Bellcrank Question

[Les Kovacs]

Happy New Year to all on MLU!

I am now working on the bellcrank of my 67' M38A1 CDN2. During driving there is play in the bellcrank and I have noticed that it is an up/down movement brought on by driving over a railway track or into a pothole. Other than that, on level smooth roads the steering is tight with no wander or play. As the radiator is pulled for re-coring, I put a finger on the upper bellcrank bolt and it was fairly loose. I also noticed that there was no washer so I took off the nut and also noted that there was no hole for a cotter pin. I put on a washer and replaced the nut and tightened it down for now.
Question....as I will soon be buying a bellcrank repair/overhaul kit can I replace the main 4 1/2 inch long bolt with a new one with a cotter pin hole without actually taking off the bellcrank from the tie rod end and from the draglink? Will the hole setup stay in place to be able to replace the main bolt?

Thanks in advance,

lesk

[rob love]

Here is the story on the bellcranks.

Originally there was no cotter pin hole. That was a modification instruction that came out in the 70s (I think) becayse if the top nut came off, and the tensioning bolt was not tight, then the main bellcrank bolt could slip down resulting in total steering failure.

In the 80s, as the fleet neared the end, there was a new kit for the bellcrank that came out of the supply system. It was supplied by mil-quip (formerly Automobiles Rene-Gagnon as the packaging used to say). Although very complete, it lacked the cotter pin hole, and the main bolt was so hardened that even our machinists could not drill through it.

I don't think you will find the cotter pin hole on the civilian replacements either, although I could be wrong.

Now as to the actual problem in your bellcrank. There is a steel sleeve inside the bellcrank that rides along two Torrington B-188 bearings. A poor man's fix is to replace the two bearings, and flip the sleeve upside down so the bearings are riding on fresh surfaces. This is dependant on the ball at the draglink still being somewhat round, although the draglink itself can be adjusted to compensate for reasonable wear.

When the main bolt is tightened up, there should be no up-down play. between the mount, the sleeve, and the large washer underneath that, everything should rotate on that surface. The sleeve should be tight, and not be rotating on the main bolt. If it is, then it will be a poor bearing, and the surface of the bolt will wear.

While the cotter pin is a nice physical lock, a self locking nu talong with some Loctite will do the job as well if you are unable to drill the main bolt.

By the way, as a young private, I did experience the bellcrank failure....well almost, as the bolt actually hung up on the axle just before the failure was catastrophic.

[Les Kovacs]

Interesting...thanks for the info Rob....I will try to take it apart and replace the bearings and flip the sleeve.....I do have a new extra bellcrank that came with the jeep so I will install that one as well....I am not going to worry about the old bellcrank round ends....PS....the jeep also came with a NOS draglink all packed in cosmoline & paper so I may change that as well if everything is coming apart.

Always a pleasure....

lesk