Well, after a lot of reading & studying my torque tube after removing all the bits, I discovered 2 dowel holes (the rear one with no dowel), and no slot. That was soon fixed with an angle grinder & a couple of cutting discs, a wide enough slot now exists. A pin punch did the trick getting the old bushes out, and now all is ready for the new Oakie bush to be fitted. It should be here this coming week. My local bearing house sourced a new UJ repair kit, which is pressed in to the yoke. I'll slide an aluminium sleeve into the torque tube (to prevent spatter/slag getting into the works) & weld up part of the slot, not covered by the ball housing. Should be back on the road next weekend. Meanwhile, the step side panels are home from the paint shop & assembly will start on that. With a bit of luck, it should be mostly finished for an Easter rally! Many thanks for all the advice, tips & help. If any of you ever get down under, head to the Mildura, Victoria area & give me a call. There's always a bed & cold beer available.
Did you remove the torque tube propeller shaft oil seal also? I would like to see a couple of pictures of the slot that you made in the torque tube to get the bushings out. You really didn't need to remove the rear propeller shaft bushing and oil seal when installing a Okie Bushing . But with them out, the propeller shaft will run cooler.
I have to say, you took it a step further by grinding your own slot, to access and remove the rear bushing and oil seal. Rather than cutting a slot, most people would of removed the torque tube from the rear axle housing, removed the differential case, then removed the propeller shaft. Then from the ring and pinion end of the torque tube, slid in a long pipe and pounded out the bushings and oil seal. The way you did it solves the problem of removing the rear bushing and oil seal without taking the torque tube completely apart. I would say that's thinking outside the box. Good Job,
Now all you have to do is slide in the aluminum sleeve and weld up the slot and grind it smooth.. Just don't heat up the torque tube to much when welding to prevent warping.
Thanks to all of you people, I completed the job the week prior to Easter. I used a new grinding disc, about 4.5mm thick, to cut a slot. A pin punch knocked out the old bushes ( I left the old seal in place), and was able to insert the new Oakie bush. I had to ream out a small amount for tail shaft fit, and turn down the some of the outer material for the new bush to fit into the torque tub. Once in, I filled the slot with liquid steel epoxy and it is all good. Once again, many thanks to all you blokes for the helping info. Sorry it took so long for o the reply, but I do get a bit busy through the grape harvest period.
