D’Oh!
Kinda solves the problem, doesn’t it.
Watching YouTube videos… OMG! Do I have to remove the axle, to remove even the outer seal? And to do that - do I have to disassemble the differential, to remove a clip? It’s not clear that, given Faulkner’s current perch, I have enough room to remove the axle without hitting the wall…
I’d be happy to take my chances on replacing just the outer seal, if there’s a way to extract it without engaging “the mushroom factor”.
Sorry, you gotta pull the axle shaft out. No clip just splines on other end. Make sure the bearing is smooth and not galled, check the race also for galling and heavy discoloration. The bearing is pressed on the shafts. Maybe while you are at it you may want to consider doing the other side. As far as the wall is concerned knock a hole in it so you can take the axle out. 
Dick
I took a look in the morning’s light - there’s plenty of room, if I move Ron’s Torqueflite 
Kidding - nothing in the way. Does Harbor Freight have an axle puller that will work here? Chapter and verse!
Just move that torqueflite tranny to a pallet and ship to Florida. You can rent a axle puller from Advance Auto or Auto Zone or NAPA.
Dick
Wow, I didn’t realize until today how involved this is! I naively thought I could just pull the axle out from here; but of course, the backing plate assembly is what retains the axle. I have to disassemble the whole shebang:
And from the looks of this article, removing the axle is no small feat. Plus, given that the outer seal is leaking, there’s a good chance the bearing is cooked - the inner seal leaked first, and the bearing grease will have been washed away with gear oil. Besides the challenge of getting the axle out with a tool I don’t have, the bearing will have to be pressed off with a tool I don’t have.
If I were Dick Koch, Matthew Keij or John Fowlie, I would consider taking this on. But the weekend mechanic in me says this is not for mere mortals. I’ll be cleaning this up as best as I can, zipping it up and taking it to a local garage with a box of parts for replacement. Once I finish the undercarriage, and hang the exhaust and gas tank, that is.
OK - after my power nap, I’m rethinking this. Yanking the axle out is something I can do, using the “deep well socket” puller trick described in that article, along with the brake drum. But, if I need a bearing, off to the machine shop goes the axle.
The manual says to use a “C-499” axle puller, but doesn’t show a picture. Here’s a picture of a “499” puller that can be bought here, and it looks just like a puller I can rent from Auto Zone:
But, this can’t be it. A C-499 must have a fork or well at the end that slips over the threads of the axle and permits you to snug up the crown nut, and then whack away on the slide hammer. I’m guessing! Can’t find a pic anywhere.
I guess I’ll give the socket/drum trick a shot.
Atta Boy, l was giving up on you.
Dick
I use a slide hammer like the one shown above, I bought a threaded adaptor from the Snap-On dealer that threads onto the slide hammer shaft, and the other threaded end is the same pitch and diameter as the threaded part of the axle. I welded two axle nuts together, so I can screw this onto the axle shaft, then the puller onto the exposed nut. A couple whacks with the slide hammer and the axle is out.
I have pics of this process somewhere, I’ll post them if I locate them.
—John
That’s ingenious, John. I’ve been celebrating MK’s birthday this weekend, but tomorrow I plan to try the “brake drum as axle puller” trick. I’m not going to go crazy - even the author of that article said it only worked on one axle - because I don’t want to risk damaging the drum. If I’m not successful, might you be able to locate that adapter? I’d like to rent it from you if possible.
Dan
I’d be happy to let you use the tools, do you already have the slide hammer?
The brake drum trick works on conventional axles, but our tapered axles I do have doubts.
—John
Thanks John - I could have rented the slide hammer, but there will be no need! You will see from my next post.
Dan
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-play
I 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 stability
At 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 out
But 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 failure
I’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?
Dan
Using the Harbor Freight Weenie Hammer ™ 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.
It looks like the “Ampro” hook-style seal remover is better suited for seals that are more or less flush with the surface:
For a recessed seal, such as the inner axle seal, I’m guessing I need something more along the lines of this:
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.
Found this in my tool stash. Hmmm…
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.
Coming from a Scottish heritage, and not wanting to shell out 130 bucks to pull out a seal that cost 13 bucks, I attempted my Rube Goldberg puller:
…to no avail. The washers, they found no purchase. So, that’s a failure.
Here’s a success story:
Time keeps on slippin’… Into the future.
Guess I’ll shell out those $130 bucks now.
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
Oh, who’s the cutie.
Dick