Rear idler appears to bend inwards?

[spillmk1]

Which part is the spider? The arms are free to move and the bogies are free to move up and down. It appears it’s just the arm that frozen on to the tapered end of the bogie axle if that makes sense.

Sorry.....not spider....crab.
Too much fun this weekend. 

Getting the shaft out of the crab assembly is sometimes a struggle.

Thanks,
Keith

[brit plumber]

A small success today but still progress. Managed to get the idler post nut off today, it took 1200ft lb to get it off but as soon as it went, no more resistance.

Then I couldn’t get the housing off the post, it was that worn, full of hard grease and rust that it took another hour of soaking in oil and working it back and forth before it came off. The post and housing are very worn so I need to think about how I’ll approach fixing them.

Oh and I cut some more of the horrible frame off.

Rain suspended play before I could do much more.

[brit plumber]

So this morning I thought I’d remove the towing pintle. Nothings easy, the split pin was not going to budge. I ended up having to drill it out enough to weaken it and then punch out the last 1/2”. Punching out the whole length just wasn’t working, the punch kept disappearing into the whole and getting jammed. But after getting it out, I realised I don’t have a socket of the correct size so I’m waiting on it to arrive.

So that leads me to my next problem. I’m now trying to remove the inner idler post nut but, and there’s always a big but involved, the split pin is also corroded in! And there’s zero chance of getting a drill in there. I tried pulling it out with wire but the head tore through. I think I may have to remove as much of the head and tail as I can and then use the nut as a guillotine and hope not to damage the threads to much. Have others found it just dropped out?


See the photo, also note how rotten those 2 nuts are for the tow pintle bracket. This frame will need some serious work.

[brit plumber]

I’ve now decided to pull the hole bogie assembly from the frame as a whole unit and get it back to my place. I’ve removed the nut from the cross tube but the bolt is stuck tight. Is the bolt screwed into the cross tube and locked with the nut or should it just tap out when the nuts removed?

[brit plumber]

I decided not to tackle that bolt until I know how it’s fitted but I did have success with getting the bogie arms and crab off. I picked up a little gas lamp until I can sort some acetylene out and it worked a treat. First one pretty much fell off, I put a chisel in and then heated the boss up and the chisel fell out. I was cursing until I realised it fell out because the arm had popped off. The second one took a few more persuasion taps but the other 2 weren’t playing at all. Wasn’t to much of an issue though as I just pushed the whole cluster with frozen arms off the bracket. I’ll get them home and put them on the hearth to free them.

Next step is to remove the stubborn cross tube bolt and the split pin on the idler post inner nut. Not looking forward to that.

[R.E.Co.]

That big nut should come off. Needs alot of heat, cherry red, punch out the pin then use an adjustable or if you can, preferably a socket. Good luck

[brit plumber]

I tackled the other side today and got the track adjuster loose using the propane gas lamp on the nut.

Also managed to get the nuts off the crab and bogies and free up the arms. Tomorrow I’ll try and get the bogies out of the way and get the track off.

The problem I’ve got with the inner idler post nut is the split pin is still in the hole. The head has gone and the tails pretty much gone too. I’m thinking I may just try and undo the nut and hope it chops off what’s left of the split pin.

[spillmk1]

So your crabs weren't locked up?
That's amazing.

Keith

[brit plumber]

So your crabs weren't locked up?
That's amazing.

Keith

Just 2 of the outer arms were frozen. The other 2 were free but I think they were pretty well protected by oil. Considering how rotten the frame is, I’m surprised at how well it’s coming apart. The big cross member (with the 3 holes in the top) has actually rotted through in one place, a whole 1/4” of steel turned to dust. I may have to split the frame to do a decent repair.

[brit plumber]

More done today, I can’t remove the split pin from the right idler nut at the moment so it’s been drowned in penetrating fluid and I’ll try again tomorrow.

[brit plumber]

I’ve got both sides stripped down now. Typically everything was going well yesterday, I went to remove the bogie frames from the main frame but a single bolt will not budge. It was the first of 16 bolts I removed the nuts from, but found I couldn’t push the bolt out. I forgot about it until I went to remove it as the last one before pulling the frame. I’ve had heat on it, a 5lb lump hammer, a wrench, oil and nothing. Last attempt will be to drill it out!

[brit plumber]

Managed to get the bogie frame off today after beat the **** out of the seized bolt. After that I started on removing the rear cross member. Some of the nuts were that rotten that only a thin piece the size of a washer remained. There’s only 6 bolts left holding it in place so hopefully tomorrow that will be off and I’ll look at the idler post inner nuts.

[brit plumber]

Can someone tell me what these holes circled in red are for? Were they for a longer idler post brace? There were 2 large bolt stubs with large castellated nuts on the inside. It would appear the heads were gas axed off when the armour was removed.

[coreyelliott]

Keep up the great work. You are making great progress!

Corey

[Cleprechaun]

My crab jig was simple. You just need away to hold the crab “legs” still while you slide a thick walled set of 6’ pipes over the spring saddles. Then use a large bumper jack on the ends of the pipes. I also tapped in a zert in the center of the crap so I could get some penetrating fluid in there. Then I put a grease gun on the zert to get some pressure in there. A little heat helps too, but take care not to make a bomb.