Rear axle seal

[Manstein]

I'm replacing the seals on the right rear axle. The inner seal on the back bearing appears to have to be driven onto the axle tube. How are you accomplishing this and do you drive it as far back as it will go or is there a preset point to get it on. When I disassembled it the seal was probably a little over a 1/4 inch on that flange. I need to know the best way to knock the seal on that flange and then if I should push it all the way back or not.

 

[Knucklehead]

Manstein, all you have to do is mount the seal into the hub assembly. Then be careful when you remount it, do not scrape the seal on the spindle threads. Also make sure the seat for the seal is very clean. Then reassemble and tighten the nuts to spec.

 

[Manstein]

When I disassembled it, I had to pull that rear seal off. I reassembled it like you said and was carefull when reinstalling the drum not to drag the seal on the threads but I got to wondering about why the old seal was knocked back. Maybe that's why it was leaking.

 

[Knucklehead]

The seal could have failed for a number of reasons, age, lack of use or incorrect install. The fit of the seal onto the boss is extremely tight, and the seal will remain on the boss the majority of the time during disassembly.

 

[FreightTrain]

Yea,There is a "Lip" on the spindle.You have to press that seal all the way on there.I have a piece of pipe just a little larger than the ID of the metal part of the Seal and tap on it till the seal is all the way back.The rubber part of the seal faces outward towards you.

 

[jwaller]

all my inner seals stay with the truck when I pull the hubs. I also install the seal onto the stub before installing the hubs. that way I know it's on and square and in the correct location and I don't have to worry about dragging the seal on the threads.

 

[FreightTrain]

The Rears different than the front?Thought the spindle was the same just riveted on on the rear vs bolted on on the front......

 

[Big Mike's Motor Pool]

the rear spindles wont come off the rear axle housing. the brake backing plates are whats riveted on to the rear. if you destroy a rear spindle you have to change the entire rear housing out. it kinda sucks, you would think they would have engineered this better to avoid major feild repairs. the front spindles do bolt on. i would reccommend removing the studs up front and tapping the holes on the front knuckles all the way in. then use grade 8 bolts to bolt it all back together. the fine thread nuts strip off the studs and the spindle falls off. it does that with our mud trucks, with a multifuel sitting ontop i could imagine its a much greater possibility for disaster

 

[Recovry4x4]

The spindles are all identical as far as dimension. My preferred method of installing seals is to use and extra hub I have sans drum. I start the seal on the lip, put an old inner bearing, hub and outer bearing and draw it all down. Some of them you really have to crank on to get it on. By using the extra hub sans drum, I can look behind it to see the progress of the seal. Works every time. Another think I've noticed is that once its pressed on and the pilot hub removed, you sometimes get a sliver of steel from the metal part of the seal. I wipe that area before final assembly. I know not everybody has an extra hub but there are so many suprlus deuce rears out there, I'm suprised that more folks don't keep a spare.

 

[JDToumanian]

I've got a big piece of very thick cardboard tube that fits inside the rubber of the seal and over the spindle... I whack the end of the tube with a 2x4, and it drives the seal on perfectly. I think the tube was from a cable reel, but I can't remember.

Jon

 

[houdel]

When pulling the hub off, why not:

A. Remove the outer nut, lock ring, inner nut and outer seal.
B. Carefully wrap a couple of turns of duct tape over the spindle threads, and then slide the hub off? The inner bearing has about a 3/16" larger bore than the outer bearing, so if you were careful and did not bunch up the duct tape or put too much on, it should slide off without bunging up the spindle threads.

I realize it is a pretty tight space to work in, but with a little effort you can probably get a couple of turns of duct tape in there, even if you have rip off a couple of short pieces and push them in endwise instead of trying to wrap it around the diameter of the spindle.

Better yet a piece of aluminum flashing of the right length and rolled tightly to make a snug fit over the spindle could work too.

Just a thought.

 

[Manstein]

Do you think I need to pull it back apart and see if it seated on its own or do I just keep driving and check for leaks?

 

[jwaller]

just drive it and see what happens. you'll prob be ok.