deuce rear axle seal

i've noticed some 90 wt. on the inside of the rear rim. i'm going to be swapping tires soon and this will be a good time to deal with this. have you found this to be just a seal change or something more serious? i'd like to have the parts on hand before i tear into it.

I believe you will need an inner and outer grease seal. Also check the piece of cork in the key way slot. You will need a drive flange gasket. One of each per wheel.

Nope, more than likely, its the cork wedge for the outer seal. Often guys just need to pull the assembly apart and either, make a new wedge or stuff some RTV in there.

I highly recommend you look at the TM and posts that deal with axle seal leaks to understand why it is leaking and where it is leaking from and to.
In short: You would remove the drive flange and pull the drive shaft, then bend lock washer and remove axle nuts (3 inch hex socket needed) and outer seal and wheel bearing. Then pull hub and brake drum as a unit and remove inner wheel bearing and seal.

I have done all seals on mine; With the "experience" of that, if I had a simple leak, I'd now probably pull the shaft and have a good look at where the oil is leaking from. When it has not yet upset the inner wheel bearing and caused the cruddy grease/oil balls to form everywhere, I had good success only removing the outer seal, outer bearing - nothing else - cleaning and repacking same bearing, cleaning and replacing same seal, assembling with correct axle nut torque - and no more leaks. I prefer black RTV in the key way instead of a piece of cork and I also use black RTV instead of the axle flange paper seal. Just saying. There is the "full procedure" to do and there is the abbreviated "fix" that may yield the same result.

If you have never done that job, I recommend you do pull the hub and drum off and check the wheel bearings and brakes while you are at it. Gives you an idea what the rest of the brakes are likely to look like. Wheel bearings like to be wiped clean and re-packed with fresh grease.
If you have access to a pallet jack, you can pull duals, brake drum and hub as one unit, greatly speeding up the process. Always be careful to not scratch the axle stub or damage the bearings.

Instead of RTV I use "The Right Stuff." It's black like RTV, but is impervious to oils, fuels, solvents, etc...and instantly sets up as soon as you apply it. It is widely available at NAPA, Carquest, and I've even seen it at some O'Reilly's.

I've yet to have a leak from anywhere I've applied it.

Your leak may just be the cork plug. But if you are able, pulling the hubs is a great idea. You can check your shoes, wheel cylinders, bearings etc. New seals are less than $70.00 per axle and you will know that everything is ok. (PM me if you need a link to parts). You may also have a differential that is overfilled or a clogged vent. This is all things you can check while your doing your maintenance.

...for everything cattlerepairman said, except maybe the hex socket......
Spindle nuts are 3"-octogonal. (= 8 flats - not six; for the common user...)

I'm sure that was a typo.




G.

cattlerepairman said:

I highly recommend .........

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gringeltaube said:

...for everything cattlerepairman said, except maybe the hex socket......
Spindle nuts are 3"-octogonal. (= 8 flats - not six; for the common user...)

I'm sure that was a typo.

G.

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Yes! I should know...I use it upside down in the cab as a cup holder!

cattlerepairman said:

Yes! I should know...I use it upside down in the cab as a cup holder!

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Who in their right mind likes their cups smelling like 90wt?

Lots of good advice from all. I noticed you said on the inside of rear drum and when its on the outside of drum then the grease slingers are working correctly. When oil / grease shows up on the inside of the drum and on the brakes then the slingers are cloged. When you remove the drum and look inside from the brake side you will see a plate attched to the drum and behind that plate there are holes in the drum that let the grease / oil come out if there is a leak. You do not have to remove the plate but try and see / make shure these holes are cleaned out. Don't think you will be able to see them on the Deuce because you can't get your head inside of the drum far enough. ( 5 ton you can lol ) but make shure the holes are open so next time if ever the leak does not grease out the brake shoes.

It's actually a crazy easy job. Be sure to use a jackstand. Clean everything well.

it would be great to work on cement and use this
http://www.wimp.com/hydraulicchair/
but We gottah do it in the dirt

Make sure your axle vent isn't clogged either.

i haven't looked closely yet to see exactly where its coming from, i just know its on the inner rear rim and down the tire. as far as parts go im looking for vendors that have fresh good stock, not chinese knock off parts or 30 year old surplus parts. iv'e used bolth on my wc 12 and had problems. i'm happy to step up and buy good parts.
thanks for the input gents.

When do you put the RTV in the keyway immediately after the outer bearing or after the outer seal but before the axle nut and lockwasher?

I dont use RTV. but have used the corks wedges or I just put the bearing on then crammed a good size peice of paper towel in the keyway with a flat blade screwdriver then put on the lockwasher then last nut.

akagi111012 said:

When do you put the RTV in the keyway immediately after the outer bearing or after the outer seal but before the axle nut and lockwasher?

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I put RTV in the keyway for each piece. Kind of topped it off if you will. After the outer nut went on I smeared it flat. No leaks!

Working on Red's 1962 M35A1. Got the passenger rear axle out and pulled the hub. The bearings where poring axle lube and of course the brake shoes where soaked with oil. I found no evidence of a cork plug in the key way. I checked the axle vent and it is open. Cleaned it anyway and put it back in. Cleaned the backing plate, put a new slave on and mounted new shoes. Then packed the bearings and the hub and back on it went. Cork and that Right Stuff. I like that RTV I will use it from now on.

Went to the rear driver side and pulled the axle and took the hub nuts off. Here I found a piece of cork in the key way. Pulled the hub and the bearings look good with only bearing grease. But guess what the shoes where soaked in oil like the other side!!!

I can only think that whoever did the bearings last time did not do anything about the brake shoes. That is a crazy bad thing to do.

Do any of you know of a NAPA (or other non-surplus supplier) part number for the inner and outer hub seal?

brianp454 said:

Do any of you know of a NAPA (or other non-surplus supplier) part number for the inner and outer hub seal?

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Rears: surplus only. No civilian crossover.

Front: Inner, there is a Napa #, it's here somewhere (i.e. search for it)
Front: Outer: Surplus only

EDIT: Here's the front: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?86613-OK-did-a-search-front-axle-seal