I'm gonna' need an alignment bar soon when I weld the full floater outers back onto my d60 housing.

I'm gonna' bore the spindle i.d.'s out to 1.600" concentric to the hub bearing journals. That should give me an excellent surface to align to rather than using a thread on "adapter." Sorry 666CJDean.

My question is; what should I use for an alignment bar? TG&P (turned, ground, and polished) would be excellent, but I don't even want to price out a 70" stick of 1.600" o.d. TG&P for fear of having to take out a loan just for the stick.

I would like to use something beefier than some 1.50" tube (DOM or HREW) as well as more accurate.

What options do I have short of having something custom made to 1.600"? Could I use some 1.500" stock and use some sort of sleeve?

cmk

Does it have to be 1.6 dead on? Could you overbore to 1.625? Or underbore it a tad, say, 1.5625ish (1 9/16)? If you can, you could use 1 9/16" or 1 5/8" thickwall DOM, which would be a whole lot cheaper than TGP or similar.

My EMJ book skips straight from 1.575 0.090 DOM to 1.618 0.188 DOM... so you're SOL on tube right at 1.6, unless you do a TGP operation yourself, or have it done by a machine shop, on something a little bigger.

I'm guessing you're after 1.6 'cause that's what you've already got a tool for... and I think in order to run with that, you're gonna have to get something at least semi-custom.

Another option would be to do what it appears that Mark Williams' axle jig kit does--1" bar, with a bunch of adapters that fit different housing ends. 1" TGP would probably be a whole lot cheaper (or 1.25", even) even with the cost of little adapter donuts worked into the mix. I think that's what I'd do.

I pretty much pulled 1.600" out of my ass since it's a nice round number and is larger than the 1.50" I need to pass the 35 spline shafts through. I can bore them to just about whatever I want as long as I still have enough spindle material left for integrity.

My plan is to bore them out myself on that machine ... what's it called ... it spins the part and you pass a cutter on the end of a bar through it ... oh yeah ... lathe. :D

I just checked the shop and it looks like we have a boring bar that is slender and long enough to do the job. I just have to check measurements on the spindle as far as how deep I'm gonna' need to pass the bar through. I might not be able to get the bar all the way in and I don't want to have to do it from each side as I'm looking for accuracy here.

Worst case scanrio, there's a shop in town that specializes in all kinds of turning operations. I'm sure they can crank it out in short order.

I'd like to stick with a bar that fits the spindles to avoid needing extra alignment "spacers" and such. If I can make this work, then all I'll need to align this beatch is the bar and two turnings to take the place of the carrier bearings ... pretty simple.

I'll check on that 1-9/16" thick wall DOM. I kinda' like that idea. Thanx man.

cmk

I use 1.500 cylinder shafting ...very similar to TG&P, maybe a little nicer. I bought a piece from work cause we use it all the time.

make a sleeve to fit in the spindle and some slugs to put in place of the carrier bearings and weld it up.

just my $.02

Eric

I would think you'd have a boring bar setup that's long enough to do it on the mill. Even if you don't, it would be easier to indicate off of the journals for a flip job. Setup your v-block and work off of it. There's more than one way to skin a cat:D

Easy

What would be wrong with making your alignment rod out of 11/2" threaded. Use mild steel for your spindle bushings, made like the ones Dean showed in the "custom axle" "topic of the week". http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48833&highlight=DIY+axle . Slip fit and light coat of lubricant. Also use mild steel for the carrier bearing doughnuts. Now you could use 2 jam nuts in the housing, snugged against the carrier bearing doughnuts, then do the same on the outer bushing, with another jam nut to hold it tight. Would the 11/2" be stiff enough for proper alignment with the added pressure of the jam nuts?
The rod is reasonable, I had just checked today, $25.00 for a 6' stick, at our local fastner supply house.
Just a thought I had been looking into, Andy

Originally posted by EasyXJ
I would think you'd have a boring bar setup that's long enough to do it on the mill. Even if you don't, it would be easier to indicate off of the journals for a flip job. Setup your v-block and work off of it. There's more than one way to skin a cat:D

Easy

Ah, I didn't think of locating the flip side off a v-block. I don't claim to be an experienced machinist. I know just enough to get myself into trouble. :D

Thanks for the other option.

cmk

Originally posted by Andy West
What would be wrong with making your alignment rod out of 11/2" threaded ...

I don't think there's enough meat to make a threaded bung to fit inside the spindle and still be threaded for 1-1/2".

cmk

Originally posted by Ken "cmk" Bozych


I don't think there's enough meat to make a threaded bung to fit inside the spindle and still be threaded for 1-1/2".

cmk

I didn't mean thread the bung. I was making it out of steal to hold up against the threaded rod. No the jam nuts were to be used on the rod in place of the internal threads that Dean had.
I just thought this may be a fairly easy way to set up an alignment bar for someone like me, who may only use it once.
I was curious if anyone had any coments on whether they thought it would work okay or not.
Since it's now hard for me to use the machine shop where I work, some people just don't understand gov. projects, I try to simplify things. But I don't want to at the sake of the integrity of project. That's why this post since, I figured my idea would get picked appart, and I would get some feedback.
Thanks, Andy

Ken,

whay are you going to the effort to bore out 30sp dana 60 spindles when you can just salvage tubes from a 14 bolt?
yank the tubes, turn them down on the lathhe, slip them into the d60 pig, and weld them up. no boring, no aligning bar needed. it's all self-setting.

almost forgot:

http://www.mcmaster.com

go to Power Transmission/ Shafts
that should be what you're looking for.

You could use D70 spindles also couldn't you?

Easy

Sundowner, yanking tubes is not something I am about to do ... WAY too much trouble. I've heard all the horror stories about drilling out the rosette welds. Besides the shop's 150 ton press really does scare me, honestly. :D I would also have to fork over the cash for a 14b to do that.

Easy, regardless if I went with d70 or 14b spindles, I am still stuck having to cash out for the parts when I have a perfectly good set of d60 spindles sitting right here that I can bore out in my own free time.

cm "workin' with what I have" k

Originally posted by Sundowner
almost forgot:

http://www.mcmaster.com

go to Power Transmission/ Shafts
that should be what you're looking for.

Thanks dude ... excellent link!

... looks like about $116 for a 1.5" diameter bar at 60" or so.

cmk

It gets better. At the McMaster web sight search on

6117K115

1 5/8" x 72" for $87:D

Originally posted by DemoMike
It gets better. At the McMaster web sight search on

6117K115

1 5/8" x 72" for $87:D

Good find! I'm surprised keyed shafting is cheaper ... must be in the metal. I'll have to see if I can afford to bore the i.d.'s to 1.625".

cmk

The shafting you mentioned is hardened and ground suitable for linear bearings. High end stuff and difficult to machine.

Originally posted by DemoMike
The shafting you mentioned is hardened and ground suitable for linear bearings. High end stuff and difficult to machine.

I assume you're typing with respect to the TG&P. Machining it isn't a concern as all I need is a straight bar, nothing fancy.

cmk

Naw, I was refering to the 1 1/2 shaft for $116 (6061K87) Try running a part off tool thru that stuff some time, it'll skip right off. Another term for this type of shafting is "Thomson Rail".

TG&P may or may not be hardened. But, yes, I understand machining isn't needed for this application.

FYI, you dont have to have a full length bar. Mines about 44" or so. I just do one side at a time :flipoff2:

Originally posted by JEEPRZ
FYI, you dont have to have a full length bar. Mines about 44" or so. I just do one side at a time :flipoff2:

I thought about that. But it would be slick to get the best possible alignment by doing both sides at once. I'll pay the extra dinero for the "Ron Jeremy."

cm "bwahahaha" k