1920 - Trouble separating reduction gearbox (front axle)

[mroberts5]

I've had a decent leak from my front axle between the idler gear case (#13 below) and bevel gear case (#9) for the past few years and today finally tried (and failed) to fix it.

After removing the king pin cover (#21) and the wheel hub (#4) I could not get the bevel gear case to separate from the idler gear case. Is there a trick to this? Should it just slide down?

Also - when I took the king pin cover all items #18, 19 & 20 were firmly pressed into the cover and the king pin (#17) did not look like it wanted to rotate at all. I didn't put pliers on it, and it was greased so I couldn't get a grip - but should this spin freely? The top of the kingpin was quite dirty as there is nothing stopping dirt getting inbetween it and bearing #19.

At this point I put everything back together, will refill w/ 134 (once I can find some....) and maybe just live with this unless I find I missed a step here.

Thanks.

,

 

[the old grind]

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PM me for pages (PDFs tomorrow morning) from this if you don't have it. (yet ) #17 should nest in #19 and if it needed to rotate it'd have a bearing for that. #14 should nest in #15 to manage thrust load on it. #19 would handle radial load/alignment. a snug fit could reduce/eliminate wear.

Anyway, the I&T book will talk you through disassembly, and include all specs/torques. I replaced leaking #12 seals on my '98 20-series with it & the fewest things unbolted to access and what to check on reassembly. Hope I/we can help. Cheers.

 

[mroberts5]

Thanks old grind. I do have the I&T as well as the OEM service manual. They just say to "separate" the bevel gear case form idler case.

Maybe I need to pull the whole assembly from the axle and work it in the bench...

 

[the old grind]

IIRC once the steering arm was removed the lower housing & hub dropped (wiggled) down with only the vertical shaft splines needing realigned to reassemble with new seals. For me it was easier to leave the upper housing attached, if only to anchor it vs loose on the bench. Please keep us up on how it's going.