440 Final Drive

[jac]

Lavoy:

After several days and numerous tools (some of which did not survive the war), the left final drive is off. Had to cut down between the final drive case and the cross bar bracket to cut through two of the bolts. One bolt was so seized that even after being cut and the final removed, I almost could not drive the cut bolt out of the cross bar bracket hole. Not too much damage overall, just two bolts cut off and still stuck the final drive case and some cut marks on the mating surfaces. Need to move the final down to the basement and on to the old Bridgeport, and should be able to remove or machine out the two bolts.

Have one question, are the left and right final drives interchangeable? I may want to switch them to insure I have good mating surface between the final and the cross bar bracket when I re-install. If I do this, the front mating surface on the original left final (which has some cut marks) will be the rear support on the right side. That will insure they are mounted to the cross bar with 4 good bolts. The two final drives have different part numbers so one has been replaced already.

Parts list will be coming your way as soon as I have enough energy to remove the steering clutch plates from the final drive I just removed. If it is as rusted as the other side, I will have to chip them out, which takes a few hours.

[Lavoy]

Final drives are interchangeable, so no problem there.
What I usually do on broken off bolts is drill down the center of the bolt until I have drilled all the way through. Then plug weld the hole back shut. Let it cool, and as the weld contracts, it will realease the tension on the outside surface. Weld a nut to the broken off bolt, and hit it with an impact wrench.
Lavoy

[BKahler]

JAC,

I've been following your posts with interest and I'm really happy you got the last final drive off. I'd have hated the thought of you turning the crawler into a parts machine.

Hope the manuals are helping.

Brad

[jac]

Brad:

Manuals have been very helpful. Sent another person your way for manuals. Yes, it has been a war to get the final drives off. However, the patient is still alive and has not been sent out for organ donation. It was very close for a while. Probably would have given up but then I would have had to figure out how to get it out of my garage. In its current condition, "Rusty" is not very moveable.

[Lavoy]

Believe it or not, I once winched a 4 roller 40 crawler with no tracks out of a guys garage at an apartment building. It can be done if you want to bad enough.
Lavoy

[jac]

Well hopefully I am going to drive this one out, and have the steering work!