New Bellcrank Repair Kit Issues

I just opened my new package for steering bell crank repair and found that the new pin bushing is more sloppy inside the new bearings than what I removed from my jeep a few days ago. This looseness is experienced when holding the items. I'm reluctant to install yet because what I removed may be better (I'm trying to reduce steering slop).

I see the items are omix-ada, made in India (yikes!), and they're for my cj5 1966, F4.

Do the bearings compress after they're inserted?

What to do? Clean and reinstall my old compnents? Take a chance with the new ones? Ron

 

More omix-ada goodness. Send it back, and complain loudly to the seller. We need to get this crap off the market.

Maybe a local machine shop can help, or search for NOS.

 

where did you order it from ? i am getting ready to do mine !

 

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.

Here's more that I have to say on this matter of bellcrank repair kits.

The vendor was vintagejeepparts. But I don't think that I (we) can blame the vendors because they likely have limited resources for these kinds of parts, or at least 'quick and ready' resources, and those are in China and India, it seems. I suspect that Crown bearings. like Omix-Ada, will also come from Asia. Stamped on the new bearings I just purchased is: JV 188. Well, Googling 'JV 188 bearings' provides a cheery Indian-bearings website, folks there eager to serve the world with their precision work (.... no thanks).

Now, stamped on the bearings I pulled out of my bellcrank is "Kaydon (made in usa) KN 182208". I suspect that these are the original from 50 years ago (1966 cj5) (my jeep maintenance notes state that the last time I installed any bellcrank parts was in the 1970s, and back then I was likely clueless about having to press out the bearings inside (or, I don't remember such, anyway); I probably just put in a new pin and bushing). So, Googling Kaydon KN 182208 turns up sources. I just ordered two from locateballbearings.com for 8 bucks each plus 10 for shipping. But of course the bushing and pin in the repair kit I just bought are Indian, too -- so who knows how my steering will ultimately feel. I may have to have a bushing custom made.

About those tapered bearings by Lawrence, Howard: I don't know. It's a bit experimental for me right now. I'll wait on that.

In the meantime, while waiting on my delivery of Kaydon bearings (made in USA, presumably -- unless this big bearings maker outsources, too), I think I will re-install my original 50-y.o. bearings, well-lubed, along with the new pin and bushing. I hope my steering is then a little better than it has been (5-8 degrees slop, my guess).

Some other thoughts and observations about bellcranks. Before disassembling, I couldn't for the life of me squeeze grease from any of my three guns into the grease fitting. I thought about purchasing a pneumatic gun, but didn't. There should be space enough between the bearings to easily accept grease at the bushing wall, as I see things; and if so, does the grease actually make it upward and downward from the grease port to the needle bearings which are in tight (relatively) contact with the bushing wall? I'll look for improvement there when I reassemble and do final lubing.

Finally, here's some of my musings about rotation within the bellcrank as we turn the steering wheel: just where is most motion occurring? Is the inside of the bushing mainly rotating about the pin?.... or is the outside of the bushing rotating against and with the needle bearings it contacts? Are both actions happening and equally important for tight, accurate steering? Just what is wearing out over time? And how much 'wiggle' among these parts can be tolerated before wiggle translates into 2-3 degrees of steering-wheel slop? So seemingly simple of a mechanism, but complex to me as I think about the detail.... Ron

(p.s. my vintagejeepparts order included a bikini top by Rugged Ridge. I hope when installing it that I'm not as confounded as I am with the bellcrank parts. I don't even want to know where IT was made.....

 

Rugged Ridge is a division of Omix-Ada. If it looks like quality is a concern, you could get one from Bestop.

 

Howard. I just took a lot of measurements. Too many for me to organize right now ....but next week. For now I'll say this:
Old and new bushings same OD at ™28.58 mm. ID of old bearings about 28.9 - 29.0; the new slightly larger at about 29.1-29.2 mm. Hard to measure bearing ID with great accuracy.

But for now it looks like can be up to . 0.4 mm slop between bushing and bearings. More on this next week. Ron

 

When I installed my bearings into the Bellcrank, they compressed so much that I could not get the Bellcrank Shaft in. Took the bearings out and polished the inside of the Bellcrank so the bearings fit. I still had to polish the shaft some to fit into the bearings