International Harvester (Eaton) FA-50 Front Axle Repair

Last Revision 2009-10-04

The following photos and narrative show the re-assembly process for the outer ends of an IHC FA-50 axle. This axle is similar to the front driving
axles used in the WWII-vintage M-series trucks and was used throughout the 1950's and early 1960's in various IHC 4x4 trucks. The axle shown in
this example is in a 1956 S-140 4x4 (see final pictures in narrative)..

Related Parts List

Axle Seal National / CarQuest 473235
NAPA NOS 16816
Chicago Rawhide 16816
Hub Grease Seal IHC 108320HAX
NAPA NOS 36220
Chicago Rawhide 36220
Trunnion seal IHC 108310 H
Wheel Cylinder Kit NAPA UP 120
Step bore
1.375" and 1.125" Rockauto.com WK120
CarQuest BRK C11301
Brake Hose NAPA UP 4900

Seals

On the left is the remains of the original IHC axle seal

which was damaged on removal. The sealing surface,
now missing, was made of rawhide leather.

On the right is the replacement seal (C-R 16816)

which has a nitrile sealing surface.
The seal on the left is the original IHC 108320HAX hub
grease seal. A call to the Chicago Rawhide tech
support line revealed that it is listed in their database
as obsolete - not available.

Fortunately there's an even better modern alternative,

shown on the right. It's C-R 36220. Thanks to
BinderPlanet member Geoff who did the research to
find this modern replacement!

These seals each take a different approach to sealing

the hub. The original has a sealing surface on the
outer edge, while the new replacement has a sealing
surface in the inner edge. The following pictures will
show how each works.

The original 108320HAX seal is pressed on to the

base of the spindle, as shown on the left. The seal is in
a fixed position.

This seal consists of a felt ring held in a circular steel

stamping. When new, the felt extends slightly beyond
the outer edge of the stamping to come into contact
with the spinning hub.
This picture shows the new replacement 36220 in
place on the wheel spindle for test / photo purposes
only. During final assembly it will actually be pressed
into the wheel hub. It will be in a fixed position in the
hub and will spin around the axis of the spindle,
instead of the original, opposite approach. The nitrile
surface is on the inner edge.
Inner Trunnion Seal – 108310H

You’ll see this pic again later.

This photo shows the inside of the trunnion

housing that surrounds the yoke. (The yoke is
the ball shaped piece that bolts to the end of the
axle housing. Some people call this the bell.)

There is a large rubber seal that goes inside the

inner trunnion housing and seals against the
yoke/ball/bell. This seal is required to keep the
axle grease inside the trunnion to lubricate the
Bendix-Weiss 5-ball CV joint.

That seal is IH part # 108310H and is no longer

available. I have found two NOS seals in my
20+ years of searching. (If you know of a
source, please let me know. Someday I will
take mine to my local seal supplier and see if
they have or can make a replacement.)

I’ve added this section to this rebuild document

to encourage you to be careful with that seal
during disassembly and reassembly. I’ve found
the rubber to still be in good, usable shape,
even after 60+ years, so you may get lucky and
be able to reuse your existing seals.

This is what the seal looks like. The ones I

bought were in clear plastic bags with the part
number tags.

The OD of the seal is approximately 5-1/2

inches.
Knuckle / Axle Assembly

This photo shows the open end of the FA-50

axle tube (passenger side) with all components
from the trunnion yoke and outward removed.

A slight ridge is visible down the inside of the

axle tube, about 3.5" from the end. This is the
stop for the axle seal. This axle seal has already
been removed using a slide hammer with a
hook attachment.

A short section of 2.5" exhaust pipe with an

expanded end turned out to be a perfect tool for
driving in the axle seal. It stayed perfectly
square in the bore and made contact with the
outer edge of the seal.
The new axle seal in position. I used a dental
inspection mirror and a flashlight to ensure the
seal was pressed in to the stop ridge.
Here's a shot of the trunnion yoke, prior to
assembly.
I made a set of installation brackets that I call
"spiderlegs" using some .375" threaded rod and
some scraps of .5" water pipe welded together.

Sorry about this crummy picture.

The rear half of the knuckle case has been put

in place around the trunnion yoke, and the yoke
has been installed on the axle tube and held on
with 4 of the 8 nuts.

The spiderlegs are used to hold the rear of the

knuckle case against the bell of the trunnion
yoke. The nuts are just finger tight, or less,
which keeps the case against the bell. The
tubes of the spiderlegs fit around the 2 top and
2 bottom studs which do not have nuts on yet.
Here are the components of the axle / CV joint
assembly. The axle shaft (upper left) and drive
shaft (lower right) are shown with 4 drive balls
and one retaining ball. Note that the retaining
ball has a hole down the center. This ball is
placed on the pin portruding from the drive
shaft.

Note also the small hole drilled crossways in the

middle of the drive shaft. This hole contains a
roll pin that serves as a stop for the retaining
pin.

Here's a closeup view of the assembled CV

joint.

The IH manual calls for a convoluted assembly

process that involves removing the roll pin and
retaining pin and moving the retaining ball
around. However, during disassembly the whole
CV came apart on me inadvertently when the
drive shaft was manipulated at an extreme
angle, so I knew it had to go back the same
way. It did, after a little trial and error.

Don't force it - you don't want to bugger up the

drive balls. There's one particular angle when
that last ball falls right into place.
The upper and lower trunnion bearings have
been lubed with Mobil 1 synthetic grease and
the races have been set in postion.

Note the spiderlegs are holding the knuckle

case half snugly in position, which also helps
keep the races in place. The ends of the
spiderlegs will also serve as alignment pins
when the outward half of the knuckle case is set
in position.

The axle assembly was lubed at the appropriate

places with M1 grease and installed in the axle
tube. The voids within the CV joint will be also
filled with M1 grease before the outer case half
is installed.
The preload on the upper and lower trunnion
bearings is set with shims between the knuckle
case and the bearing cover plates. It's important
to keep the shims together in their respective
sets, and install them in the original positions.

I originally placed each set of shims in a ziploc

bag along with a tag noting their location.

This shows the outer knuckle case half installed.

A set of shims from the previous picture have
been set in place around the opening at the top.

After the outer knuckle case was set in place

and 4 of the thru-bolts were finger-tightened, the
nuts on the spiderlegs were backed off and they
were removed.
The square bearing cover plate has been
installed over the shims and the 4 retaining nuts
have been tightened down on the studs.
Brakes

Here's the passenger side brake assembly.

According to the IH shop manual the shoe with
the longer lining is considered the primary and
is mounted on the forward side of the assembly.
The shoe with the short lining is considered the
secondary

The large side of the stepped wheel cylinder is

toward the forward, or primary shoe.
Axle Boot

At the left is the original leather axle boot and

clamps. Note the zipper down the bottom edge
(facing side) that allows the boot to be removed.

This boot has a broken zipper and a number of

tears in the leather.
I am a big fan of Cordura, having a set of
hunting boots that I've been abusing for years
with virtually no maintenance. I decided to make
the replacement boots from 1050-Dernier
Ballistic Cordura.

I made an initial attempt to sew these myself,

and although my wife's sewing machine is a
very nice model, it simply wasn't up to the task
of sewing this tough material.

Fortunately, I have a friend with a commercial

sewing business who was kind enought to sew
these with a commercial-grade machine. The
new boots came out quite nicely, as the picture
shows. Note the zipper along the top of the
boot.

Here's a picture of the hub and trunnion yoke.

The new boots will cover the exposed "bell" of
the trunnion yoke.
This picture shows the new boot, installed.

The following photos are of the truck itself. It

was a brush fire truck from Adams County, WA
and it originally had a rectangular water tank on
the back which I replaced with a custom
"pickup" box. Although it has surface rust, the
truck is rock-solid and free from rot.

The truck is almost 8' high at the roofline. I have

about a half-inch of overhead clearance in the
garage door opening. I am a little over 6' tall and
the hoodline is at eye level. The rims are 20"
Budds and the tires are 38" in diameter, so it
has plenty of ground clearance.