T.W. Sam took a crack at pulling the axle today. Here's a shot to start me off (so I remember to put the springs back on the right way ):
The hardest part of this whole initiative, was loosening the brake fluid line. The guy who replaced my lines really locked the sucker down; I'd say it was overtightened. I brass wire-brushed it all up, tried Liquid Wrench and tapping, but I was in danger of rounding the hex. I briefly considered disconnecting the other end of the line, but gave it one more college try with vise-grips. "Crack!!" It came loose. No need to be that tight.
And here we are with the backing plate removed. A single shim for end-playI had three deep well sockets of different sizes, but same height - I packed them with newspaper to keep them in place, but also to move them off-center so they would not occlude the bearing. The author of the article did it with just two, but I went with three for tripod stabilityAt first, it seemed to easy to be true. But then I realized the differential was turning; I hadn't put the drum key back in, all my tires were off, and the driveshaft was out. D'Oh! So I disassembled, but the key back in, reassembled, and starting cranking down on the crown nut.
It slooooowly eased its way out! But, I ran out of play with the race most of the way out - in fact, I had to use the drum puller again to get the drum off of the axle - but after I removed the drum, I put the crown nut and washer back on, slid an open end wrench behind the washer, gave it a couple taps and the bearing was out.And my good fortune! The race and bearings are in perfect shape, no burning at all. The bearings are soaked with gear oil, of course, I'll have to flush that out (what should I use?) and pack it real well with grease.The backing plate is full of grime, bigly. Should be easy enough to pop the outer seal outBut the inner seal is going to be a challenge. You can see here where there's a little ding in the seal face. Looks like they damaged it, putting it in - I wonder if the neoprene was slightly out of round as a result, and if that contributed to its failureI've tried tugging on it with this seal remover, but it doesn't seem to want to give. The rag is an attempt to protect the well the race sits in. Any ideas for me on how to get that sucker out?
Using the Harbor Freight Weenie Hammer (TM) and a socket extension, the outer seal easily popped out of the backing plate. All cleaned up, ready for mineral spirits and Ospho. Oh yeah! There was another shim glued to the backing plate, it slid off when I started wire brushing. Into the box o' parts for safekeeping.
There's a second part to that article that demonstrated how to use sockets and a brake drum to pull axles - in the second part, he reverses the feet on his slide hammer and uses that to pull the inner seal. I'll check out Auto Zone again, to see if they have a slide hammer puller with an attachment like that.
You thinking what I'm thinking? Washers on those bolts make nice enough feet... And this part is threaded. Maybe I can get the washers to catch the lip of the seal, and with a flat piece of metal across the face of the axle housing as a surface to turn the center bolt against, I can fenagle my own seal puller.
But, for another day. I'm scrubbed up, and it's back to work tomorrow.
Dan - Why spend that kind of money when you can rent the tool set at Advance, Autozone, O'Reilly or NAPA. Since you are at it do both sides an use the money saved to buy new bearings and never have to worry about it again. Then you won't have a tool you will never use again.
Dick
That would be Princess Morah, my granddaughter. Her old man called me "Egon" (Spengler) when he was a kid and we played Ghostbusters. When she was about to be born, and my son asked me if I wanted to be called Grandpop or Pop Pop - I replied, naturally, "I want to be called Egon".
Back to work. The inner seal set in place, my custom-made seal set (rotated judiciously with each tap of the Weenie Hammer (TM)), and fully up against the stop.
I decided that the bearing was OK, I packed it real well and set the axle back in place. And if it ever fails, it will be documented in this thread that Dr. 59 recommended I replace it. I put the race in place, and with light taps, set the race partially in. As suggested in the article, I would let the backing plate with the shims push it in to the right depth.All cleaned up and ready to go, and with the outer seal set. It's actually set a bit deeper than the well, so I went around the perimeter with a socket extender and the Weenie Hammer (TM) to set it flush.Backing plate and shims in place, i went every other nut around the axle, giving a turn with the socket wrench, and snugged up the nuts. The axle turns freely, with no perceptible end play. Noice!
But, Oh Noes - the new cylinder fits fine, but the shoes are 2.5" wide (police car?!?), not 2". They're the wrong size - back to the eBay store from which I bought them. A perfect excuse for a Power Nap.
The right brakes haven't arrived yet - so, back to the salt mines. I still hadn't brushed the area above the rear axle, that I saved for today - and all around the rear spring brackets.
Everything rear of the transmission core is now brushed, with the exception of between the frame and the rockers. Some remains to be osphoed, and everything except for the trunk area needs painting. As I slide down the bannister of life, I will always remember this job as a splinter in my *ss...
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