Today the steering box got broken down again - time to replace all the inner hardware for new!
The biggest problem was the lower bearing race. The manual makes it sound sooo easy. Well, really, it probably is, but as we'll find out, I'm not the brightest bulb in the elevator...
So, let's take a look at the new bearing race. (pretty, ain't it?)
notice that the outer edge of the bearing doesn't even go halfway into the bolt holes - That means we need to angle the punch a little. (which explains why the firrst several taps didn't move the race at all)
Notice also that the lower edge of the race has a fillet; this explains why several times, the punch got stuck in the bolt hole after a tap or two. I noticed that multiple times, I'd give it a tap, and the tip would slide down and get pinched.
So, I tapped & whacked & thwacked, and basically got nowhere, until I got frd up and called it a day.
Having gotten frustrated with things last week, I went off and ordered a slide hammer kit from Amazon. I thunk maybe I'd give it a shot - besides, there's been times in the past where I needed a slide hammer & didn't have one, so now I have one!
The real problem here, is that the bottom of the race is recessed from the lower opening - that is, the race does not present a lip to grab on to. This means the slide hammer tool needs to press into the race pretty hard to get enough friction to really work. That turned out to be kind of hard, due to the tools adjustment bits being recessed down in the housing. You can also see (in the thrid picture) how there's no access to the race from underneath. I'm not exacly sure hat that lip is, but it's certainly not the race.
Oh... This might be of note for the future, or maybe not. I just started working at a new place today!
There's a lot that happened steering box-wise over the last week or so. This included getting freeze spray to try and shrink the race a bit (after putting it in the oven at ~200F). All was no joy. Talked with one person, and they suggested cutting the housing in half (lengthwise) to remove the bearing - I was pretty much aghast at that idea!. I also considered trying to weld some rods to the bearing face to give something to attach to. And some other, even crazier ideas ratteld around my little pea brain for a bit, but I had sense enoughh to say "no way!"
In the end, I dropped by a auto machine shop in Glen Burnie, and asked if they could help. The guy called me back later that afternoon and told me he had it out, and only charged me $20! He managed to tap the thing out, and he said it was a pain, but it ounly took him about 15-20 minutes. I'm guessing I was smacking it too hard, and maybe just wedged it? Who knows. $20 was woth the frustration!
The picture really doesn't do it justice, but the old race was definitely shot!
Last modified on 05/31/20