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My right rear axle.....

AzPete

AzPete

Well-Known Member
....seal continues to leak on the stock 8". Replaced the seal twice and it still leaks. I guess the axle has enough of a groove worn in it where the seal rides to allow this. Is there a sleeve that can be installed like on a harmonic balancer or am I looking at buying another axle? Bearings were real bad in the past and are recently new. Seals were boght at two different places so I tried different brands. Not needing to go to anything different, just fix what I got, unless priced real good....
 
Does the seal ride on the axle shaft or the bearing retainer?

I'm thinking it rides on the retainer. If so, the retainer should have been replaced when the bearings were done. The yotas I work on regularly are setup quite the same. Most common problems with leaking new seals on them is the retainer is not seated in the correct place or someone has done bearings in the past and cut a groove in the axle shaft while cutting the retainer and bearing. It's pretty common practice to cut the old bearing and retainer about half to 3/4 of the way through with a cut-off-wheel, then smack it with a chisel to break it. If you cut through the retainer and into the axle you could cause a leak.
 
The seal rides on the axle itself. There are no marks from bearing removal either. The groove I refer to is around the axle, where the seal rides. I see no other reason for the leak except that the seal does not ride properly against the worn spot in the axle. I have never had one leak like this and I have dealt with axles with over 200,000 miles on them.
 
Seems kinda unlikely to me too.

Have you placed the seal on the axle while it's out and made sure it would in fact seal?
 
Yes, I did that just because of the first problem. Fit snug. There is no leakage anywhere except for the drain area from the bearing cover. It is for sure rear end lube, not brake fluid. Got a line on another axle in a week or so. I may pull this one again for the heck of it.....
 
Nope...that was Dave Sanborn.
Click to expand...

Yep, it sure was. I'm glad that "minor" annoyance is finally fixed! I removed that sucker so many times that it got to the point where I could have the axle out and on the workbench in under 5 minutes.

What I did to fix the probelm..... I thoroughly cleaned the tapered area of the axle shaft and measured exactly where the seal was riding on the shaft after the axle was slid in. I noticed that the seal would work much better/tighter (due to the axle's taper design) if it wasn't seated so darn far into the housing. I determined that the seal would be nice and tight on the axle shaft if the seal was installed 1/4" less than it's fully installed position. And that's what I did. I installed the new seal "not all of the way in" to the axle housings seal stop. After about 20 times of pulling the axle and 2 weeks of head-scratching, it hasn't come out (or leaked) since. I can't see any detriment to running the seal not installed all of the way in.... as long as it's not interfering with the bearings retainer and is solidly in place.

Good Luck Pete!
 
Not to hijack too much, but since we are on the topic; what is the fluid capacity for the 8" rear? Should it be filled to the fill hole on the side of the case?
 
Thanks Dave. I thought of that but was not sure if the seal would bother the retainer. I plan on trying that.

As for the fill level, I have always gone to it just coming out of the fill hole or within reach of my pinky finger in the fill hole.
 
"70_Fastback" said:
Not to hijack too much, but since we are on the topic; what is the fluid capacity for the 8" rear? Should it be filled to the fill hole on the side of the case?
Click to expand...

A bit over 2 quarts, IIRC.
 
Well, i installed a new seal this afternoon. Drove it about 10 miles at speeds and no leak so far..... Will not call it good until I put more miles on it. I did leave it about 1/4" from fully seated as Dave suggested. Fingers crossed............
 
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