IRD reconditioned

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mrey68 said:
does it mean its the end of reconditioned transfert boxes possibilities ?
"IMPORTANT NOTICE: SALES OF IRD UNITS ARE CURRENTLY SUSPENDED DUE TO PARTS SUPPLIER GOING INTO LIQUIDATION - All other services as normal"

Products - Bell Engineering
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Hi I would doubt this would be the end of recon irds there are a lot of freelanders out there and these irds do tend to be problematic i think it will just be a matter of time before another company fills the gap left by the company going bust

Cheers

Gordon
 
Its the sole manufacturer of the crown wheel and pinion kits that have gone under. The sole importer has hopefully negotiated a deal with new new manufacturer using the original tools, but its going to take a while for them to be up and running again.

The C&P kits you see being sold are the remainder of older batches made. The last batch made was bought up by one supplier from the importer, so you will probably see a price increase until production starts again.

Once production starts again we will be up and running as before.
 
I did email Bell to ask them if they could let me know bearing sizes as i am rebuilding my IRd myself. I wanted to get them in so i could hopefully do the rebuild the same day as i strpped the old unit out. Unfortunatly they seem like they are not ready to help out even if they are no longer building IRd units. No cash involved i suppose.
 
rippedoff said:
I did email Bell to ask them if they could let me know bearing sizes as i am rebuilding my IRd myself. I wanted to get them in so i could hopefully do the rebuild the same day as i strpped the old unit out. Unfortunatly they seem like they are not ready to help out even if they are no longer building IRd units. No cash involved i suppose.
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be fair to em m8, they are a business. if they tell you the bearing sizes then you tell everyone else no one will use em and then they go pop. it's a business not a charity:rolleyes: theres not a business going that is gonna do itself out of work.
 
gegs88 said:
be fair to em m8, they are a business. if they tell you the bearing sizes then you tell everyone else no one will use em and then they go pop. it's a business not a charity:rolleyes: theres not a business going that is gonna do itself out of work.
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But if they are not rebuilding IRD's anymore due to lack of parts then where is the harm in helping others. Its not difficult finding the size of a bearing if you have one in your hand and a set of vernias, Hell i do it everyday. I just wanted to know in advance so i could get them before i opened the ird up. Not everybody has the abillity to rebuild an ird themselves so i expect they make enough money out of them. If i offered a service and then could not fullfill it due to lack of parts, i would be more than happy to help out.I reckon they make enough money out of selling recon box's considering they are on an exchange basis. A few bearings cost about £50 to trade. crown and pinion cost about £80 bulk buy i wopuld guess A few hours to rebuild, hey presto, about £300 profit per box. Not bad ay?.
 
yeah but the post above your last one was off a lad who works there saying that they are starting production again
 
Austen is a partner/director or manager of Bells engineering.

It's been a long term plan of mine to rebuild an IRD, I have two spare units, one which will be sectioned.

But with a job change, house move and 101 other things, the plan has been on the long finger.

If I had bearing numbers, I'd post them, afterall there is nothing unique about bearings, any old sales rep can stock them.

As for cogs, slightly more specialist and I'd happily purchase from Bells, but then, what are Ashcroft transmissions doing, were they stocked from the same supplier??
 
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Northern Irelander said:
Austen is a partner/director or manager of Bells engineering.

It's been a long term plan of mine to rebuild an IRD, I have two spare units, one which will be sectioned.

But with a job change, house move and 101 other things, the plan has been on the long finger.

If I had bearing numbers, I'd post them, afterall there is nothing unique about bearings, any old sales rep can stock them.

As for cogs, slightly more specialist and I'd happily purchase from Bells, but then, what are Ashcroft transmissions doing, were they stocked from the same supplier??
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I have all the numbers now m8. I left the list at work so i will pm them to you next week sometime. I managed to get the whole lot for under £45 through work. SKF too. Just need to sorce some seals now. Not paying £15 off ebay for 2 oils seals and an O ring.

Luckily enough i managed to get hold of an ird with a damaged casing but really good internals. Should only take a few hours to make a good one out of the 2 i have now. Theres not much to it. The only real obsticle i have come across is removing a bearing from the crown wheel with the shaft. The bearing sits so close to the gear itself that you cant get a puller underneath it to remove it. I overcame the problem by placing the piece in the blast freezer at work for a couple of hours (-40). This shrank the shaft down enough to loosen the bearing and it popped right off. I dont like putting heat on precission gearing / shafts if i can get away with it. I will post pics of rebuild when i have finished it.
 
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gegs88 said:
yeah but the post above your last one was off a lad who works there saying that they are starting production again
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But i dont plan on using then to rebuild my unit as i can do it myself. all i wanted was some professional advice. That doesn't cost anything in my book.
 
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rippedoff said:
I have all the numbers now m8. I left the list at work so i will pm them to you next week sometime. I managed to get the whole lot for under £45 through work. SKF too. Just need to sorce some seals now. Not paying £15 off ebay for 2 oils seals and an O ring.

Luckily enough i managed to get hold of an ird with a damaged casing but really good internals. Should only take a few hours to make a good one out of the 2 i have now. Theres not much to it. The only real obsticle i have come across is removing a bearing from the crown wheel with the shaft. The bearing sits so close to the gear itself that you cant get a puller underneath it to remove it. I overcame the problem by placing the piece in the blast freezer at work for a couple of hours (-40). This shrank the shaft down enough to loosen the bearing and it popped right off. I dont like putting heat on precission gearing / shafts if i can get away with it. I will post pics of rebuild when i have finished it.
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Nice one, I know a -80 oC freezer, cooling is the key for stubborn bearings,

I'm even taking the ram off my 3 tonne jack and mounting vertically in an angle iron frame. Should do the job.

Baldbryn on another forum did one in 17hrs, he claims he does industrial gearboxes for a job and wouldnt rush into an IRD rebuild again, mainly because you are working blind.

He struggled to get the bearings off with 10ton pullers, but as above chilling is the trade secret.

You might need to cut some bearings with a dremel and for those that sit tight to a collar.......make a recess to key on to.

Don't forget the shims, you can get these in nylon now..........which I'm thinking of doing, might save the actual bearings to a degree, considering their short lifespan.

There is all talk of determining a bearing load when refitting, I asked a works engineer, he said it wasn't necessary,
 
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There is all talk of determining a bearing load when refitting, I asked a works engineer, he said it wasn't necessary,
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Bearing load is quite important especially on taper roller bearings. Too loose or tight and they will destroy themselves quickly. Roller ball bearings are even more critical, any axial load will rapidly wear the bearing.

Not that i've repaired an IRD yet, but i've repaired PLENTY of diffs/ transfer boxes/ gearboxes from light vehicles up to 100 tonne dumptrucks, and generally bearing fit isn't just the case, more often than not especially in a CWP setup the bearings have a direct affect on tooth contact.......

Would take what your "works engineer" said with a pinch of salt.... Or just go ahead and f@ck up your IRD
 
Droid said:
Bearing load is quite important especially on taper roller bearings. Too loose or tight and they will destroy themselves quickly. Roller ball bearings are even more critical, any axial load will rapidly wear the bearing.

Not that i've repaired an IRD yet, but i've repaired PLENTY of diffs/ transfer boxes/ gearboxes from light vehicles up to 100 tonne dumptrucks, and generally bearing fit isn't just the case, more often than not especially in a CWP setup the bearings have a direct affect on tooth contact.......

Would take what your "works engineer" said with a pinch of salt.... Or just go ahead and f@ck up your IRD
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I agree with you on the fact that bearing fittment will have a direct affect of CWP tooth contact. Its the same as with positive displacement pumps i have to deal with at work. Shim those puppies up wrong and they wont pump air let alone fluid.

I think the key to it all is softly softly squeeky monkey. I also think my years of engineering knowledge will be able to tell me when a bearing is fitting right without going into the Physics of it all.
 
Reading freds like this one remind me why I'm glad there are people out there who actually know how this stuff works :D

I read the words, but haven't a clue what they mean... good to know somebody does.
 
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rippedoff said:
But if they are not rebuilding IRD's anymore due to lack of parts then where is the harm in helping others. Its not difficult finding the size of a bearing if you have one in your hand and a set of vernias, Hell i do it everyday. I just wanted to know in advance so i could get them before i opened the ird up. Not everybody has the abillity to rebuild an ird themselves so i expect they make enough money out of them. If i offered a service and then could not fullfill it due to lack of parts, i would be more than happy to help out.I reckon they make enough money out of selling recon box's considering they are on an exchange basis. A few bearings cost about £50 to trade. crown and pinion cost about £80 bulk buy i wopuld guess A few hours to rebuild, hey presto, about £300 profit per box. Not bad ay?.
Click to expand...

Please tell me how i can buy the crown wheels at £80 and i'll build your box for free!!!! And i'm not sure what you charge for your time, but we don't work for free and it doesn't take 5 mins to build a box correctly!!
 
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rippedoff said:
But if they are not rebuilding IRD's anymore due to lack of parts then where is the harm in helping others. Its not difficult finding the size of a bearing if you have one in your hand and a set of vernias, Hell i do it everyday. I just wanted to know in advance so i could get them before i opened the ird up. Not everybody has the abillity to rebuild an ird themselves so i expect they make enough money out of them. If i offered a service and then could not fullfill it due to lack of parts, i would be more than happy to help out.I reckon they make enough money out of selling recon box's considering they are on an exchange basis. A few bearings cost about £50 to trade. crown and pinion cost about £80 bulk buy i wopuld guess A few hours to rebuild, hey presto, about £300 profit per box. Not bad ay?.
Click to expand...

We will be building again once supply starts up again!! We don't have time to take on every paying job, but are always happy to help people and give advice, but when its something that affects our revenue i'm sorry but i'm not going to spare my time replying to every single enquiry of this type. If i remember correctly you sent 1 quick email, things like that go straight in the junk email box i'm afraid.
 
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