HO52 Broke AGAIN!...need help.

[72CampSpecial]

So.. about a month ago my truck broke down across town.. Turned out to be a wheel bearing had ate itself. (Rear, left outer bearing). I spent about a month getting everything torn apart, new bearings ordered, new brake shoes, ect..

Finished putting it all together today.. drove it around the block and all seemed good. Took a short drive to the gas station and bam..left wheel/drive shaft walked out of the diff again! and made an awful racket in the process..hope i didn't damage the diff..



Towed home and took the left side apart.. the retaining spring that snaps inside the hub was pushed out the track it sits in which allowed the hub assembly to slide out. Ruined the new outer bearing..

when i took it apart (again) the retaining nuts and washers where still in place..

Question:
1. why would that retaining spring come out like that? it was fully seated in its track when i installed it.
2. Do i need to order a new hub? Maybe the track it sits in is worn?
3. Could this be simply because that spring is worn or damaged?
4. Anyone have a HO52 hub lying around or know a part # i can look for?

5..what else should i be looking at..am i completley missing something else??


I replaced all the bearings in both Hubs and the right side doesn't have the same problem..

[70cst]

Here is a bump for you ...

[72CampSpecial]

Thanks..

[72CampSpecial]

Any help on the part # for the hub, Axle and retaining ring would be appreciated..

or if anyone has a floating Hub that fits a '72 C20 with a HO52 rear end would be great..

[72CampSpecial]

Bump..

[no1udknow]

a few suggestions,
check the groove where the retaining clip sits, make sure that the groove has a good edge on it to hold on to the clip.

second, check the rear end alignment, look at the bushings in the track arms and make sure its not blown out and that side of the arm isn't back a few inches, if it is, it could be causing excess drag in the tire. This happened to a buddy of mine and it turned out the truck had a bent frame.

also, do you have a locked diff, limited slip, or open?

is the axle true?

when the bearing went out did it damage the axle at all or spin in the tube?

is your vent clogged (which would usually cause a leak before pushing out an axle but at this point don't rule out anything )

and have you checked the bearings around the ring and pinion gears, they could be worn out.

Just some suggestions of where to look. Good luck.

[leddzepp]

Check your local junkyard for a replacement. While I hear parts are scarce and expensive, the rear ends themselves are not.

[my67c20]

So i guess, i am confused. The H052, is a full float rearend, which the axle shafts are retained by the 8 bolts, which secure to the drum / hub. But, before this can happen the bearings need to be installed, and held in place with a large nut, which is prevented from turning by a large star external tooth locking ring installed behind the nut, which must have the tabs bent over, to prevent them from walking out. Since you mention this is happening on the left side (as viewed from the rear), i am going to say that you did not lock those tabs down. The reason i speculate this is when you tighten the nut, you are turning it clockwise, which would tighten in reverse. But since it is coming loose, because you primarily drive forward, you are loosening this nut, hence the reason the other side is not coming loose. However, the other side is probably getting tighter, which will burn up the bearing quickly. The retaining spring may still have been in its track, but it just followed everything else out. See this post for parts http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=535397 If i am wrong please correct me.

[no1udknow]

Originally Posted by my67c20

So i guess, i am confused. The H052, is a full float rearend, which the axle shafts are retained by the 8 bolts, which secure to the drum / hub. But, before this can happen the bearings need to be installed, and held in place with a large nut, which is prevented from turning by a large star external tooth locking ring installed behind the nut, which must have the tabs bent over, to prevent them from walking out. Since you mention this is happening on the left side (as viewed from the rear), i am going to say that you did not lock those tabs down. The reason i speculate this is when you tighten the nut, you are turning it clockwise, which would tighten in reverse. But since it is coming loose, because you primarily drive forward, you are loosening this nut, hence the reason the other side is not coming loose. However, the other side is probably getting tighter, which will burn up the bearing quickly. The retaining spring may still have been in its track, but it just followed everything else out. See this post for parts http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=535397 If i am wrong please correct me.

Sounds most likely, I am not farmiliar with the particular rear end, just made suggestions based on the typical clip axle rearend with pressed bearings, but sounds like 67c20 knows whats up. You would think they would make that retainer reverse thread for that very reason though. I know on some of the old chargers even the lug nuts on one side were reversed so they wouldn't back off.

[my67c20]

If they made it reverse thread between cheater bars, impacts and torches be a great parts business. Wonder how many lugnuts were snapped on that great idea.

[no1udknow]

Originally Posted by my67c20

If they made it reverse thread between cheater bars, impacts and torches be a great parts business. Wonder how many lugnuts were snapped on that great idea.

... that's how I learned they were reversed thread

[72CampSpecial]

Originally Posted by my67c20

So i guess, i am confused. The H052, is a full float rearend, which the axle shafts are retained by the 8 bolts, which secure to the drum / hub. But, before this can happen the bearings need to be installed, and held in place with a large nut, which is prevented from turning by a large star external tooth locking ring installed behind the nut, which must have the tabs bent over, to prevent them from walking out. Since you mention this is happening on the left side (as viewed from the rear), i am going to say that you did not lock those tabs down. The reason i speculate this is when you tighten the nut, you are turning it clockwise, which would tighten in reverse. But since it is coming loose, because you primarily drive forward, you are loosening this nut, hence the reason the other side is not coming loose. However, the other side is probably getting tighter, which will burn up the bearing quickly. The retaining spring may still have been in its track, but it just followed everything else out. See this post for parts http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=535397 If i am wrong please correct me.

Thanks, the tabs were bent over.. i took special care to make sure that i bent the tabs according to the directions.. and when i took it apart this time the nuts and washer with the tabs was still in place..

[72CampSpecial]

Originally Posted by no1udknow

a few suggestions,
check the groove where the retaining clip sits, make sure that the groove has a good edge on it to hold on to the clip.

second, check the rear end alignment, look at the bushings in the track arms and make sure its not blown out and that side of the arm isn't back a few inches, if it is, it could be causing excess drag in the tire. This happened to a buddy of mine and it turned out the truck had a bent frame.

also, do you have a locked diff, limited slip, or open?

is the axle true?

when the bearing went out did it damage the axle at all or spin in the tube?

is your vent clogged (which would usually cause a leak before pushing out an axle but at this point don't rule out anything )

and have you checked the bearings around the ring and pinion gears, they could be worn out.

Just some suggestions of where to look. Good luck.

Regarding the Diff im not sure if its Open or Limited slip.. i had assumed Limited slip.. since i lost all power once the left axle walked out of the diff.

Ill check the axle

im not sure which vent you are talking about?

the old bearing did do some damage to shaft that is slides on to.. but the axle that goes in to the diff was in good shape.. no noticeable damage, and when i took the diff cover off everything in there looked good.

[72CampSpecial]

Anyone know the part # for the Hub and retaining spring/clip? Im at the point of replacing those two items (and the bearings) and re-installing on the shaft

unless you all think the shaft could be part of the problem..ill post pics later.

[my67c20]

Did the washer have the tab on the ID, this is the one that holds it in the slot of the hub? Seems like if all this was in place, it should be pretty fail safe, but not always. Another question, are you sure it is an H052? Without more pictures, it sometimes is hard to make a solid guess on the problem

[72CampSpecial]

Here are some pics... hopefully they help. Im now wondering if the shoulder that the outer bearing rides on might be worn..allowing the bearing to actually be pushed on too far? then when under load it shifts back and forth?

Can i change the shaft that the hub floats on?

[my67c20]

Definitely an H052. Looking at the 2nd picture, it appears that there are some grooves on the inside, out towards the end, which look fairly similar to threads. This would lead me to believe that something walked out, and scored that as it happened. This again would lead me to believe that either the tabs were not bend completely over (into the pockets on the nuts), or the tab that sits in the slot on the axle was missing, or down enough that it was doing nothing, maybe even riding in the threads. Do you have pictures of that part, or are the same as the ones in this thread http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=639783 Aside from that the bearing surfaces look okay, as they have their own races built in.

[bollybib]

I recently replaced the rear bearings in my C20 so I'll throw in my 2 cents.

Since the outer bearing race retaining ring came out of its slot, I would focus on that. You didn't provide any pics of the damaged bearing; those might be useful.

When I replaced mine, I made sure that the slot was perfectly clean, and the retaining ring also. There was a lot of crud in the slot that I had to scrape out with a pick, etc. When I drove the new outer bearing seat into the hub, I went slightly past the retaining ring slot, installed the retaining ring, then tapped the bearing seat back firmly against the retaining ring. The retaining ring didn't just snap right in, I needed to tap it slightly to get it to expand all the way into the slot. Then I rotated it back and forth slightly and made sure the ends near the tangs were all the way in. As I recall, I removed and reinstalled the ring a couple of times to reassure myself all was well.

This is what it looked like.



The possibility that your retaining ring is weak or distorted from previous efforts shouldn't be discounted. If it's really that bad, it should be apparent that it won't properly seat in a clean slot around its the entire circumference. If you need a new one, I suspect you would have to find a replacement from a salvaged truck. As for the slot, it would have to be severely damaged not to hold the ring, obviously so I would think.

I would also check the hub ID and axle housing OD at the outer bearing and compare that to the outer bearing specs to verify proper fit of the race and bearing.

If this happened to me, I would spend some time checking dimensions for damage and probably searching through Board posts. Then I think I would try one more time. First get everything scrupulously clean (the slot in particular). Then install a new outer bearing and race paying close attention to each and every step when reassembling using the procedures laid down in the Service Manual. I don't like to go driving off too far after a job like this. I may jack up the rear and let it spin or just go up and down my street a few times until I'm confident everything is OK.

[72CampSpecial]

next round of pics..i think this might be the issue..the bearing is only sliding on to the shaft this far. The screw driver is pointing to the shoulder on the shaft..isnt the bearing supposed to slide all the way to hear?

[bollybib]

Here are a few more of my thoughts on this.

The bearing needs to slide in far enough so that preload can be applied by the adjusting nut/thrust washer against the bearing's inner race. The ID of the bearing race should remain free to slide on the axle housing. Since you have threads on the axle housing still covered by the bearing, it looks to me like the bearing isn't sliding in far enough. I see some galling on the axle housing where your screwdriver is pointing, too. You could try smoothing it out with long strips of fine emery paper. Hopefully the axle housing surface will smooth out and still be useable.

This could be what caused your bearing to fail. If the bearing was not able to move past the position in your photo, your preload was being applied only against the raised area on the axle housing, not between the inner and outer bearing races. Everything being too loose, it failed.

Then when the bearing failed, the axle and hub moved outward and when the adjusting nuts hit the retaining ring, out it came.

[72CampSpecial]

So...some success! After realizing that the outer bearing was not sliding on all the way like it should I took bollybibs advice and did some sanding... Now..look at this. After a closer exam it was evident that the previous bearing when it spun left some material behind.. a few minutes with the dremel and a round sanding tool was all it took. Fits great now.



Anyone know the part humber for this? I'd like to replace it before the next assembly..

[72CampSpecial]

Originally Posted by bollybib

Here are a few more of my thoughts on this.

The bearing needs to slide in far enough so that preload can be applied by the adjusting nut/thrust washer against the bearing's inner race. The ID of the bearing race should remain free to slide on the axle housing. Since you have threads on the axle housing still covered by the bearing, it looks to me like the bearing isn't sliding in far enough. I see some galling on the axle housing where your screwdriver is pointing, too. You could try smoothing it out with long strips of fine emery paper. Hopefully the axle housing surface will smooth out and still be useable.

This could be what caused your bearing to fail. If the bearing was not able to move past the position in your photo, your preload was being applied only against the raised area on the axle housing, not between the inner and outer bearing races. Everything being too loose, it failed.

Then when the bearing failed, the axle and hub moved outward and when the adjusting nuts hit the retaining ring, out it came.

thanks.. I'm headed in the right direction now..

[bollybib]

Looks better now.

I've never used this web site myself but it looks like a good place to locate your part.

Enter the bearing retainer part number 3663672 and your zip code and you should get several places that have this part on hand.

https://www.partsvoice.com/partsearch

[swamp rat]

What Billibib said about driving the bearing back against the retainer clip is spot on and needs to be done, hopefully sanding the outer bearing land on the axle tube will do the trick.

Make sure you have an inner and outer nut and the tab washer in between them.

[72CampSpecial]

Originally Posted by swamp rat

What Billibib said about driving the bearing back against the retainer clip is spot on and needs to be done, hopefully sanding the outer bearing land on the axle tube will do the trick.

Make sure you have an inner and outer nut and the tab washer in between them.

Thanks.. any idea on a current part number for the retaining clip? Mine was damaged when the bearing went south..