Modern Commer Replacement

[Andy Zarse]

Oh and look who's coming to help at the weekend. He came to help last sunday evening but all he did was drag me down the pub for a much needed roast dinner 

[mgmark]

Astonishing thing preventative maintenance y'know - creates all sorts of mayhem.  I'd just forge paperwork and leave it until the wheel either seizes or falls off next time if I were you.  Did you know that classic lorries are exmpt from any form of annual testing because the DVLA system can't cope with them - you wouldn't need to do any maintenance with one of those!

Good to hear that the old girl is getting a bit of fettling.  Did the same last weekend with the A before going off to Snetterton in it - lovely new oils and fluids, the odd pump of grease here and there, a bit of checking and lubricating, and she rewarded me with a lovely clattering noise under very heavy braking and the overdrive developing a mind of its own.......ah the joys of classic ownership....

Pubs are a useful diversion when the emotion of it gets too much though....
MG Mark

[Perdu]

That's a lovely clean hub though Andy, really nice.

So you got bitten by the nasty Rootes Group Spare Parts trap too did you?

Goshagolly, I remember queueing for hours at the Rootes Dealership on Coventry Road for the privilege of knocking off a few hours from paid work on the following Monday to take the bits back in exchange for the proper ones.

Mostly for my dad's Imp, before he dumped gave it to me...

Hope the old girl gets through this time without frightening "advisories"

Good luck

[powermite]

Andy

I think that half shaft could do with pushing in an inch or two before you replace the wheel.

PM

[jpchenet]

Andy

I think that half shaft could do with pushing in an inch or two before you replace the wheel.

PM

Oh I don't know PM................wide wheel arches are all the rage on Commers these days!! 

[Steve Pyro]

Andy

I think that half shaft could do with pushing in an inch or two before you replace the wheel.

PM

Oh I don't know PM................wide wheel arches are all the rage on Commers these days!! 

Yes, agreed.  A pair of these would fit a treat !

[Andy Zarse]

Slicks?? How in the name of sweet Carlos Fandango am I gonna get those through an MOT?

Steve, did I not tell you I had brand new Fate high profile tyres fitted all round last year, £20 a corner they were. Far more grip than the rock hard Polish rubber that was on previously. They were awful, I think they were made out of pre-cast concrete and covered in Russian cyrilic script. Ruddy great lumps of rubber broke off them and one even split right around the tread circumference on the way back from the MOT last year. 

[Neal]

Cross Ply I hope Andy

[Andy Zarse]

Cross Ply I hope Andy

Cross? I was absolutely livid!

[Andy Zarse]

Here's a plea for help from the mechanically minded on here regarding a modern Commer half-shaft reinstallation.

In a nut shell (case more like!) I can't get the ruddy half-shaft back into the rear axle. When I took it all to pieces it slid out easy as pie. Now it slides in a treat but stops short as soon as the end gets near the crown wheel and pinion, a good inch or two short of getting the hub bearing back into the housing on the end of the axle casing. I've looked at an engineering drawing and the splined end should just slide straight onto the drive output on the CWP; there's no circlip or anything like that. It just kinda goes in far enough to turn the prop shaft when rotated but it wont go home fully.

I've file off some small burrs off the end of the shaft splines and put a good chamfer on too. I've also tried jer-jer-jiggling it a ber-ber-bit too, but it won't go home. Should I hit it with a sledge hammer? I'm completely baffled and any suggestions, sensible or otherwise, are welcomed.

Thanks

Andy Z

[Lawnmower Man]

I've file off some small burrs off the end of the shaft splines and put a good chamfer on too. I've also tried jer-jer-jiggling it a ber-ber-bit too, but it won't go home. Should I hit it with a sledge hammer? I'm completely baffled and any suggestions, sensible or otherwise, are welcomed.

I'd be hesitant with the hammer.  I might try a few taps with a mallet. If the shaft is going in to a blind hole is it possible that somthing is in the hole a preventing the shaft going all the way home?   I guess you won't want ot take it bits even more to find out.  Does it feel like it's hiting somthing or does it just bind up? 

t,

[mgmark]

Taking them to pieces is always the easy bit.   It should just slide gracefully in, assuming that you are using the same halfshaft that came out.....

Often though, it is a case of jiggling/wiggling it around gently, as it can miss the 'ole, so to speak, by just a fraction - you haven't got a lot of leverage left on the last inch or two of the remaining bit to insert and, particularly if it is the longer halfshaft a small movement at the hub end gets amplified into a much larger movement at the other end. 

One way that can help, if you've got a spare pair of hands and the wheels are in the air, is to get someone to turn the diff slowly as well, which will help the shaft to engage on the splines, whilst you feel delicately for whether the shaft is in the right alignment.  However, tempting it may be, don't use a hammer beyond a light tap or two onto a piece of wood held against the hub when you think it is in the right place.  Good luck

MG Mark

[Steve Pyro]

Quoting a Hilman Hunter Haynes book I just happen to have lying around -

"When refitting the halfshaft, the splines at the inner end should first pick up the splines in the differential side gears.  Then enter the bearing into the axle casing recess until the outer edge of the race is nearly flush with the casing ..."

The diff side gears may have moved a bit in relation to the crown wheel / pinion, preventing correct alignment (especially if the crown wheel has been rotated).
Try the half shaft at different clock positions (3, 6, 9, 12) if no luck.  Also, bare in mind that you are trying to relocate 2 to 3 feet of half shaft in a small hole using only the end flange to lift and position the splined end, which is bound to drop a bit under it's own weight.

Persevere and try not to curse too much 

[Dickiex]

Andy,

Put me down in the jiggling/wiggling section of car maintenance.

MG Mark is probably correct. However try getting someone else (unless you have very long arms) to rotate the opposing wheel, while you try an insert the half shaft. 

If that fails go with Mark's idea and try rotating the prop shaft, maybe by putting a big screwdriver in the universal joint.  Make sure it is out of gear.  You could also try stopping the opposite wheel.

Is the half shaft dropping in the axle tube,  while you are trying to insert it?  Can you try an lift it a little. 

I am surprised you can file hardened steel. Did you use an angle grinder?

Good luck.  Open a few beers,  chat with a few mates,  it will go in when relaxed.

Dickiex

[Andy Zarse]

I am surprised you can file hardened steel. Did you use an angle grinder?

Dickie I was surprised to note that too, seems to be ordinary bright drawn steel, it doesn't even look case hardened and it shaped up a treat with a normal 8" file. 

Thanks for the help and suggestions one and all, I'm really very grateful. I'll let you know when it's gone back home. I kinda reckon it's going to need a bit of fiddling and I wasn't doing anything too wrong.