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Rear axle seals?

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michelin xzl 900 r16

Killer Dowel Pin Revisited

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The drivers side seal let go this weekend and slung gear oil everywhere. So I bought the socket and got it all tore down without a problem, So I just need to get the seal. I read back a little bit and it sounds like the ?Chicago Rawhide? seals are pretty good, but where can I get them? Are the NAPA seals any account?

Also, why does the service manual show that our trucks came with Dana 60's in the rear when I thought they were all Dana 70's :confused: It shows the 60's axleshaft held in with bolts, which mine are, then the 70's are held on with nuts? :confused:

Thanks



Steve
 
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Steve,

I used Chicago Rawhide seals (#CR28746) when I did my last rear brake job. My truck is a 92 4x4 and it has the Dana 70 and the axleshaft is held in place by bolts. Take a look at the tag under the hood it will tell you whether your truck came with the 60 or 70.

---

Al
 
seals

I use NAPA and have been satisfied. When you install them, don't drive them in. The garter spring can be dislodged and it is a ***** to get back in without tearing the seal out again. I rigged a pull rod using threaded rod and plates. I did also get the spring back in on the other one. If the shoes are messed up with lube, they will need a through cleaning. They will grab if there is residue of lube.



Nuts, bolts, 60 - 70 same procedure different years, sloppy manual directions.



transmission still going good?



James
 
Thankfully there is not a drop of gear oil on the shoes, there wasn't hardly any at all inside of the drum area, the plate thangamajig contained it all and it was slung out between the drum and the stud plate.



the ol getrag is still going strong, doing better than I hoped. I have about 8000 miles on it now.



Thanks, Steve
 
Thanks guys,



The seals I got were CR and the NAPA number is 28746 also, for some reason the first time I went they could not find that number :confused: I finally got the right one.



I got it all back together without too much trouble, now to see if she holds.



Steve
 
Make sure the axle vent is not cloged, too. Sometimes the endcaps will get dirt or mud in them, basically plugging the vent. Then a seal lets loose. Sometimes seals go out because of age, too.



Daniel
 
rear axle seals

Hey I deliver seals and bearings to auto parts stores and the only C/R stuff is napa. By the way i'm looking for one of those slingers that prevent the oil from getting on the shoes. Neat idea but the dealer :-{} has no idea what i'm talking about! :{ Later jlight
 
Timken Seals?

I have new Timken bearings and seals to go back in my truck. Are these decent quality? The APPEAR to be pretty good.

The axle vent on my truck was also clogged, and the fitting broke off flush with the top of the axle when I removed the rubber brake line (the vent goes through the brass block on the end of the rear rubber hose). It easily came out with an EZ-out, so I just got some 7/16 - 20 threaded rod and center bored it to the same diameter as the vent fitting. I'll just double nut eveything in place when I'm done with my rear brake job. Only thing left to find is that @&$# slinger piece that fits in the drum. Those things CANNOT be found, except new for $25+, and even then they're backordered from the dealer. My last resort will be to attempt to straighten mine, and perhaps even use the inside portion of the hub housing as a light anvil to form it against.

No problem taking back the timken seals since I have the wrong ones anyway, but if the NAPA ones are way better, I'll go with them. I only want to do this job once. At this point, I even took off the backing plates and ALL the brake hardware for a good cleaning in the blasting cabinet, followed by a good coating of high temp enamel engine paint. Should offer at least a little protection against rust.



Todd K.
 
The oil slinger/do hicky that you are working with is to catch the oil IF any leaks by the seal and channel it to the outside instead of getting on the shoes. It does not have to be perfect to do its job. Just be sure that it extends up to a point that any oil leak will be caught and diverted.



You can tweak it a bit with a ladys slipper bar or whatever convienent tool you need to do that. It does not lay flat in place. There is space behind it to channel the oil. If it isn't pretty when you get through, remember that it won't ever be seen by anyone but you when you next work on the brakes. Skip the 25 dollars.



The leak winds up on the inside of the inside dual wheel (on a dually) or likewise on the 250. Follow the leak path in your mind and you will see what has to happen for this to work correctly.



Incidently, if you have had a leak, the flow channel can be completely clogged with dust and dope and the leak will then be on the shoes. In your case, you seem to have disassembled everything and no doubt have cleaned it completely.



James
 
It wasn't a problem on my truck... the original bearings and seals appeared to be in pretty good shape (at least I'm assuming they're original?). There was a little pitting and scoring on the bearings, and the races had some wear, so I chose to replace everything in there. Like many jobs, this started out as a simple wheel cylinder R&R, but it has now progressed into a full rear brake and bearing job.



I have a Mag Hytec cover on an older power wagon with a 9. 25" rear and, while expensive, they are SUPER nice. I'm now selling the Power Wagon, minus the MagHytec cover, which I hope to sell on ebay and put the money toward the same cover for the new truck. The cover is BRAND new, doesn't have 5 miles on it. But I love the diesel W250 and I don't need a 440 power wagon toy any more. I had high hopes of converting it to a diesel at one point, but it's a short wheel base frame and just isn't as useful for my purposes as the long wheel base, extended cab.
 
ditto

Even some aircraft (Gulfstream) I have worked on have timkin bearings, that means they must be good! But Just a FYI I replaced both seals last year and the left side has CR, right side TIMKIN. We'll see which one lets out first, and there's your answer as to which is better lol! Autozone stocks TIMKIN seals and bearings FYI... IT surprised me to all heck, I was searching all over LA for them and even checked napa, kragens and the like, but didn't even consider autozone and ended up buying bearings at a specialty heavy truck rearend shop, the same part was on autozone's shelves for a much cheaper price too. I found this out all when we were reassembling the drum, got everything in and installed the CR seal before the inner bearing so we had to go get a replacement, AZ was the only one still open for the nite, and to my surprise things turned out quite nicely.

Nick

BTW see ya'll up at the first genner's day! I'm much closer now in seattle, rather than L. A. ! Oo.
 
I'm pretty psyched... had some time today to work on it and got the brakes, drums, and bearings back on. To drive the new races in, I took a set of the old races and ran a cutting wheel through them (made them a C). Worked like a charm. I couldn't bear to put new bearings in without grease (I know they get lubed by the rearend oil, but I still just couldn't bring myself to put in dry bearings with only a coating of oil on them). PLUS, there's a very real possibility it may have to sit another week before it can be finished, so the grease should offer some additional protection. I'm planning to install a MagHytec cover in the spring, so it's likely that any grease in the bearings will have been washed out and the fluid will be replaced at that time.

Tomorrow I hope to torque down the new bearings (~130 ft/lbs, then back off some 120 degrees or so according to the manual), reinstall the axles, and fab up some new brake lines. I keep encountering problem after problem due to corrosion, but I'm working my way through. If I can catch enough time tomorrow, I can finally get it buttoned up after two weekends! Can someone verify the proper bleeding procedure for me? I have a dry master cylinder reservoir (for the rear brakes), so I'll need to bleed the RWAL valve first and then proceed to the rear wheel cylinders, correct? Which one first, the passenger side?

Todd
 
may have to replace the seal on drivers side, this came up after having my rear brakes inspected and new nut put on as it was boogered up from a chisel someone had used, well seems that in dec. when ihad this done the guy working on the truck didn't tighten the nut up on my rear drum, well about a week ago i decided to wash truck, alot of rearend oil and its leaking exactly as guys described in this thread, borrowed socket and tightened to where i have no hub play( it was loose) and drove it to town and back, i do have some seepage, going to take it apart tomorrow and assess the situation, i have a new seal in the seat of the truck.

How hard is it to remove old seal and install new one, anything i need to watch out for?, i have the socket and a torq wrench except i don't have a adapter that goes from 1/2 in. to 3/4inch for the socket to fit on the tq wrench. I may try to tighten it more tomorrow as that maybe my reason for the leak, the leak was bad, very little now...

Oo. Any food for thought
 
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tightening it will not decrease the leak, the seal will still leak if it is already... It isn't that hard, actaully it's quite easy. It would be a good time to inspect wheel bearings/races as well. not hard to take the seal out, just use a puller, and to put it in, you can make a block of wood to fit the diameter of the seal to press/or hammer it in. just be careful with the rubber seal part, it's delicate, and also if you remove the inner bearing, remember to replace it before installing the seal, or you'll be headed back to the parts store to get a new seal, BTW chicago rawide (which can be found at napa and pepboys in the green box) and Timken (auto zone) seals work great, I have one of each new on my axle and no leaks what so ever. Also it is a good time to check the axle vent tube/vent for clogs as that will cause a premature seal leak. It is located on the upper part of the drivers side axle shaft, good luck. I had a huge run in with these seals, etc... and had to redo the work from a muffler shop because they had chiseld in the new seal, damaging it all to h&ll
 
Chicago Rawhide seals

Chicago Rawhide seals in the aftermarket are not really that great ! You are far better off with National seals ..... If you have an advance auto parts store

close to you just get them there. . Their house brand seal is very good and cheap to buy... . Remember that there are 2 different seals that the cummins

89 to 93 trucks used . One is for dual wheel the other for single... . The dual wheel seal is larger od . Advance stocks both... Take your old one with you to match up... .



CAROLINA CUMMINS said:
The drivers side seal let go this weekend and slung gear oil everywhere. So I bought the socket and got it all tore down without a problem, So I just need to get the seal. I read back a little bit and it sounds like the ?Chicago Rawhide? seals are pretty good, but where can I get them? Are the NAPA seals any account?

Also, why does the service manual show that our trucks came with Dana 60's in the rear when I thought they were all Dana 70's :confused: It shows the 60's axleshaft held in with bolts, which mine are, then the 70's are held on with nuts? :confused:

Thanks



Steve
 
Well i decided to do the job myself today, i have ran the truck about 2 miles since and we will see what happens with the leak, i believe i got it fixed we shall see.....

took my time and went from there.
 
:D well i think i deserve a hand, 3 days and no leaks. . I should have tackled it myself but it has been 16yrs since i had auto shop in school. That will be the last dam time i take it to any place for seals, that cost me $135. 00 but never again, me doing it and the satisfaction was priceless Oo.

Yes im patting myself on the back :-laf
 
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