[T3] Axle Beams

[Jim Adney]

On 15 Jul 2011 at 12:23, Dave Hall wrote:

> An old motor engineer in the UK replaced his inner bushings with a special
> alloy - I can't recall what it was, but it wasn't oolite as that wouldn't
> have taken the stress in that situation.  I've a note of it somewhere - may
> be on here in the archive.  He's passed on now, so I can't find out how it
> lasted.  You would need to be a machinist or have an engineering workshop to
> do the work, so I'm sure it wouldn't be cheap.

Another problem you can often run into, when trying to replace beam 
bearings, is that the torsion bar surfaces have also worn and are 
rough where the bearings sit. If this is the case, new bearings will 
be quickly destroyed. I have some arms that are still good, removed 
from rusted-out beams that had been kept lubricated.

Front beam bearing damage is almost always limited to the upper 
bearings, simply because many shop mechanics don't realize that there 
are 2 more zerks hidden in the upper part of the beam. Lack of 
lubrication eventually causes bearing damage.

So, always remember to lube all FOUR zerks in your Type 3 front axle!

-- 
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Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
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