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SURMOD
1930 Hudson Super 8
Axle Rebuild
The axle assembly is a little different than in later years. The Bearing is pressed on to the axle with the narrow side facing out. Once the axle is in the differential it is held in by the axle end cap, which has a matching race to that bearing in it.
The axles touch each other inside the differential housing. On that end of the axle is what's called a thrust button. That thrust button wears down over time. To decrease the axle end play, the ends need to be extended slightly with hard facing. There needs to be a total of .005th. - .010th. end play total ( both axles) . There are shims that can be added before the end caps are bolted on. These end shims will increase the end play, and when they are removed it will decrease the end play. They come in 3 thicknesses. .005th, .010th, and .015th.
The axles in the picture on the left show how they were when I took them out. The axle on the top shows a centre protrusion longer than the one on the bottom.
The axle in the foreground in this picture, shows the hard facing that I had added to the end of it. This will even out the overall length of both axles.
I filed the end of the hardfacing that was added to the end of the one axle so it was flat. It was just the right amount of hardfacing added. I installed a .005th. shim behind each bearing end cap, and that gave me .006th. overall axle end play. So in theory as that hardfacing wears down, I can allow .004th before it is at the outside tolerance of .010th. At that point I can remove one of the .005th. shim, putting the end play back within specification tolerance. Once the hardfacing wears down another .005th. It will be time to add more hardfacing to the end of the axle again and start over.
In the picture on the left it shows the shims that fit on the bearing end cap. The manual doesn't say what the thickness is of the three different shims. The picture on the right shows the end cap installed on to the backing plate. The parts manual only mention "thin, medium, thick where the shims are listed. Since they are used it's difficult to get a really accurate reading but I think they are, .005th., 010th., and 015th.
When I pulled the end caps off, there were no shims on either side. Just some homemade cardboard washers. Fortunately with the two differentials I bought, between the two of them I got 8 shims of all three thicknesses.
The axle bearing end cap have a felt seal that keeps the grease inside of it and on the other side where the bearing is. When I pulled off the rear right wheel, the brake shoes and backing plate was covered in grease so the felt was failing. I had some 1/2" felt so I decided to make one for the passenger side. The drivers side wasn't leaking.
This picture shows where the felt rides. I also added a speedie sleeve over this shat to increase the likelihood of a good tight seal.
I forgot to take a picture of the speedie sleeve installed on the shaft, but next time I check the brakes, and seal, I'll take a picture of it and then add it to this page.
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