Front roller body repair

[Marky_Mark]

As time goes on the front roller body starts knocking, thus the holes are oversized. Has anyone found a way to repair these. [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/frown.gif[/img] I know your going to tell me to buy a new roller body, but consider the situation about this.

Penny wise and dollar foolish. Get my drift? [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shocked.gif[/img] Only if its a must.

msbowl [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img]

[Dutch]

Re: Front roller body repair

If you have a MIG or TIG welder (or if you're really good with a stick) you can fill the holes. Then re-drill & countersink them. I've done quite a few.

I don't have the luxury of a TIG welder anymore & I'm no good with a stick, so these days, I have to buy new bodies.

[img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/usflag.jpg[/img]

[amfpinboy]

Re: Front roller body repair

If the hinge assy. is too sloppy to rebuild, just spot weld the hinge pins in place. Grease it up and you'll get a few more years out of it. It will still pivot normally and run silent.

[Mr. 800-R]

Re: Front roller body repair

I thought Lifelong was coming out with a kit to eliminate the hinge action!

Anyone hear anymore on this?

Guru

[the old dirt man]

Re: Front roller body repair

MSBOWL,
I'M thinking like DUTCH [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/confused.gif[/img] your talking
about the bolt holes in the roller body??
not the hinge or shaft but then I could need a few more beers and read it again.
you could do what DUTCH said or if you know of
a center that took out old 30s in the past and kept the front rollers they might have a bunch of roller halfs laying around that you might be able to buy dirt cheap. time for another beer.CUJO

[Marky_Mark]

Re: Front roller body repair

OOOPPPsss, forgot to mention it is the roller body itself, not the hinge assembly. And I did reweld the holes and it only lasted 3 months or more. So I guess its a new one after all. [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img]

At least I can show my boss that I tried to repair it. [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/shocked.gif[/img]

msbowl [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/content/btubb/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif[/img]

[TheGMan143]

Re: Front roller body repair

Rewelding is an option, if you have the equipment and the ability to do it...onl problem is that if the welds don't bond completely to the original material, they will break off again after a short time. The best results we have gotten was to use a MIG welder set at a pretty stiff heat range... problem there is that there's not much 'meat' to stick the welds to, and if you're not careful, you just wind up burning a bigger hole in the roller half...after which, throwing it out & ordering a new one is usually the only option left. If you catch them when they first start knocking, usually it's the bolts that wear...you can change them out with new ones, and it will be OK... but if you let them slap around for a while, they will wear out the tapered holes in the roller half, and they will get worn to the point that a new bolt will just fall right through them.

The problem I usually have is that the Allen screws will get frozen into the link body, and the heads strip before they break loose. I wind up breaking out the grinder & cutting a groove across the head... then I use a large flathead bit and a hammer-driven impact driver to break them loose. Sometimes they get hammered in so tight that I have to torch them first, get them good and hot, and them impact them to loosen 'em up... not one of my favorite jobs by far...

[Jimmy Jam]

Re: Front roller body repair

I don't know if this would help or not but you could try a different socket bolt in place of the OEM type. The ones we all use now are standard 82 degree flat heads. The one I'm thinking about is the other standard which is 100 degrees. I haven't tried them out yet. I just order a new roller half and be done with it.