Railco bush

[chuckstp]

I am part way through rebuilding the swivel ball on my IIA. Among the other items, I ordered a Railco bush as well as a wafer. It seems there was what looks like a wafer in the bush when it came. Do both of these get used or did I buy the one as an extra?

Also, are there any real tricks for inserting the top pin into the bush? Even with oil on it, It seems like an overly tight fit and wants to scrape the side walls of the lining. I put the pin in the freezer overnight with the hope that will shrink it enough.

[TedW]

Some railco bushes come with the wafer installed. If you try to use the additional wafer the king pin will stick out way too far - too much to shim. It will be obvious when you do it.

Years ago I bought all the parts to replace my swivel balls at LR Supermarket outside Liverpool. They sold me railcos and wafers, but the wafers were already there. very confusing......

Regarding the tightness: do the king pins go in at all? You should have some drag on them after fitting - use lots of grease in there, too. My pins didn't fit at all, so I was instructed to carefully grind a bit out of the insides with a Dremel tool so they would go in.

I look forward to hearing about what others have done - Ted

[parrie]

I recently rebuilt the entire swival ball assembly on my dormie...I purchased a complete kit that included 1 wafer per railco bush. The green bible confirms one wafer. As Ted mentioned it would be obvious if you doubled up on the wafers. MY top pins did fit very snug but w/ a coating of 90wt oil they seemed so move freely albeit a tight fit. I'm by no means an expert on these but IMO these should be a very snug fit. Freezing the pin may help getting them in but once they warm back up you'll be back to where you started. Were you able to install the pins at all?

[cnfowler]

Mine were a snug fit.


Colin

[chuckstp]

After spending the night in the ice box, the pin was willing to go in but only part way. It refused to turn afterward and took more than half an hour to get back out. After several passes with the Dremel and a sanding drum I managed to get it in with a rather snug fit.

Right now the ball is assembled and mounted on the axle. Thanks for all the help and baring new challenges, I should be back on the road later today.