I have installed rear axle shaft bearings on Ford 9" axles before with no problem. I've installed the bearing and the lock ring with a hammer and a pipe in the past and it worked well. This time I'm using a 25 ton press and the lock ring doesnt want to go on. I can only find Made in China bearings and I think the lock ring is too small. The axle shaft measures 1.378 and the lock ring I.D. measures 1.368. My (admittedly bad) memory is telling me an interference fit should only be .003" (or is it .004"?) smaller than the shaft. I looked around the internet and it looks like heating the lock ring will only make it grow .001" so that doesnt sound like it will help. What do you think?
If the lock ring is in fact 0.010" smaller than the axle shaft, find a buddy or friend of a buddy, and for several beers have them open up the lock ring ID on a lathe to get a more realistic fit.
Snooping around a bit shows that the interference fit on the lock ring should be right at .004 with the bearing fit at .001
How about heating the retainer in the oven around 250 degrees for 30 minutes,and spray the axle with a can of compressed air from the computer store.It will get real cool real fast.Press the retainer on.I use this trick to install T5 input shaft bearings.They go from no way will it fit to dropping on with room to spare.
I have run into this lately. I had to get the lock ring AND bearing honed to fit. No way it was gonna press on even with heat.
Well, the issue is just the lock ring, right? The bearing went on okay? Randy's Ring and Pinion is where I got my last lock rings, but that was 6 or 7 years ago.
It’s made from a special new metal called Chineseum. It’s special quality guaranteed to look like a new part, but fail quickly in service. Did you try Rock Auto by any chance? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
If you cool the axle and heat the retainer, it might go on, but will probably split when the temps equalize.
Strange Engineering suggests that its a bad idea to heat the lock ring and as mentioned in the first post, it only grows .001", not enough to help. from their website, "Bearing & locking collar should be pressed on at room temperature Pre-heating is not recommended as collars can lose holding power Never “tack-weld” collars as damage to the axles heat treat can occur"
Gotta love the made in China crap. Did you buy the bearings locally, are both of them undersized? Probably the whole run is like that... I'd be making a new set if that was my case, pays to know friends with CNC lathes...
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