Should I worry about rear axle bearings in my Super M???

mike1972chev · Aug 17, 2011

Hey Guys,it is me being paranoid again.

I was wondering about the condition of my rear axle bearings? As far as I know,they have never been changed? They are NOT making any noise,there is NO grease leaking from around bearing retainers,but I hear of DISASTEROUS results to the bull gears in the rearends that can happen sometimes if these let go.

The last time I changed the rear end grease ,(ALL 13 gallons of it !! : ) It looked fairly clean,(I ALWAYS check all fluids as they come out as to tell the story of what is going on internally!!!)

I just know how old my 1953 Super M is.I am sure those axles have made MANY revolutions since it was brand new!Since there is NO odometer on these things,I get concerned.

When I bought it back in 2000,It looked as to be only about 10 years old,WELL taken care of.I just wonder if/when something EXPENSIVE could happen in the final drive ???

Any thoughts?

GordoSD · Aug 17, 2011

I have had two outer axle bearing failures and one inner. They always tell you very early. When you hit the brake on the bad axle the tractor will"lurch" or jerk and then "release" If you can get on the brakes hard with no wobbling then you are good to go.

randy hall · Aug 17, 2011

if you want to check something take the brakes off and then the backing plate and pull the bull pinion out and look at their bearings. many more pinion bearing failures than axle bearing failures.

CNKS · Aug 17, 2011

Remove the rear wheels and see if the axle has up and down or side to side play.

sflem849 · Aug 17, 2011

They probably are ok. Do what CNKS said.

sflem849 · Aug 17, 2011

They probably are ok. Do what CNKS said.

teddy52food · Aug 17, 2011

You can't pull that pinion unless you take the bull gear out first. Unless we are thinking of 2 different things.

pete 23 · Aug 17, 2011

With old worn bearing you may very well find looseness, but, I have seen a jillion bearings fail with busted balls and brinneled races that were tight as new. Another thing, the inside axle bearing may possibly been replaced with the bower flat roller used in late 560 and it has considerable end play and some up and down when new. This can throw you off. What I am saying is only way to really know is to have the bearing in your hand and inspect it. Just took a inner axle bearing out of a 1086 today that was tight as new but several rollers were in very bad shape. Of course they are tapered rollers and have a preload.

CenTex Farmall · Aug 17, 2011

At this stage of the game more get damaged from corrosion than wear.

To expand on what CNKS said, lift on one side of the drawbar with a hydraulic jack just enough to get some daylight under a wheel. Then take a handyman jack under the axle and with just a little pressure you can see how much play you have in the axle bearings. If it's bad enough to make the seal leak then you should look at replacing.

For what it's worth, when I went through the rear on one of my SM LP's I found evidence of a long ago bearing failure. Under the right side there was an 1/8 inch deep gear wide groove cut into the bottom of the rear case. You could see damage on a couple of bull gear and one or two bull pinion teeth where the balls got caught between the two and got eaten. The areas on the teeth were well smoothed over indicating that the tractor had zillions of hours put on after that incident. They probably at least drove it out of the field or finished the row and thus the case wear.

randy hall · Aug 18, 2011

on a super m the pinion will come out withuot removing the bull gear.

mike1972chev · Aug 18, 2011

Yea,I did think I would unload the weight off of the rear axles and Take about a 6 or 7' bar and pry around on them for movement.It seems to me also,if the OUTER bearings were going bad,the axle bearing retainers would be "grinding" into the axles themselves under the load???

The seals are not leaking and I do use those grease fittings on the axle bearing retainers about every other trip out with it.

mike1972chev · Aug 18, 2011

Speaking of this,What IS the detail for getting those pinion gears that the brake disc ride on out of the rear final drive housing????? I know thre are seals behind them.

I might post this in a new question.

CNKS · Aug 18, 2011

Pete. if I would have know that about 5 years ago, I wouldn't have changed the bearings in my 460 Hi Utility. I had axle movement, and replaced the bearings with the old style figuring the tractor would never get hard usage. Very little or no movement with the new bearings. Those roller bearings are $$$. I'm going to start on a Super M, will pull the bearings, replace the seals, etc.

CenTex Farmall · Aug 18, 2011

The pry bar idea will work too.

They would have to be falling apart bad for the axle to rub on the bearing retainer. That outer lip seems mainly to act as a dirt shield to protect the seal.

sflem849 · Aug 18, 2011

Does anybody have an SKF number for the flat, upgraded bearings? I gave them the IH bearing number and I got a regular shielded roller bearing.

Should I worry about rear axle bearings in my Super M???

mike1972chev

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GordoSD

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randy hall

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CNKS

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sflem849

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sflem849

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teddy52food

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pete 23

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CenTex Farmall

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randy hall

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mike1972chev

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mike1972chev

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CNKS

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CenTex Farmall

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sflem849

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