the sleeve beforehand. (he was looking for 250F on the sleeve - at 400F the loctite degrades.)
If you're convinced there may be a previous sleeve - WATCH YOUR TEMPS when doing the turning in the lathe. Get the existing sleeve too hot and it will catch and spin - which will ruin your machinist's day for sure.
So it may be possible to have TWO sleeves when you're done - one put on over the other. But I don't think it's an issue if done correctly.
OBTW, on my axle, one side the axle bearing was found out of round by like 0.025, the other side like 0.002 - so it is possible for one side to wear more than the other.
Maybe the vagaries of the axle forging process? Or an extremely heavy mother-in-law who consistently rides in the passenger front seat?
Joe K
