Info needed: Steering knuckle felt

[John Sek]

I had to disassemble the right front axle on my C15-a as the grease was more slime than grease. However now faced with the question of should I reuse the felt on the steering knuckle or where can I find a replacement or get one made up?

Suggestions?

[Bob Phillips]

If you cannot find the felt you might try this. I have used semi circular heavy foam rubber which I think was made to be hatch seal. It fits right into the groove (no flat spring needed) with the round side visible outside. It is squeezed against the steering ball and seems to work fine- in warm weather
Not sure how long it will survive. BP

[David Dunlop]

John.

Before foam rubber became so common, felt strips used to be the standard household door weatherstripping, sold at every local, corner, hardware store. Might be worth checking if it is still available somewhere.

David

[Lynn Eades]

John, Find a felt supplier and buy some high grade white felt (the correct thickness) then cut a couple of strips. If you can buy the right thickness, install it so that the factory surfaces are the working surfaces.
There is a steel spring that puts tension on the seal. Buy the correct grease for the hubs. Some greases are prone to the oil separating. You want one that doesn't do that. I cant remember the name of the stuff.
Your king pins are supposed to have a 0.005" (5 thou) preload on them.

If you wait a bit, I'm sure Bruce P. or Bob C. will chime in with the real info.

[gjamo]

Has anyone considered PTFE pump gland packing. Its available in lots of profiles and should outlast felt IMHO.

[Phil Waterman]

Hi John

I've been faced with finding a replacement on all three of my CMPs I went with leather belting material, as in drive belts for equipment, getting a little harder to find than when I first got it 39 years ago. But still find it at old tractor meets. Saddle, and harness makers could probably help as well.

Had the 1/4 thick leather belt cut to width then soaked it over night in motor oil and installed according to the manual. In lots of years it seems to have done a good job of keeping the ball surface bright and shinny the grease in and the dirt and water out. On the occasions that have had to take apart a wheel hub assembly I have not seen evidence of water or dirt entry on the inside. Always some evidence of grease on the outside but no lube leak problem.

If you can get the felt great get enough to do the job several times over and save the rest sealed in a plastic bag so you will have it the next time you need to pull the hub apart.

Cheers Phil

[Bob Carriere]

....and got 2 sets from Dirk at LWD...... with the springs all packed in a nice GM wrapper.

Odd expereince...... a commercial gasket maker in Ottawa had the felt and could cut it to size with a fast rotating saw blade device....... But would not sell to me as I was not a commercial user...... no amount of cash could make him change his mind........ not sure if he moved but the building is now empty.

Grant just fabricated his own felt oil seals for the CMP trialer he is restoring....white felt......worked nice and served as a wipe seal against the axle shaft....seal is unique to the trialer...... Grant may chime in.....

No :TRIALER" IS NOT A TYPO...... that is how the guy at the weight scale spelled it.......

[David Herbert]

"Trialer" Got the right letters in almost the right order - better than most people seem to manage these days !

David

[Harry Moon]

I used this just recently, "FELT - Engineering "B" Grade, 6.4 mm x 10 mm, 3 Metre Strip.
( 291721969080 )" Ebay wont let me share the listing as it was to old. I'll give some feedback on performance when i get some miles on it.

[Jordan Baker]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/FELT-Engineer...0AAOSwv0tVG2ca

[Grant Bowker]

As stated by Bob, the seal in the hub of the 15cwt GS trailer isn't like the standard truck seals. The old felts were in poor shape so I didn't have a choice. I considered O-rings but the right size didn't seem available (fairly tight specs). Precut 1/4x1/4 felt would have been worth a try if I could have found it but I couldn't. I bought 2 different grades of felt, chose to use the firmer one (F1 as opposed to F3). It was described as "2DAH9 Felt Sheet, F1, 1/4 In Thick, 12 x 12 In".

My process was to measure the diameters of the inside of the hub and the base of the groove in the metal part of the seal. The seal is 2 parts -the metal shaped to fit on the axle and into the hub and the felt to fit in a square cut groove in the seal body and bridge the gap between seal body and hub. Next to apply basic drafting to make a paper template, lightly spray with contact cement and apply to the felt. Roughly cut the outer dimension. Much more carefully cut the inner diameter using x-acto knife on a glass sheet. Actually, supporting the felt on the glass and having the blade perpendicular at the edge of the glass. It cut fairly well, left a nice square edge and as the photos show a decent inner diameter. Slip/stretch the felt into the seal body. Then set up the belt sander as shown. The stir sticks acted as stops to prevent the assembled felt and seal body from getting too close to the belt and ensured a constant radius. Once sanded to close to correct size, test fit in the hub and adjust the setup to remove a tiny bit more felt.

[Grant Bowker]

remaining photos

[Phil Waterman]

Originally Posted by Bob Carriere

........

Odd expereince...... a commercial gasket maker in Ottawa had the felt and could cut it to size with a fast rotating saw blade device....... But would not sell to me as I was not a commercial user...... no amount of cash could make him change his mind........ not sure if he moved but the building is now empty.

.......

Hi Bob

I've run into this problem of only selling to "commercial user" my first response was to put my consulting business card on the counter this generally solved the problem. Only once buying bearings was that not enough. Solution purchase order from Canadian Military Pattern wonderfull what you can do with a computer. Guy look at the purchase order saw the web address, checked the web address and then filling the order.

Only time this approach didn't work was with fabric company from California that would not sell to me because I was a foreign company, guess New Hampshire is now the southern most Canadian Provence.

Cheers Phil

[charlie fitton]

[QUOTE=Phil Waterman;....because I was a foreign company, guess New Hampshire is now the southern most Canadian Provence.

Cheers Phil[/QUOTE]

Happy to have to aboard...We (as Canadians) get a win with that..

[Grant Bowker]

Originally Posted by Phil Waterman

Only time this approach didn't work was with fabric company from California that would not sell to me because I was a foreign company, guess New Hampshire is now the southern most Canadian Province.

Ontario may still hold the honour of southernmost province. Point Pelee National Park is listed at 41.962 degrees N latitude. Nashua NH (near the southern border of NH) is listed at 42.765 degrees N. In fact, California also reaches further north than Point Pelee reaches south....