1952 M35 Gasser repair and build

George at White Owl.

Git a little more done, got more parts on the way. Been pretty busy trying to get my jeep back on the road.

Once brakes are done, have to finish my engine tune up.
Also Have to check out steering box too, left a nice puddle on the garage floor; got some seals for that, I'll have to see how loose the box is when I pull it

You probably already saw this thread about steering box seals: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?105162-M35-steering-box-seals

Strong suggestion is to either leave the box alone and use cornhead grease (0 or 00 semi-liquid grease) or to take it out and do a full rebuild, not just seals.

yup, saw that, posted in it too. like I said I will need to see how much slop is in the box when I pull it(will be using a semi-liquid grease anyways), but when I drove the truck, and in the shop, you touch the steering wheel. pretty much moves the wheels with barely any play, nice and tight from the seat, but definite not gonna skimp if it needs it.

So got my Front seals, Remote brake reservoir and Airpack rebuild kit today.

cleaned up and painted the second brake on the rear axles, finish up tomorrow with assembly, then onto the fronts

and one more thing with the steering box seal, didn't even think about it till I was investigating how to tackle it...but that was the side the electrical fire was on, and the harnes was toast along that section, so it probably burnt the seal up, and the 200 ft I drove the truck upset it enough to cause it to finally leak... but again will see how it looks when I pull it.

Pulled steering box, tight, no perceptible play in the box, looked good inside as well, so I will do just a seal and use a 00 grease. maybe try and fit two seals, using one of the ones cross referenced to civilian, so thinner then Military, this should give a good oil seal, and a dust seal, if possible.

also started pulling one of the fronts, not a lot of grease in the hub, but plenty in the knuckle. not quite sure what was going on there, boot's are pretty greasy/oily on both sides, should have ordered some when I got the seals...but didn't think of it

now what little grease was in the hub looked red, and most of the high temp grease I have seen is tan in color, so maybe wrong grease, and it got too warm, leaked out

so close to being ready for the road, but so far away at the same time

Ordered some Silicone one piece boots, reviews seem to say these are just a little better then the zippered ones, don't dryrot in a few months, but prone to tears...we shall see, hate AfterMarket stuff, but NOS stuff doesn't do well with time either.

so got the knuckles torn down all the way, bushings look fine, will look again when they get cleaned, brakes are cleaner, and look newer then the rears, so possibly was done by a PO, then guy sold truck

the hardest part about the knuckle teardown was the steering arm, whapped on that with a hammer for 30 minutes, no movement, looked it up(took 20 minutes of searching with my crappy phone and greasy hands) realized there are cone washers, so instead of trying to hit the bottom of the arm up, I then went for the top of the arm, hitting down, 2 minutes later it's all apart.

anyways, got everything loaded into my brothers truck, gonna use the pressure washer at work to get rid of a majority of the grease

next thing on my shopping list is DOT 5 fluid, and brake hoses, most likely with get them from Peashooter, heard too many bad things with aftermarket china brands

Oh yeah, meant to post this yesterday, but this is the seal from the steering box, rock hard, and the box was peeling paint, so definitely think the seal got scorched with the electrical fire

Here is the seal you need. Brand new fresh made !

So got most of the old grease/dirt/oil off with pressure washer yesterday, cleaned the inside knuckle portion tonight, both sides.

Will clean the outer knuckles, re-inspect kingpin bushings tomorrow. Maybe assemble if my boots arrive

Those knuckles are clean!

so started cleaning outer knuckles, pretty close to done, final wipe they should be good to go. then went at the seal retainer and seal, thinking 'Oh, I have access to a 7 lb slide hammer, this will be easy"...NOPE, tried a rod through the axle, no cigar can't get the right angle, even prying at it to sit on the seal enough to bang out. so heated up with a propane torch 15 minutes, slide hammer still NADA. so try again tonight.

but got my seals, looks like one rubber and one silicone ordered 2 silicone? but I guess this lets me know which will be the best

more to come later

Got them out! Used a 3/8x1/2 inch flat bar, 6ft long, gave me a better angle then the 3/4 pipe

Cleaned retainers, cleaned bushings, look fine will test for feel tomorrow

Need to get some RTV all I got left is the adhesive sealant....and it's not quite rated for grease and gear oil

Can't figure why, but it's sideways

well, didn't get to far today, assembled passenger side, had a mishap(read about here,http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?140103-Knuckle-Dilemma-1952-M35) turns out the thrust washer got tangled between axle shaft and retainer, bent retainer.

axle shaft looks fine, thrust washer looks fine, just need a retainer now-don't want to bend it back out, cause it will probably just cause more problems down the road-

as I was inspeciting everything after the teardown, I realized that the spindle probably wasn't even sealing against the knuckle either, or at least not good, after I took the pindle off, I set it aside, and looking back at it, it looks like a little bit of grease was between the sealing surfaces, and while it was spread flat, it had a decent amount of thickness to it, something I hadn't thought to look at before. It sure would be nice if I didn't have to but the backing plate on at the same time as the spindle

on a side note, I know alot of guys use a helper to put on the knuckle seal, but here is what i did- after the inner clamp and outer knuckle is on, put the larger clamp in the groove of the seal, and tighten the screw and nut(my screw was about 1-1/2" long) just a little, start from the top, put the seal(with clamp still in groove) and slowly work your way down the sides, the clamp is flexible enough to get your fingers under the seal if needed, and with the clamp tightened just a little, it keeps the seal in the groove as you work your way down, the bottom of the groove is flat, so it is easy to get the last bit of the seal in place.

took me 10 minutes, most of that getting the clamp just right to keep tension on the seal, but loose enough to work the seal into the groove

well, the retainer was cracked as well, my dad spotted it, I thought it was just a machined groove, as the surface of the retainer is machined, and the crack almost followed one of those grooves. so definitely on the search, My Brother works parts for a Mack Service center, so he is going to try and cross reference to the old Mack/Osh Kosh Rockwell axles. Worst case, I have one machined up.

so I guess for the time being, I'll finish up the steering box, got some "00" Grease, rather then the 80/90wt oil, gonna see if I can't fit two seals on the shaft and box, one for dust, the other for the oil. And also start pulling the air-pack, and master Cylinder, rebuild those...or rebuild the air-pack, replace the Master with the NOS I have-is what I mean. Also gonna replace that one metal line on the rear axle that is kinked.

gonna have to wait another two weeks for the next Paycheck before ordering Brake lines(Peashooter) and Fluid. I know DOT 5 is recommended, I have seen some for sale on Ebay, and through the surplus dealers, but a gallon runs close to $75 or more...any other places I could check? Want at least 2 gallons

Kaiser67M715 said:

.....gonna see if I can't fit two seals on the shaft and box, one for dust, the other for the oil....

Click to expand...

That was my idea too... until I actually measured the bore depth: total = little over 3/8", cylindrical (inner) portion = 5/16", rest is chamfered. Which means there is no practical way to fit a second seal in there.


G.

Kaiser67M715 said:

I know DOT 5 is recommended, I have seen some for sale on Ebay, and through the surplus dealers, but a gallon runs close to $75 or more...any other places I could check? Want at least 2 gallons

Click to expand...

Check this first post for inexpensive DOT 5
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...hs-fittings)&p=1539040&viewfull=1#post1539040

gringeltaube said:

That was my idea too... until I actually measured the bore depth: total = little over 3/8", cylindrical (inner) portion = 5/16", rest is chamfered. Which means there is no practical way to fit a second seal in there.


G.

Click to expand...

just did some measuring myself, with two seals, the second seal would only be in halfway(not including chamfer portion), so maybe with some RTV, but probably not

peashooter said:

Check this first post for inexpensive DOT 5
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showth...hs-fittings)&p=1539040&viewfull=1#post1539040

Click to expand...

Thanks, must have missed that, read that thread a few times to get dimensions and reading up on the Cunifer Line(which I am forgoing this time due to money and the fact I only need to replace a 28 inch section.

on other news, will be rebuilding the steering box anyways, while there was no slop, I found severe pitting on the column bearing races.

Got Master in, reused old boot for push-rod, new one was soft at the base(at master) but started cracking at the other end, the original/old one was still pliable and had no cracks yet.

will start on rebuilding Air Pack next, as well as working on placing the remote reservoir-got the fitting for the master cylinder cap already installed. just have to decide if I want to try and work myself into the cab corner to mount it, or just mount it on the firewall