Loctite axles

[steve2250Participant @steve2250]

I have resently aquired a part built 5″ Jubilee class that has a couple of wobbly wheels (about 2mm) and a tight spot on the coupling rods. There is evidence of green loctite on the axle ends. I will attempt to press off a wheel and rectify. My question, is a high strength loctite bond sufficient or should the join be pinned as well.

Steve

[Nigel BennettParticipant @nigelbennett69913]

2mm wobble seems a lot; it would indicate excessive clearance between the wheel bore and axle diameter – or just a poor hole in the wheel. The glue manufacturers will cheerfully say that their product will be perfectly good enough and you shouldn’t need to pin them, but you can get extremely high torque loadings on the axle/wheel joint when running over rough track, for example, which can easily break an adhesive joint. He said, having done just that.

So I’d use Loctite to hold the wheel in position and then pin it. As I did!

[bernard towersParticipant @bernardtowers37738]

sounds like an off axis hole or when loctited originally it was done horizontally and not vertically (it does make a difference)

[steve2250Participant @steve2250]

Fortunately the axle boxes are split so removed will give room for some stout support bars on the hydraulic bench press, may need heat as well. Once apart I’ll know more. Wheels may need skim on faceplate and new axle.

Steve

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

I once broke a 1te hydraulic jack trying to remove wheels that had been loctited on. The cylinder burst, perhaps i shouldn’t have had a scaffold pole on the handle. As your wheels are probably cast iron be careful where you apply the load, to the boss, not the rim. Heat will help.

Then I’d rebore the hole rather than skimming the OD, otherwise the rim thickness could look all wrong (assuming it’s right now).

[parovozParticipant @parovoz]

Agreed, to remove a loctited part it needs heat to break the bond. There is a spec for the temperature, it’s in the 250 to 270 deg C range.

And yes…. Loctite and pin or loctite and key are good methods. With a key you can make the wheel a nice easy fit and the key on a very slight taper. That way the wheel is assembled wet with the loctite and the key immediately pressed in to ensure accurate quartering. The machining accuracy of the keyways controls the accuracy of the quartering.

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