Rear hub/ axle lateral play??

[SP3]

Had the car up on jack stands when checking the front for ball joint condition based on excessive play and then out of curiosity checked the rear.

With the rear I could push Driver's side wheel in and out about a half inch to inch. That much travel. When I went to try on the passenger side there was not any similar lateral movement.

Is the movement on the Driver's side rear normal? This was with car in neutral and e-brake off.

[mraitch]

loose bolts??

[bakerjf]

No, not normal. I wouldn’t drive it again until you pull the axle out and inspect it. Something has failed. If the backing plate is properly bolted to the axle, then the bearing or collar has failed somehow.

[Linda]

Had this happen on R side . Here is the problem and diagnosis with pics. A bit long but might help.
viewtopic.php?p=190126#p190126
Linda

[redroadster]

Talk about a full floating rear axle !
On the plus side ...bet the drums come off easy

[fj20spl311]

You are very lucky you found that before a complete failure. My bet is the rear bear collar is coming off, might be a bearing.
I would suggest new bearings and seals, both sides if you can afford it, because its not that much more work to do both sides.

[Linda]

If collar is too loose, then axle may be bad also?
If axle checks out I would think a machine shop to press it on might be smart. Be sure they put parts on in the right order and have shims ready.
Linda

[SP3]

I pulled the axle today that had the excessive end play.

The bearing looked ok as did the collar. Here is a video of the collar relationship to the bearing.

There was diff fluid on the axle, so it looks like a seal is in order. Does anyone recall if there is a alternate on the Parts Interchange that will work?

[Linda]

Yes Parts Interchange page
http://www.311s.org/pmwiki-311/pmwiki.p ... nterchange
Part 11429. Napa has it.
Linda

[SP3]

Unable to post the video here of the bearing lateral movement but able to move it about 5mm or .25”, so it looks like collar moved.

Here are pictures of collar. Did not see any breaks in it and bearing spun fine with no noise. Does one just have the collar pressed back into correct place? Or is new collar required?

[bakerjf]

I wouldn’t press the collar back on, nor would I buy another and hope for a different result. Those axles are limited in how many times you can press a collar on them, I think to be safe you have to assume your’s has had it. If I were in your shoes I’d source another axle (they’re not expensive and readily available on EBay), have a machinist cut the bearing and collar off and install new...

[SP3]

Thanks for reply J.Baker. Beat me to my next question. Is there a spec for what a good axle should be in evaluating eBay etc. sources? Is it minimum inside diameter of collar/bearing and ideally several .000’s greater?

Re. recommendation on checking eBay, was that for a good conditioned used one or supplier of reproduction?

I was going to tightly wrap piece of string around mine and measure to see what current shape is in the collar area of axle.

[bakerjf]

Thanks for reply J.Baker. Beat me to my next question. Is there a spec for what a good axle should be in evaluating eBay etc. sources? Is it minimum inside diameter of collar/bearing and ideally several .000’s greater?

Re. recommendation on checking eBay, was that for a good conditioned used one or supplier of reproduction?

I was going to tightly wrap piece of string around mine and measure to see what current shape is in the collar area of axle.

If there’s a spec, I don’t know it. I also don’t know of any “reproductions” out there. I had to recently source an axle. If you can find one from a car with some maintenance history, that would obviously be ideal. More likely to only know mileage (if that) and then you can infer how many times the bearings (And collar) have been swapped out. IIRC, the max number of times you can press a collar on that axle is three (though I don’t remember where I heard that). If shopping on EBay, the two guys that dismantle Roadsters (one in Mount Vernon, the other in Arizona) are a good source, and you can PM beforehand to ask about the car they came out of. I’ve PM’d each a bunch of times over the years and they are both very responsive. If you're just looking at an axle, with nothing else known, I’d look closely at the bearing to see if it’s not OEM and/or changed out for a closed-type bearing, which will tell you something. Odds are, whatever you get will be better than what you have... Good luck!

[Linda]

Can an axle be “repaired “by adding a bushing or something to account for the lost material?
Linda

[jhayden]

“Adjust the axle end-play by use of shims between the backing plate and axle housing. For the (L320, L520, PL410, PL411, SPL310, SPL311), the first axle shaft to be installed should have an end-play of 0.033 – 0.043 inches and the second 0.004 inches." Chilton’s Datsun 1961 to 1972, pp180-1

(Yeah, that second spec of 0.004” may look suspicious, and one might be tempted to “sic” it, but it is consistent with the 0.004” for the LB110 and KLB110)

Jon