My Case 580C steering system was toast. List of problems: Dirty fluid Low pressure Leaks Spindle seal destroyed Inner bearing destroyed Spindle and hub damaged Ball joint tapers loose(egged tapered holes on the axle and spindle assembly) King pins and needle bearings destroyed Egged out yokes Stripped tread on hub Bent tie rod tube Bent and dented rims Below are some pictures of the start of my complete rebuild. More hours into the repairs than I want to admit. Lots of welding, grinding, machining, sandblasting, and painting. Not to mention replacement parts too. Plus a lot of head-scratching! The Axle is too heavy and awkward to position on the milling machine so I cut the yokes off. The hub bore is just a little oversized...Haha. The inner bearing balls were dust. Seal area destroyed:
Had to cut the wing off to fit the spindle on the lathe. All of the ball joint nuts were loose, but had the cotter pins installed. Not sure what happen.
One wheel bolt stripped out the hub thread. A thread insert kit was too expensive and I would have to trim it to the correct length. So I took a larger bolt and drilled and tapped it to make a custom insert. Then I drilled and tapped the hub for the OD of the bolt. Finally, I secured it with bearing retainer compound. I don't have any pictures of the repaired seal area. I chucked it up in a large lathe, and bored it out until the egg shape was gone. Next, I machined and pressed in a steel sleeve and machined the ID for a new rear bearing seal.
The spindle needed a few repairs. The rear seal area was damaged(picture on post #2) and the tapered hole for the ball joint was egged out. I put the spindle on the lathe and turned down the seal area so my repair would not be on the interface of the old/new material. Next, I pad welded up this area and re-machined it on the lathe. For the tapered hole I didn't have an expensive reamer just for ball joints. So I built up the worn area with weld. Then I figured out the degrees of taper and programmed it on a CNC mill. I used a ball nosed endmill and the machine traced the 3-dimensional cone shape. I used a radial tool path with a small step over. The finish looked just a good as a reamer. After welding the wing back on I honed the bore for the kingpin. Then I sandblasted the spindle assembly. The last step was to finish it with epoxy primer and paint. dddd I didn't fix the middle section because it doesn't do anything.
The needle bearings and race were turned into powder on the yokes. Years of neglect egged out the bores. I built them up with weld(MIG) and re-machined them. On the milling machine, I bored them back to the correct bearing press fit size. Dial indicating the other side to make both bores concentric. I tried to stay out of the snap ring groove with weld, but I gave up. My vision is not what it use to be under a welding helmet. I wrote a CNC program to circular interpolate the bore using a small Woodruff key cutter.
I welded the axle and yokes back together using some oxy-acetylene pre-heat and flux core MIG. I had the rims and axle power coated cheaper than I can mess with it. The axle is pretty heavy and awkward to handle by myself. If I had the equipment I would have lined bored it. This would have saved a lot of time cutting off the yokes and re-welding them back on. The other big problem I ran into was the heat from welding pulled the top and bottom bores off their concentric location. Just enough that the kingpins would not easily go through the needle bearings. The kingpins would bind up when I tried to rotate them. This was a big challenge to fix. I ended up flame straightening and restricting the expansion of the yoke using 1-inch all-thread bolted through the center-line of the two bores. It took a couple of heating cycles to get everything back into alignment. The kingpins now drop right through without any binding on the needle bearings. Flame straightening is a lost art, unfortunately. Too many fabricators would approach this with a big rosebud torch overheating the part and beating it with a sledgehammer back into position. Here is an excellent resource if you want to learn about it: https://www.boconline.co.uk/en/images/Fundamentals-of-Flame-Straightening_tcm410-113398.pdf Steve
Absolutely amazing ! Not only your skill level, but the attention to details. Thanks for sharing the step by step process.
Tinkerer- Thanks for the kind words. The weak link in the 580C axle assembly is the top recessed spacer cap and retaining ring. This holds the needle bearing race in place. It's about a 1/4 inch recess that collects a puddle of rainwater out here in Oregon. With a lack of lube, the water gets in and destroys the upper bearings. I decided to re-engineer this feature. I machined a piece 6061 aluminum(anodized black) that has a shoulder on it that sits on top of the needle bearing. The top center is drilled and tapped for a grease zerk. There are also 6 counterbored holes on a bolt hole pattern to secure it to the top of the yoke. I drilled and tapped the same pattern onto the yokes. I used Permatex- The Right Stuff gasket maker on the flange. Water will not puddle or get into this area now. Plus I think it looks more rugged than the original setup.
Dirty Hoe that is the most impressive rebuild of an axle that I have ever seen. Your skills are top notch. Good job.
Real nice work.. I like that cap you made for the king pin. I’m pretty sure that the water pooling in the top of the kingpins is what made my bearings go and need replacing.
That cap is pure genius, Dirtyhoe. You should apply for a patent on it !
Dirty, You must work for NASA or something? That cap is badass. I don't have those skills so after I did my bearings and saw that little pool that was never there before because the water went right through - I gave it the redneck repair and filled it with a big gob of grease - but that won't look good on that powder coat. Nice work.
Grady, i never worked for NASA, but I did machine a bunch of parts for a DARPA contractor years ago. It was an experimental Humphrey cycle internal combustion engine. Just don't ask me how it works. I have no idea. Too funny on the redneck repair. Sometimes it's the cheapest and quickest way to get back to work. Steve
Here is a picture of the steering rebuild finished. I had the rims powder coated and put on new tires. I find that on larger parts like rims it's not worth my time to prep and paint it myself. My powder coater bakes the paint off, sandblasts, and then finishes the part.
I totally agree it’s a first class repair. Well done pilgrim.
First class repair. I like really like the cap on the king-pin. I recently redid my king-pins on my 310 and noticed the recess that will be good for nothing but catching water. My fix will probably involve a tube of permatex.
Goop --->Marine Grade is the most awesome silicone I have ever used. It is tougher and more adhesive than any silicone I ever used. I first used it on transducers on my boat. I even glued a sole that was half ripped off my shoe. Use the shoe every day and hasn't loosened yet.
You sold me. That's what I'll use. Just ordered a tube.