Half axle removal

Hey guys,

The RO is contradictory. (Wow)

I will be needing to pull the left half axle out to renew the inner universal.

Can it be pulled out without taking down the brake shoes and springs etc?

I think you would be able to remove the unit as an assembly but you will have to disconnect the brake pipe handbrake cable etc. remove the six nuts that hold it to the trailing arm make sure you use some penetrating oil on them they can snap give them a little tighten first then loosen them.The whole brake assembly can be removed from the axle assembly and fitted as a unit so you do not have to remove the shoes springs etc.

cheers Stuart

There is not one chance that I am going to follow thru on this if I need to disconnect the hydralics for the brakes, not anytime soon.

I have been wrestling with the brakes for half a year, and have no interest in bleeding the wretched things again. I had a shop power bleed it, and that was weeks ago, with $70 gone for the privilige.

The RO says in one place to pull the shoes off, then release the hub assembly.

In another place it says pull the six nuts and pull out the hub, no mention of pulling the shoes.

And in neither place does it specify seperating the hydralics. Bwrrrrr.

No need to touch any of the brake parts except making sure the handbrake is in the 'off' position when doing the work.

Jack car up and take the appropriate safety measures of stands etc.
Remove wheel.
Remove 4 nuts'n'bolts that secure the halfshaft to the diff flange.
Remove screws that secure brake drum to hub flange.
Remove 6 nuts securing hub bearing housing to susp. arm and withdraw halfshaft assembly.
Reassembly is the reverse order.

You may need to slacken off the brake shoes so the bearing housing can pass between them, but fully removing them is I believe not necessary.

Even easier is to just remove the 4 nuts'n'bolts that secure the halfshaft to the diff flange, then pull the inner part of the halfshaft out of the outer. Just make sure you mark them in a way to be certain that they go back together in the correct orientation.

Julian

Kevin,
Your issue may not be removing the half shaft - that can be done with brake shoes and brake system intact. The rear brake drum does have to be removed though.

the issue is whether you have half shafts that are rebuildable. Most Federal Specification Stags have Staked style universal joints, not circlipped. The Federal Specification universal joints are not the TR6 style with the 1.06 inch bearing caps, they are 15/16" or 0.9375" bearing caps.

If you see circlips you are lucky and they are most likely TR6 style, no circlips, you will have issues.

the universal joints used as OE and replacement are non-greasible, and the only ones that seem to fit are from a Mercedes drive shaft, for about $50 each.

Also, when removing the axle it is good practice to check the end float of your bearing hubs, they typically get sloppy with hard driving.

Cheers!

Glenn Merrell, TSN Admin

Glenn A. Merrell
TriumphStag.Net administrator
TTA North American Coordinator (2007-2009)
past Chairman TSC USA (2007-2009)
past TSC USA President (2001-2007)
"The BEST trophies are miles on the odometer, stone chips in the paint, dead bugs on the windshield." 8)

Glenn and Jullian.

Hehehehhehehe.

I ain't got no stinking Triumph half shafts in there!

My diffy is a Datsun unit, as are my half shafts.

I had a machinist cut circlip rings on the axel stubs and the whole mess rebuilds just like any Datsun half shaft.

The Datsun units are superiour not just because the unis are readily replacable, but in that the telescoping involves balls in groves, rather than splines. So there is no "Stag Twitch" on my buggy.

It has been a decade or more since I had the shafts out, and I seem to remember them being as you say, readily removeable.

I actually wish that I had had the engineer eliminate my Triumph hubs as well. Those need a 30 ton press to crack open, and if you need to replace a seal, you will need to get that done.

The rear track of a Stag and a 240z are essenitally the same. I was directed to this machinist because guys who race TR6s go to him to replace the Triumph hubs. The bearings on the Triumph hubs are painfully close together, and thus weaker. Those on the Datusn are much further apart and more durable.

I have honking big aluminium spacers between my diffy and my half shafts. I would not have needed that had I had the guy engineer in the Datsun hubs.....

Oh well. I don't race it.

Ah, makes things a little different then eh?

Having Datsun shafts and a Subaru diff myself, I wonder whether the Datsun inner flange (the one that fixes to the diff) has been modified in any way? I hade to remove the corners of said flange otherwise it would not pass through the hole in the trailing arm. It then disassembles like the Triumph unit except that the inner and outer shafts cannot be separated on the car.
Out of curiosity, from what model diff do you have? Long or short nose?

Julian

I believe it is a long nose. At least I cannot imagine a longer one!

I don't remember having ground the corners of the half axle flange. I seem to remember having got it apart once before.....

Hey Kevin, that is cheating!

Now if you want the BEST axles, you should get a set of GoodParts CV axles and uprated preloaded bearings, billet aluminum wheel bearing hubs.

There is another topic where I posted photos somewhere on the Forum, but go to David's website here
[www.goodparts.com]

Cheers!
Glenn Merrell, TSN Admin

Glenn A. Merrell
TriumphStag.Net administrator
TTA North American Coordinator (2007-2009)
past Chairman TSC USA (2007-2009)
past TSC USA President (2001-2007)
"The BEST trophies are miles on the odometer, stone chips in the paint, dead bugs on the windshield." 8)

StagByTriumph Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Kevin, that is cheating!
>
> Now if you want the BEST axles, you should get a
> set of GoodParts CV axles and uprated preloaded
> bearings, billet aluminum wheel bearing hubs.
>
> There is another topic where I posted photos
> somewhere on the Forum, but go to David's website
> here
> [www.goodparts.com]
> =20
>
> Cheers!
> Glenn Merrell, TSN Admin


There is a place where one is spending too much money.

I feel David Goodparts axles are worth every penny. Those will be the last axles and rear bearings you will ever install on your Triumph, truely fit and forget.

Cheers!

Glenn Merrell, TSN Admin

Glenn A. Merrell
TriumphStag.Net administrator
TTA North American Coordinator (2007-2009)
past Chairman TSC USA (2007-2009)
past TSC USA President (2001-2007)
"The BEST trophies are miles on the odometer, stone chips in the paint, dead bugs on the windshield." 8)

When I used to drive across Aust I had a succession of collapsing spacers (don't use them anymore - I solid shim my own -no more trouble) so I carried a half shaft (old - done at factory - had a whine, but always worked - still got it) under the boot floor.

Changed one at Eucla in 20 minutes. You don't need to remove brakes or the like. Jack up - remove wheel - remove drum - remove six bolts - remove boot clip or cable tie - remove shaft - reverse procedure.

Remember there is a "master spline" so it can only go in one way, so line that up. When you remove the shaft there are springs and things in the way, just lever them aside with a screwdriver.

I had a gutful of hub bearings shredding - and they are huge bearings, so they shouldn't - only weak link is the collapsible "tin" spacers - so I machined some steel pipe and shim that - they last forever now - I made some spares - but haven't used them yet as the ones in the car will probably outlive me!. Collapsible spacers are ok in diffs - but not where a wheel can strike a pot hole or whatever.

Ken H

West Aust