carrier wheels question

[rob love]

I installed some T-16 wheels onto a Cdn universal carrier at work. It did require replacement of the bearings to the carrier bearings, and of course the seals and spacers were different, but overall it was doable. Quite frankly, I think you really should replace the bearings anyway, as it is rare to have bearings that are still serviceable. I never realized how much wear was on carrier bearings until I put new bearings into an return roller. The difference in play is amazing...from lots to none.

[Harlé Sylvain]

Hello
Thank you all for your answers

I will try to pickup some wheels in this case, good news!

Best regards from France
Sylvain

[Harlé Sylvain]

Hello
By the way I have seen some brass bushing insted of the ball bearings on some wheels , what about this type of wheels?

Rergards
Sylvain

[rob love]

Originally Posted by Harlé Sylvain

Hello
By the way I have seen some brass bushing insted of the ball bearings on some wheels , what about this type of wheels?

Rergards
Sylvain

I have seen brass on low speed items like artillery carriages or horse drawn wagons, but not for use with motorized vehicles. I cannot imagine those lasting very long, no matter how much you grease them. China makes the bearings these days, and they can be found for reasonable money if you search a bit.

[Harlé Sylvain]

Hello
OK ROB this wheel with brass busching where probably carrier modify wheel for post war use.

regards
Sylvain

[Lynn Eades]

Not post war. SOME carriers came off the production line with bronze bushes. It was because of bearing shortages. I believe it worked o.k. but I like Rob am sceptical about the life expectancy.
A regular greasing regime would have been strongly applied. I believe the the Bronze bush was directly replaceable by a ball bearing. The caution being that if the wheel had wear in it, that the wheel would have been scrap.
O.k. I have now gone to the manuals.
The Canadian manual does not mention them, so I assume the Canadians never suffered the shortage. The British manuals do show them but say that the bushes have to be replaced with ball bearings when the carrier comes in for overhaul. This is stated in a Jan 43 Chilwell 63/63 Wksp instruction manual.
Rob the bushes were directly interchangeable with bearings. They were burnished and intricately made with eliptical lube grooves etc and the bushes extended into the wheel center (more surface area on the axle)

On that note, (a side note): Some people talk about Loyd axles and U.C. axles however the Canadian wksp manual states that the double threaded axles superseded the earlier one thread / flanged axle.

[rob love]

Well I have been schooled today...cannot believe they were that desperate. I cannot fathom a very long life to such a setup.

Would it have rubbed the wheel or turned on the shaft? Or both?
Having seen bushing type setups on M113 support arms and M35 (MLVW) trunnions, the wear on the shaft was always present.

[ajmac]

Originally Posted by Lynn Eades

On that note, (a side note): Some people talk about Loyd axles and U.C. axles however the Canadian wksp manual states that the double threaded axles superseded the earlier one thread / flanged axle.

I often wondered about those, I have both types on the Loyd. When you think about it the double threaded type make a lot of sense as you can drift them out from either end and they can be manufactured from bar stock rather than special forgings which would be good in the production environment.

As for bronze bushed carrier wheels, I rebuilt eight for the Loyd and six of the ones I found to rebuild had bushes installed. I did keep one for posterity on the garage shelf. Again, there must have been a bottle neck in bearing supply so it was a case of short term bushes and maintaining carrier production or halting the production lines....which wouldn't really have been an option!