2004 International 7300

[materthegreater]

Ok. At what temp would you say the blueing happens?

 

[cfherrman]

Blue on steel is 575°

Idk cast iron or cast steel

 

[DMiller]

Pitman on these is Forged not Cast. Change it.

 

[materthegreater]

I asked the dealer about it because the pitman arm is 2 days longer to arrive than the gearbox. They said no need to replace it

I'm not sure I want to take that chance.

 

[Willie B]

My thought is this is not under great strain, Cast steel gets heated every day. Big old chunk with no particular reason to build it out of extreme steel. I'll bet it is cast steel with no heat treat.

 

[materthegreater]

Maybe I should put the $400 dollar question to a vote!

 

[materthegreater]

Reman gear, new pitman arm.



Redneck torque wrench

 

[mekanik]

You know how to bleed it and set the stops?

 

[materthegreater]

It came with comprehensive installation instructions, so I do now!

 

[materthegreater]

I was changing front tires today and noticed a little play in the ball joints. Are there any special tools required to replace them on this truck?

 

[materthegreater]

Forgot the picture

 

[materthegreater]

Another one

 

[mekanik]

Is the movement in the pivots or the wheel bearing? Or maybe both. How much play is there pivots? If memory serves me correctly they are tapered roller bearings. A small amount of play is acceptable. How are the front tires wearing. Does the steering pull to one side? Can you measure the play at the outer edge of the tire with a dial indicator?

 

[materthegreater]

What I noticed was vertical movement of the knuckle in relation to the axle when I jacked it up. Probably almost 1/8". I haven't been able to determine if there is movement in other directions yet, but the tires have been getting cupped and the steering does tend to wander.

 

[DMiller]

Not gonna like how far tear down is required to get into these bearings.

 

[DMiller]

Found this

http://graphicvillage.org/meritor/MM0170.pdf

May be too new a series for what you have but generally are all similar
Will most likely be a Torrington Style Thrust bearing inside the bearing head, these are NOT Ball Joints. Grease worms eat these up.

 

[materthegreater]

Interesting, thanks for finding that! I just assumed they were ball joints but I've never worked on a driven steer axle this size before. I guess I need to just dive into it to see what I find. I guess I should add some dewormer to my grease mixture

 

[MG84]

I have no experience with that particular axle, but on many types of 4wd front axles they use small king pins top and bottom, with bearings as perviously mentioned. Under the king pin cap is a stack of shims which is used to set the bearing preload and as a means to take the vertical slop out as they wear. Usually is a 4 bolt cap, with grease fitting in the king pin. On older equipment often the previous owners have already taken all the shims out to try to get the slop out when everything is worn past spec.

 

[Spud_Monkey]

I ain't a mechanic, but that gap doesn't look good. Maybe if one took those 4 bolts out from below it on that plate of steel after 24 hrs of soaking in PB blaster and some heat with a nut to weld on later after you snap the bolts to get the there stud out you might find after coaxing a king pin of sorts and maybe some shims or something should of went there.
Might be part of the problem, I guess......

 

[Truck Shop]

Two types-closed and open knuckle yours is open. The PDF DM provided is close enough.
Onne issue is the dirt in the axle tubes to clean before assembly. The bolts normally come
out it's getting the frozen upper and lower pin bosses removed, and some come apart easy.