Level Wind maintenance anomoly, Front Winch

[zebedee]

In tearing down the siezed Level Wind and Cable Tensioner, I have discovered that the Sheave frame extension #20 shaft was never drilled for a grease fitting #16. No lateral delivery hole to needle rollers either. And no - the old grease is not solid thus hiding the hole. I even ran a lathe center drill into the end of the shaft and **** near burnt it out a it is so hard! No Hole!

There is no way to grease the lower needle bearing #22 !

So - go feel under the trolley of the swivel to your top roller for grease fitting and see if I am alone in this.

#'s are from page 420 of TM9-2320-260-34-2

Have already stripped all needles out, cleaned and polished, same for the outer race and repacked. But that won't last forever...

 

[Squirt-Truck]

You are correct, never drilled for that zerk. The LO does not call out a lube for that fitting.

I have found that once you get the rope guide sheave repaired that using gear oil from the top side, soak the felt, will drain through and lube the thrust balls and the needles.
Been doing that for years and have never had a bearing problem there. By the way, I do use the winch so it gets exercised quite often.

 

[zebedee]

Remidy for level wind pivot lube..

(You are correct) never drilled for that zerk. The LO does not call out a lube for that fitting.

Thank you squirt-truck, but this IS UNACCEPTABLE!, to my lowly engineering based mind especially as the upper felt seal is perfectly located to sit in a pond of trapped water .. so I plan on exploring a pathway drilled into the side of the trolley, angled correctly towards and ending at a side delivery of grease directly to the twenty-six ball bearings #(24) - pg 420, problem is access once trolley is mounted on track frame #(16) - pg 418, looks like a recessed ('frenched") fitting, accessed from the rectangular hole # (9) - pg 418 positioned between the two screws # (14) - pg 418 will work.....
I WILL POST PIC IF THIS WORKS!

.... why can't I sample a pic from the TM to put in this thread??? ".....8x12 glossy photos complete with circles and arrows..."

 

[25thIDAirAssault]

Interesting post. Always wanted a level wind for my 5 ton. Now I am not so sure? Can you please post so pics of this. Thanks and nice job.

John

 

[doghead]

Copy and save the pics from the TM, then attach them to your post.

 

[zebedee]

All I seem to get is a horizontal slice - can't appear to be able to "copy" the appropriate pic!!! as following attatchment

 

[zebedee]

ok - some pages will let me copy more than slice.......

 

[doghead]

How are you copying them? First off, I have the TMs saved as pdfs on my computer. I view the page i want to copy. Then
I click the camera tool, then click on the screen and drag a box around the portion(or whole page) then it highlights that area. I then copy that to MS Paint, and save it. Then I attach it to my posts.

 

[zebedee]

Thanks - found the camera!

 

[zebedee]

Interesting post. Always wanted a level wind for my 5 ton. Now I am not so sure? Can you please post so pics of this. Thanks and nice job.
John

Don't be put off John - a very handy addition to the winch - it stops side loading of the drum from anything other than direct inline pull also stops "birds nesting" of unmanaged spooling in. Also allows more cable to be stored too !

They have been in use for a long time and if kept "oiled" (without the grease fitting) as Squirt-trucks advise, it sounds like there should be no problem.

 

[zebedee]

Caution...

 

[73m819]

Don't be put off John - a very handy addition to the winch - it stops side loading of the drum from anything other than direct inline pull also stops "birds nesting" of unmanaged spooling in. Also allows more cable to be stored too !

They have been in use for a long time and if kept "oiled" (without the grease fitting) as Squirt-trucks advise, it sounds like there should be no problem.

ALL the front wenches CAN hold the same amount of cable, with or without the tensioner and level wind, it is only the WRECKERS that CARRY the 280', all the rest carry 200'

 

[zebedee]

ALL the front wenches CAN hold the same amount of cable, with or without the tensioner and level wind, it is only the WRECKERS that CARRY the 280', all the rest carry 200'

Thanks Ron - I had wondered on rope lengths, but I think that's "specified design" or "factory rating"... I was implying that if there is no level wind, then the cable will 'ball up' on the side of the drum that is towards the load, even a direct pull will ball in the center of the drum - so that the capacity of the drum is then determined by proximity of non rotating structures - frame, cross members, bumper, fairlead etc., and safety considerations would limit capacity to avoid damage, however, if there is a level wind, then cable will be neatly spooled so that there is no 'air' or dead space between loops and it would be possible (CAUTIONARY NOTE and advise against) to load on more than specified right to the full dimensions of the drum - even put a bigger diameter drum if space allowed, which can be done by arithmatic: cable diameter, layers, 'pie D', blah blah... Though remembering that winch performance depreciates as the drum is loaded with layers further from the axis of rotation - see "Gearing" in the Recovery TM, "one may be cutting off ones nose to spite ones face..."

This is a theoretical debate based on physics - in no way am I trying to "teach grandma to suck eggs" and no, I am not implying that you are Grandma either!!! I greatly respect your service, experience and knowledge of these trucks/TMs etc. ...................... Ron - "we 'luv-yuh' man"

Stay tuned folks......

 

[Jared]

I had thought the same thing -- that the level wind added to the front winch allowed more cable to be spooled since it would (at least in theory) be more evenly wound. Saw this in the winch TACOM Depot Maintenance Work Requirement -- DMWR 9-3830-501

 

[Squirt-Truck]

Jared, that capacity data is bad wrong. Those numbers are for full drums not listed capacity.

Zebedee, consider drilling from the side under the trolley axle. That has more meat, better access, and (for your little engineering mind) less stress than the proposed side drilling. That area is the highest stress area in the trolley and most prone to cracking.

 

[zebedee]

New grease fitting installed

Squirt-truck, you were right with regards the better location for the drilled hole and fitting.
When installed on truck, access for fitting will be from passenger side of trolley, when trolley is slid to drivers side. Located towards front edge. Straight grease gun should work between rails of levelwind frame (- I have a flexi tip on my gun). If doing this remember the recessed hole for the lock pin is on the front of the swivel housing.

I used a lathe with a piece of emery tape wound onto a pipe to hone the swivel bore to get back to a nice surface - the swivel was extremely tight before dissassembly.

Next step, paint, new WallyWorld felt for washers, then reassemble.

 

[swiss]

Very nice work and pictures Zebe!!!!!!! I enjoy seeing the amount of thought you are putting into improving the operations of your systems and the quality of the work!

 

[zebedee]

New grease fitting works!

All reassembled, grease fitting accessible from inside track frame when slid to drivers side. Grease comes out both the top and through the lower needle roller bearing - so I am well satisfied with new lube situation.

I also reversed the passenger side cable tensioner sheave shaft so it can be greased from the front, away from the winch rope, however the drivers side one cannot be reversed due to the tension handle... Oh well - at least I have upgraded the grease fitting locations by 50% to avoid 'bustage'...

On to the next project...

 

[swiss]

Zebedee did you get pictures of this all put back together? Great attention to detail. I would like to see the finished product!

 

[zebedee]

grease fittting pics - levelwind mod.

Easy access greasing of trolley swivel...