reb78 Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 As above really. The picture is of the staked nut on the intermediate shaft on an LT230. Would you tighten the nut in the pic below a few degrees and knock the staked bit in a bit better, re-stake it where it is or leave it and monitor it for movement?? It seems poorly staked and its right at the end as if it had could have loosened a little? - but this is probably the place to stake it. Is whats in the picture sufficient to prevent it moving? The reason i was looking at it so closely was that there appeared to be a weepy leak around the nut, but this could just be oily crud on the box becoming runny as it gets hot. I dont really know the history of this box or whether its had been messed with at all - it should be a low mileage TD5 1.4:1 transfer box and thats about all i know. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 Right. Been having a fiddle - put a socket on it to see if it was loose/tight and it moved with virtually no pressure at all. I can now move it with my fingertips and can move it easily past beyond the 'staked' bit. I dont know how to correct this as i think there are collapsible spacers in there and it affects the preload which has to be set with the box in bits? Mods - is this best here or in the international section? (the transfer box is common to a few vehicles). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerfred Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I know nothing of this but before you get an expert experienced reply, could you not remove the nut and 'shim' under it with a thin washer to take up the slack? Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 The preload on the intermediate gear bearings is set by how tight that nut is. The fact that it is so loose suggests there is no preload on the bearings to me. I could do it up further without the need for a washer, but I suspect just tightening it isn't really the answer as I'd end up with an unknown preload. I'm thinking that I could do a torque to turn on it to reset it? Since its loose, not tight, hopefully the spacer is ok and doesn't need replacing? But I'm open to ideas on solutions. It's just a faff because I've only just fitted the box and to get to the input gear to do a torque to turn I have to remove the overdrive again!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickwilliams Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 The nut doesn't set the pre-load directly - the pre-load is set by collapsing a thin metal tube (spacer) which is around the threaded shaft this nut is on the end of. The spacer won't expand once it has been collapsed (which is why you need to change it when you re-build the transfer box) so if you tighten the nut sufficiently to stop the shaft wobbling but not enough to collapse the spacer any further then you will re-establish the correct pre-load (assuming it was right the first time). Of course, it's possible that the reason the nut became loose is that the pre-load was not set correctly when it was originally installed and the nut loosened as the spacer collapsed a bit when the box was used. As I have said before in these pages, the LT230 is not a terribly sophisticated beast. Basically, all the preload does is ensure that the bearings which are mounted on this shaft don't rattle about too much. Unless you have only just re-built the box and want to ensure it is dead right in anticipation of a nice long time before the next re-build I would just snatch the nut up to 'tight' (i.e. not as much as b.. tight, and certainly not f... tight) and re-stake it. If you want to be fussy about it then drain the box and take the bottom cover off. You should then get your fingers into the box and feel when the play in the bearings has been eliminated as you tighten the nut. Nick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted August 28, 2011 Author Share Posted August 28, 2011 Thanks Nick. That sounds re-assuring. I'll tighten it moderately as you suggest and see how i get on. One idea i had was to take an old input gear i have in the garage that has stripped the splines internally. I can weld a nut to it so i can turn it with a socket on a torque wrench. I could then put it in the transfer box on the vehicle and because it is stripped it wont engage with the gearbox mainshaft. With the transfer box in neutral, i can then measure the torque to turn the intermediate gears and tighten the staked nut up the correct amount. This will only work if it has not been overtightened in the first place - but i suppose i cannot tell this. Is this a waste of time and would i be better off just tightening up the bolt and re-staking it as you suggest? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 Just to update, i did as Nick suggested and tightened it up to 'tight', not b-tight or f-tight, just tight. I had a fiddle with my spare box in the garage and i couldnt tighten that much past the point that the nut was tight against the shaft retainer without a fair amount of effort. This seemed to be about 80nm when i tried it with my torque wrench, so i used the same setting on the box on the vehicle. The nut is about 35 degrees past the point in the picture above now. I took it for a run for 20 mins at a mixture of speeds and the box was hot to the touch, but not so hot you couldnt hold your hand on it, much the same as the gearbox. There were no strange noises as i drove it, so i'll keep an eye on it and see how things go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickwilliams Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 Sorry for not replying earlier - I've been in the wilds of Dartmoor out of range of the internet. I think you did the right thing. Nick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Share Posted August 30, 2011 No problems. The advice is much appreciated. I guess that even if it is a little tight now it will hopefully have just taken up any slack in the bearings that had developed in its previous 55k miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHD Posted November 22, 2022 Share Posted November 22, 2022 How did the box hold up after moderately tightening the intermediate shaft nut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 7, 2022 Author Share Posted December 7, 2022 On 11/22/2022 at 8:28 PM, JHD said: How did the box hold up after moderately tightening the intermediate shaft nut? All fine. I have rebuilt a couple of these since this post and it takes a fair bit of force to crush the spacer, so just nip it up tight and dont swing on the wrench to get it tighter is my advice if you need to do yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 It sounds similar to the Salisbury diff pinion - people understandably get worried about setting the preload correctly after replacing a seal or flange, but the reality is that very tight on a spanner or standard 1/2” drive ratchet will do nicely without crushing the tube any further. It may not be an ideal engineering approach, but works perfectly well if not replacing the crush collar and it was previously correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reb78 Posted December 8, 2022 Author Share Posted December 8, 2022 7 minutes ago, Snagger said: It sounds similar to the Salisbury diff pinion - people understandably get worried about setting the preload correctly after replacing a seal or flange, but the reality is that very tight on a spanner or standard 1/2” drive ratchet will do nicely without crushing the tube any further. It may not be an ideal engineering approach, but works perfectly well if not replacing the crush collar and it was previously correct. Exactly. Its a crush tube so very similar. If doing again I would follow a similar tightness to what you have recommended on the Salisbury as you say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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