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MG parts spares and accessories are available for MG T Series (TA, MG TB, MG TC, MG TD, MG TF), Magnette, MGA, Twin cam, MGB, MGBGT, MGC, MGC GT, MG Midget, Sprite and other MG models from British car spares company LBCarCo.

MG Midget and Sprite Technical - Speedi Sleeve for Stub Axle

Anyone put a Speedi Sleeve on the stub axle to cover wear/damage where the oil seal lip sits?

There seems to be a shortage of re-con stub axles at the moment and the supply of new (probably Chinese) stub axles has dried up.

And I want to retain the originals, but one has a deep wear mark and the other has a damaged surface probably due to a PO or garage monkey using a chisel to remove a reluctant hub.

A Speedi Sleeve seems to be a practical solution and not too expensive either.

Rob
MG Moneypit

I used one on the pinion oil seal surface of an Elan differential. It worked a treat and was easy to fit.
Mike Howlett

Never used one on an MG stub axle but have used one a jeep pinion yoke. Worked a treat and certainly saved a ton of cash. No reason it won't work on yours axle.

Clare
Clare Ravenwood

Yes and very pleased with the result.
Daniel Stapleton

not on the front, but I've got them on the back where the axle oil seal runs - seem to be working OK so far...
Rob Armstrong

I have one on my back axle. Fitted it 12 years ago and - dare I say it - still working fine. I found a piece of plastic tubing to use to drift it on. You have to be careful as the lip on the end that you are hitting is manufactured to be snapped off when the sleeve is in place. Got mine from BSL Brammer, Unit 9 Napier Street, Coventry (T) 01827 65077. As with Daniel, very pleased with the result.
Geoff Mears

My Speedi Sleeve came with a tool for tapping it on, and there was no flange to knock off. It went on flange first and the tool made it dead simple. I used some sealer inside the sleeve to ensure it couldn't rotate on the shaft.
Mike Howlett

Rob
Yep
We used to fit them to Ford Courier 2wd stub axles quite often
They had a habit of rusting out and the speedy sleeves would completely fix em
As Mike suggests, if it's fairly rusty/worn you need some sealer to prevent water getting through under the sleeve

willy
William Revit

Oh yes, that's right. The sealer was to prevent the oil creeping between the sleeve and the shaft. Thanks Willy for refreshing my poor brain.
Mike Howlett

What about Sturdi Sleeves? These are about half the price but far fewer size options available.

Talking of size. Should it be 1.375" for the midget stub axle?

Rob
MG Moneypit

Resurrection.

Rob, did you establish the speedi sleeve size? I've got a stub axle in need.


anamnesis

To be honest anam I can't bl--dy remember. I know I didn't go down that route so must have found a pair of good ones shortly after my post.
Sorry.
Rob
MG Moneypit

Lol. No problem, I'll have to measure it instead of being lazy. 😁
anamnesis

Hi Rob,

Have you considered getting a machine shop to clean up the faces then fit a larger bore seal. The is a huge range of seal sizes available. If a seal surface is damaged rather than worn the damage can distort a speedy sleave.

I recently repaired the rear UJ flange by taking a skim off the worn seal surface and then fitting suitable metric sized seal. The machining literally took 5 mins so an engineering shop shouldn't charge too much.

Jan T
J Targosz

Thanks Jan.

'Twas me reviving Rob's thread. 🙂

Yep could do that, but I suspect the cost would be way more than a sleeve around here, and I'd rather keep to standard size parts. Anyway, just wear and a bit of pitting, no damage.

Might even polish out, just investigating options. And I used a sleeve to great effect on my Capri crankshaft, so I like them as a solution.

Cheers

anamnesis

CR99138

and be carefull, you can drive it on too far on some stubaxles and it'll finish up right where the seal's lip sits

Whack it on as normal flange first with a piece of tube/pipe but stop when the trailing edge of the sleeve is flush with the step of the spindle and all will be well--no need to remove the flange after fitting, it'll be fine sitting there out of the way of everything

willy
William Revit

Brilliant, thanks Willy.

Is this the size you used before?

Found it for £17.14 inc vat and delivered.

https://www.thebearingcompany.co.uk/products/1-3-8-shaft-repair-sleeve-1-371-1-377-cr99138/

And even cheaper on ebay.

£14.45
Free next day postage

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301388131740

For that price, I'll do both, as the otheronr has a bit of a wear lip.






anamnesis

yep, that's the one you want, That's a good price, they're $35 here, but as mentioned it 'can' go on too far on some spindles, just have a measure up before you wack him on
The sleeve is roughly 5/8" total width with a 1/2" straight barrel.
The lip on the seal runs out fairly close to the step on the spindle for the bearing so if your spindle section is longer than 5/8" you need to hold yourself back from whacking the sleeve all the way home and stop when the trailing edge is roughly flush with the step--

willy
William Revit

Thanks again Willy.

More great info.

Maybe this thread will be good for others too.



anamnesis

Well that's a bummer.

I've got a spare pair of stub axles, and thought to refurb both, king pin bushes and oil seal surface, for future use by me.

Having looked closer, only one needs a sleeve as it's a tad pitted. But it looks like it's been got at before, as the oil seal journal diameter is only just 34.7 mm, 1.357 inch. So a cr99138 is too big, min/max shaft size being 34.82-34.98mm.

The next down from there, metric or inch, is too small.

My other spare stub axle is bang on the size for the cr99138 Willy said, but now it's cleaned up, I can see it doesn't need a sleeve.

Fortunately the stubs actually on my Sprite, although they've done many miles of service, are still ok for now. So I'll keep an eye open at leisure, for a one off bargain good stub axle that only needs pin bushes.

anamnesis

I expect you'd get away with Loctite of a suitable grade just make sure the sleeve stays in the right place while it cures if going on too far is an issue. At least with that gap you should be able to try it in place to see and be able to remove it again.
David Billington

The sleeves are a fairly spring loaded fit, and you're only .004" under min. size so I'd expect it'd still be ok ---When you get your sleeve a little trial fit will tell the story--but as Bill mentions Loctite is your friend
There's a loctite called , or it used to be called-press fit repair
It's called 660 Quickmetal now and will fill gaps up to about .020"
You can get it in little 6ml plastic tubes which would be heaps for what you're doing---You should be able to get it there.
It's only just undersize though so any high strength loctite that you might already have would do it

--
https://www.aimsindustrial.com.au/loctite-660-quick-metal-high-strength-retaining-co
William Revit

Thanks Bill/Willy.

Sounds like my stub is still ok then.

I've actually already got some loctite 648. It's described as low viscosity. So I guess not as good for gap filling as the 660 you describe Willy.

But I've also got some jb weld steel.

https://www.jbweld.com/product/j-b-weld-twin-tube#:~:text=J%2DB%20Weld%E2%84%A2%20is%20The,to%20a%20dark%20grey%20color.

Do you think the jb weld would do it?


anamnesis

648 will be perfect- It'll fill up to 0.25mm gap and i suspect your gap will be 0 Sticks to stainless and cast and doesn't really need any extra preparation or primer

648 data sheet---curing times on the graph in RH top corner

https://crstorageqa.blob.core.windows.net/documents/cr/D_49778160_Produktinformation_1328967.pdf



William Revit

Excellent thanks Willy.

It didn't occur to me to look at the data sheet. Doh!. 😄
anamnesis

This thread was discussed between 19/02/2017 and 07/01/2023

MG Midget and Sprite Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG Midget and Sprite Technical BBS is active now.