Bell Crank wobble

I ordered another rebuild kit from walcks and shimmed the bolt in the pinch joint to eliminate play. I also got a shim between the bolt and the bearing spacer to eliminate play. After all this it seems the bearings wobble around the bearing spacer still. Enough to be 3 to 4 inches side to side at the steering wheel. I want to keep the bellcrank if at all possible. Last resort is to order a repro bellcrank maybe mine is worn on one side allowing the bearings to flex in there a little? The shim I used was a 0.006 feeler gauge I cut up. Has anyone been able to eliminate all the play or is a saginaw box in order?

 

There is a guy that modifies them to put cone bearings in. I can't find his info. Do a search on ewillys.

 

The cone bearings were used in a factory Jeep application but the only expample I have ever seen was a 63 wagon with the 230 OHC engine. That vehicle had a lot of other pieces, like 4.09 D25 gears, that I also have not seen elsewhere in a Jeep.


If you actually want a tight bellcrank, cone bearings is the way to go. The needles last for maybe 10k miles before they start to loosen up even if the shaft is still good.

 

I'm going to get this mod done next winter on both my '53 and '49. Both are still tight with the original needle bearings, but I want don't want to have to worry about it in the future.

 

I had asked Dave, of eWillys, for the guy's contact information. Here was his response: "You can call him at 828-287-5275. Tell him you spotted him on eWillys. If you have any problems, let me know."

Let us know how this ends, because a number of us, including me, are interested in this mod.

 

Seems he doesnt have an answering machine. I'll try again later or tomorrow. I plan on getting this done asap.

 

I talked to Lawrence today. Very nice guy, likes to talk about jeeps and is 76 years old. Lives in NC and said he doesn't have a computer. Turns out he owns a few cj's and used to be a mechanic at a jeep dealership working on our year jeeps. Now he has a small machine shop at home and tinkers with them. He agrees that he is probably the only guy in the world that fixes the bellcrank like this but its a lot of hours of labor. He said it would run about $250 in labor + new bellcrank + shipping. Once the ball end wears out the machining has to be done all over again. His number again (828-287-5275)

 

i think the earlier jeeps that use a bushings instead of bearings seem to last longer and run tighter. I think they interchange too but im not sure. I like to use old spray paint cans for shim material on things like this

 

Bingo! Yep, that is why mine is still tight. I forgot it uses a bushing.

 

Just did a rebuild myself and I am having a similar issue. My vocabulary is weak unfortunately. Where is the pinch joint you mentioned shimming?

 

Apparently the repro kits use the wrong type bearings and no matter what you do it wont get the steering any tighter. Im referencing the bracket on the cross-member. Im not sure that its called that exactly but you tighten the bolt and it "pinches" that slot closed. Hopefully someone gets him to make one and hopefully can get somebody else to reproduce them too. I have decided to do the reverse ford steering by Herm instead. He did give me what he remembered was the part # for the race. If I had a lathe I might try making one.