Wrecker rear winch fairlead roller rebuild

[zebedee]

Got quite the surprise when I pulled the siezed rollers for bearing service... and to paint inside of roller housing following RAEME sus-tow mod.

Even though the rollers are very heavy, come to find out that they are hollow and that the space between the top and bottom roller bearings (and would assume the same for horiz' ones) is full of grease. Maybe over two tubes full!... each roller! That's upwards of 9 tubes wasted, just to fill void before pressure can build and then vent to outside as normally seen when you grease a fitting.

To me, this is a waste and unacceptable. I am looking at making a communication sleeve to go between the bearing outer races to cut down on the volume of grease reqd before expulsion from bronze washers is seen - thus knowing full greasing of bearing. (a la small trolley/lawn mower wheel etc.)

Also looks like there was an ineffective seal next to the bronze thrust washers allowing water to pool and corrode the bottom bearing.

I also need another bronze washer if any one has a lead on spares. (Jeff - still stripping those 816's?)


(.... oh yeah - do you really need a pic!) The TM for servicing rollers shows an exploded diag of components.

 

[swiss]

Zebedee pictures please. The design is very poor, rain can pour into the top and there is no real seal assembly. I am awaiting how you solve this problem as it is on the list of items to attack on the M62!

 

[zebedee]

Sleeve would go between #'s 13 & 15
(TM drawing is incorrect - bearings on my truck are not tapered.)

Bronze washer needed is # 17 or 11

Will also cap top plate to stop ponding of water at top grease fitting if that is easier than drilling drain hole.

My sketch is from previous thread on water ponding.

 

[timntrucks]

its the same on the 5ton front winch.. hollow and full of grease

 

[73m819]

On Swiss,s m62, I packed grease under the two top retainer plates, then installed the plates, so far NO water intrusion

 

[mdmorgan]

The holes in the big pin (#10 in your drawing) where the grease comes out is right under the rollers of the bearings, so the grease fills the bearings first. I think the hollow gets filled after years of greasing the rollers. I have seen some trucks that have had the top plate tapped for a pipe plug to keep water out. The part #for the bearings is MR-36.

 

[73m819]

The top plate problem in that it is a flat plate on a flat plate, no seal in between, so even if the center grease access hole is tapped and then pluged, water still can intrude from the edges of the plate, if the plate has been on a while, you might find it has a slight bow in line with the retaining bolts with the sides very slightly up, this will allow more water intrusion, If there is a bow, flip the plate over so the bow is UP, so when you tighten the retaining bolts the bow is pulled down.

If you over tighten the retaining bolts, the plate WILL tend to bow because item #1 on the parts list above is set down a bit from the top surface of the main frame, this allows a bit of empty space between the plate and item #1, so by over tighting, you are pulling the plate into this void = BOW

 

[zebedee]

I think mine is beyond a bow - not that it is bowed, but the sandwich/lamination effect of the top retainer plate #2 and the roller frame #5 is heavily corroded, so no way is it water tight. I will probably put a small gasket in there - maybe nothing more than a cereal box square and a little grease, maybe a square of inner tube... Seeing as the bearings aren't tapered, there is no end thrust and so no need to cinch the main pin #10 down hard.

This whole setup needs "tidying" up. The design is very rudimentary/simplistic - not that the whole truck isn't built the same way....

As far as the spacer tube (to cut down on the grease volume) I think a piece of exhaust pipe will be fine - painted on the outside only. May even flare the ends a little to seat them against the outer races.
... and all that wasted grease that came out, may come up with an applicator/rag wrapped around(!) to lube the cable when it all goes back together. Then we have to get Jatonka to come up with a canvas baggie for the rear winch/level wind to keep it all ship shape!

More later!

 

[zebedee]

Progress: Managed to get all the bearings freed up or stripped down, cleaned and rebuilt. Had to soak then 'ease' with a pin punch the rollers and cage in two of the bearings as they were frozen solid. Bit by bit they freed up enough to tap them under the hole in the outer race, so that I could nock each roller from the race, thus eventually able to extract the race too, prior to cleaning and wire wheeling the whole lot... Talk about tedious.



Re water collection in part #1. I have had a little bit of a rethink on this, having found out that the thread for the grease nipple is 1/8th pipe thread ***. Had to replace both as they were pounded into submission (read oblivion) to remove the main shaft on initial dissassembly!

I like the idea of Rons re Swiss' truck, but one step further... How about a pipe nipple/street fitting*** to extend the grease fitting up and out of the main frame plate, then on assembly, squeege a bunch of silicone caulk into the recess of part #1, then when shaft #10 is positioned, the recess is fully evacuated of air, excess caulk pushed up and out of plate #2 and cleaned up. Grease fitting is accessible having been extended and no moisture can get in. It will also seal the 'bow' Ron discussed.

I blasted, etch primed and painted the top of the shaft - heavilly pitted from corrosion, ditto the inside of #1.
Prior to blasting, I took a grinder then flap wheel to the end of the shaft, and turning slowly in the lathe managed to flatten out the concavity, from sitting wet.

In case anyone spots the obvious problem of an exposed grease fitting in a heavily trafficked area - feet, towing gear etc., I might put a little shoulder around the rear most edge of the hole in #2 to protect the fitting - subject to the length of the pipe nipple/street fitting.....

Off to the hardware store/plumbing supplies with a spare grease fitting, will report back later! Will also search out 'exhaust' pipe for "Communication" tube - grease retention between bearings too...

NB. My one word search looking for this thread was "Ponding" and came back with only this one thread!

 

[zebedee]

$1.50 fix per side. 1/8" NPT nipple (short) and an 1/8" coupler.

Now grease fitting is raised out of cavity in top cap that holds water. So, cavity can be filled with silicone etc.