IH 444 Front Spindle

[zonta223]

I just had a front spindle fail. completely snapped in half behind the inner wheel bearing. Purchased a new spindle only to find that the outer wheel bearing has to small an inside diameter and won't fit the new axle. The inner wheel bearing is fine. Has anybody come across this before? Can it be fixed with a different bearing or does it mean a new hub?
This is a UK/Australia tractor with the UK straight front axle.

regards

[cyrush]

I have looked at the parts listings and although different spindles are used for standard or tractors with power steering, the hubs and bearings are listed as the same in both cases. ???????

[zonta223]

I have looked at the parts listings and although different spindles are used for standard or tractors with power steering, the hubs and bearings are listed as the same in both cases. ???????

Hi
Thanks for the reply.
Fingers crossed everything is will be sorted out this morning.
Posting the results in case anybody runs across the same problem I did.
The spindle dimensions on my tractor are length from bearing support to top of spindle 9.5669 inches........Dia of spindle 13/8 inch.
The new spindle I got via Sparex (its an international(world wide) company) is exactly these dimensions BUT the axle diameter for the outer wheel bearing is a lot bigger.
The same company supplies a wheel bearing and seal kit (the original wide seal is no longer available). The outer bearing from this kit has a different taper angle etc but it fits the new axle perfectly. BUT (don't you hate that word) while the actual outer shell of this bearing look to be exactly the same as the original one it is LARGER by 10 thousands of an inch. Now I could have tried forcing / shrinking by freezing it to fit but took the other option and had the hub machined to make it fit normally.
So hopefully in about an hour I will be fitting everything back together again and the job will be finished.

Hope this helps anyone who runs into the same problems and saves the all the time I wasted trying to source parts etc.

My tractor is an Australian built "UK" tractor which I believe is different from the USA one in regards to the front axle.


The cost of this spindle in the UK is about 55 pounds in Australia $125 and been quoted from USA sources $250 so it pays to shop around
I also found that I could buy the wheel bearing and seal kit for less than the cost of the seal from any bearing supply company

[Brakeman]

Hey Zonta, how goes the spindles? I know that it is a different model but my Dads 384 spindles sheared off a long time a go and the replacement spindles were a lot heavier. He thought they were more for a 584. I don't know if he had to change any other parts. I found the old ones when we were cleaning up around the farm and you could see the difference. These seem to handle more abuse than the old ones.

[zonta223]

Hey Zonta, how goes the spindles? I know that it is a different model but my Dads 384 spindles sheared off a long time a go and the replacement spindles were a lot heavier. He thought they were more for a 584. I don't know if he had to change any other parts. I found the old ones when we were cleaning up around the farm and you could see the difference. These seem to handle more abuse than the old ones.

Hi sorry for the late reply but have been busy with this years vintage.
Well the machining of the hub worked great and everything fitted together wonderfully. The old 444 handled all the grape bin lifting / moving etc without a problem.
Just have one little nagging doubt every time I pick up a decent weight with the front fork lift.
"If the right hand one broke just driving backwards with no load on it...............how long before the left one breaks?????"

[Farmagain]

Zonta, I bought my 444 back in 07 and was shopping around for a front end loader for it. A salesman at the International Dealer in Talladega, AL discouraged me from putting one on that tractor citing a history of problems such as yours. He encouraged me to trade up to another model with stronger front spindles. I ended up buying a backhoe. I still have my 444 and recently replaced the brass bushings and thruster bearing. The bearing came apart due to normal wear and tear. I kept it greased. Thought you might want to have this information. Good luck.