rear axle and hub repair 1925 Buick Standard

[Hubert_25-25]

 I knew I had a bad rear axle on one side of my 1925 Buick Standard when I saw the T shaped key in the axle.  After finally replacing the axle, my troubles were not over.  I first noticed that the drum on this axle was shifted inboard almost 1/4".  I also noticed that there was a lot of play with respect to the key.  Attached is my plan to remedy the situation.  I have to go out and get some very thin shim stock.  If I had a model A, I would just order it out of the catalog.    Hugh

  

[Robert Engle]

You can take the drum to a good machine shop and have a new keyway broached in the hub.  It is very difficult to get shims that will fit tight enough to prevent fretting and loosening of the drum again.  I have also seen the drum keyway broached to a larger size and then a step key made to fit tight in the drum and axle.  

 

Bob Engle

[Mark Shaw]

I did a temporary field fix on a 1912 Oakland by using a soda pop can.  Cut the middle section out of the can and butt one side against the key.   Wrap it around the taper and use a sharp blade to cut it so it butts against the other side of the key and re-install the wheel.  This field fix move the wheel away from the backing plate enough to drive the Oakland for the rest of the tour.  The owner still using this car with the temporary shim.

If your taper is badly worn, you may need thicker shim material.  So you might try other cans for shim stock.  I expect you will need to have a new axle made.

[Hubert_25-25]

Bob, 

     That is a good idea to rebroach the hub, but I have 2 additional issues to address. Buick made a slightly thicker part in the casting just for the keyway.   I think there is still enough steel if I rebroached it elsewhere, but not as much as the current spot.  My other problem is that I need to shim the hub outward on the taper .002 or .003 to get the drum in the correct position and away from the brackets.   With the good axle shaft and taper, the issue is now all on the hub taper condition and the hub keyway.  The taper has "enlarged", and I mean very little.  I ordered a steel shim stock assortment (.001 to .005 sheets) to facilitate this and to get the depth of the hub back where it belongs.   

 

Mark, 

    I have a good axle in the car, so it is all about the hub now.  I appreciate the earlier write up that I had seen about shimming your Buick hub with an aluminum can.  I had read to not use brass of aluminum (perfect to get you on the road), so I am glad to hear the report that it is still holding up.  

 

In the photos, the bad hub is the one that says ".270 slot".  Notice that the shaft taper starts very close to the edge of the hub.  If the hub were worn just a little more, the nut would not be able to exert enough pressure to hold the hub to the taper shaft.  In the photo .260 slot, you can see that the taper is back in about 1/4" from the face of the hub.  That is what a normal hub to shaft connection should look like.       Hugh

 

 

[ROD W]

Hugh

On my 25 Standard, the differential end of  the axle was square.  The side gears were cracket at each corner.  I ended up changing over to a 26 axle which is splined not square,  but this ended up having to use 21 inch wheels  not the 22 inch as the 1926 axle shaft is a larger diameter and will not fit into the 22 inch hub.  The Master and earlier six cylinder cars all use a splined axle. I also used a thin steel shim as you and Mark, as the hub was worn, until finally changing to the smaller wheel.

Edited February 20, 2019 by ROD W (see edit history)

[Spinneyhill]

I had that sort of thing but the axle slot was damaged. Same principal though. I got the slogged out keyway straightened and had a stepped key made to fit both slots. No problem after that. Well, not with that, anyway.

 

But it turned out that wasn't the end of the story. After not many hundreds of miles, we found lateral play in the wheel bearings. It turned out the outer cone had been turning on the axle and worn it, allowing lateral movement in the axle. This had damaged the inner seal too. I suspect the two problems - axle wear causing lateral movement and slogged keyway - are related but haven't worked out how.

 

So my advice to you is to check everything in there very carefully, not just the keyway problem.

[Joe Barry]

I have a '25 Standard with this EXACT problem. I have "chased" it for years. I am going to give this procedure a try. 'Never had a definitive plan before, thanks for posting.