8x6.5 Ford unit bearing

hjpcummins · Apr 21, 2016

Looking at having my Super duty unit bearings re drilled for 8x6.5, for the sole purpose of locating/selling tyars n whiles.

I know it's been done, just wanting to see if anybody has seen premature failure or any issue from re drilling them.

Also. Can this be done on a standard drill press. Or I'd the material to hard

pholmann · Apr 21, 2016

I did mine on the ranger. Cut the center out of an old 8x6.5 wheel and bore the center out to where it barely fits over the hub on the unit bearing. Bolt it down through one of the existing holes and drill the rotor and hub together.

TBItoy · Apr 21, 2016

tons have been redrilled,

The material is pretty soft cast, no problem drilling.

I think patoyee makes a redrill jig plate,

or you can buy a cheap slip on wheel spacer to bolt down and transfer the pattern.

hjpcummins · Apr 21, 2016

Re:

Really, I figured that chit would be hard. But if it can be done with ease on a standard drill press, I guess I'll take a wack at it

Beerj · Apr 21, 2016

I used Patooyee's template. The machinist vice made it easy to line everything up. Harbor Freight special.

patooyee · Apr 21, 2016

I've done 6 UB's so far with one of my plates. The flange material is soft cast steel as far as I can tell. PM me for pricing.

hjpcummins · Apr 25, 2016

Re:

Got my plate from jj, thanks. Looks good

patooyee · Apr 25, 2016

Thanks for the order!

94xjsport94 · Apr 25, 2016

Any pics of the drill set up? Don't show up on my phone

patooyee · Apr 25, 2016

It's pretty simple. You just bolt this onto the UB. It centers tightly on the journal where the rotor would normally go. You run a small drill bit through the small holes to start your hole and then remove the plate and switch out to a larger bit to go all the way through. If you step up in small increments the plate is good for at least 5-6 UB's. It's consumable though, meaning that, once the holes are drilled out large enough, the plate is no longer good and you need to buy a new one. So not really a good option for someone doing lots of UB's. A worthwhile consideration for someone doing just one vehicle though.

I re-used the stock studs but the proper size drill bit does not exist for them. The factory holes are machined to a non-standard size, somewhere between 15.25 and 15.5mm. I used a 15.25mm (15.5 is too big!) bit but a few of the studs were still too tight and I had to open up the holes with some light air-grinding. If you were going to switch to a different stud, say a standard thread instead of metric, you would need to figure out your own correct drill size. Idid 6 UB's total with one plate. 4 for the rig and 2 spares. I don't buy new UB's. It's cheaper to buy entire axles just for the UB's than it is to buy quality UB's from a parts store. I've bought and sold about ten 05+ axles now and the UB's were good on all of them. The 05+ UB's seem to be very high quality.