Okay, so as promised to my third son it's him and me on the brakes. Last night, we took the drums off for the first time since we got the truck. Lots of old cobwebs and stuff. Wanted to eyeball the parts that came with the engine to see if they matched up to what was on the truck and to get a general idea of the condition of things. Inside the rear drum and lining the backing plate is old gelatinous greasy stuff that I'm assuming is gear oil that has leaked past the axle seal. Time to replace axle seals. I'm sure somebody has done them on this site and I'm looking for some tips on removal and installation of same as the shop manual shows the ever present "special tools" made of unobtanium. Thanks, Andy
Not Sure ..If I've done it recently enough to be of much help here Andy . To release the axles you must remove the pumpkin's derby cover and turn the ring gear until you see the flat slotted screw in the big center block between the spider gears , remove this and the pin will slide out allowing removal of the block and spider gears , then the axles can be pushed in 1/4" or so allowing the ' C ' clips to drop into the puddle of nasty gear oil and then the axles will slide out of the banjo . Here's where my memory goes away : on some rear ends the bearing & seal stays on the axle and will need to be pressed off and back on again by your local machine shop , others the bearing & seal remain in the banjo and you must borrow or rent and ' internal puller ' to remove them. Remember to only take the brakes apart on one side at a time so you can look at it in a month when it's time to re-assemble them and not make mistakes . There should be a tiny weep hole leading through the backing plate and the banjo's flange , to faciliate the normal amount of gear oil weep , it's usually clogged up with brake dust & road grime , all glued to-gether with ancient gear oil . It's possible the ' gelatinous mess ' is merely leaked out brake fluid mixed with brake dust..... Lastly , I always like to drop a small rare earth magnet into the bottom of the banjo housing as it'll collect all the ferrous wear particles that these old rigs always seem to have floating 'round in the gear oil...
You trying to tell me that it probably ISN"T the axle seals? Sounds like from the description that they don't go bad often. does sound like the goop on the backing plate and inside the drum COULD be brake fluid and dust and grease/gear oil. Don't forget, this truck was not moved for a very long time before I got it. Is there any way to check the real axle seals before pulling them? Also, you covered removal but not installation of the new ones. I know...I know I have to get the "special installer tool" made from unobtanium.
Rear seals Andy, I did my real seals 3 weeks ago. Had the same issue, the truck had been sitting for 30 years and when I opened the rear wheels it was obvious that the seals had gone. (only one was really bad) I pulled the axles just as described by Nate and in the shop manual. They came out real easy. Not the same for the seals. after studying for a while and trying my bearing puller, I gave up and took them apart with a hammer, cold chissel and vise grips. Their made of thin steel with leather as the seal material and came apart pretty easy after I worked them some. Make sure you use a sharp chissel and stay away from the bearings. You will see that they will fall apart and eventually pop out. (There's two rings inside the seal so you have to pull them out separately) Took about 10 minues each side to get them out. I had some pitting where the old seal sat but decided it was not bad enough to get the axle reworked, but you should look for that. Went back with Timken seals I ordered on the net. Good luck!
Axle Seals Well ; I did sort of cover it , I mentioned there could be two types . Anyways , the original seals were made of leather and rarely wear out unless the bearing goes , often they simply dry out from sitting so if you drain & re-fill the banjo , the fresh gear oil will soften them up again and you'll be O.K. . If , when you turn the axle , you hear / feel that basso profundo rumble that indicates a bad bearing , you're going to need to address that . IIRC , the correct part # seal from CR brand , will still result in a genny-U-wine leather seal sliding out of the box and into your hand . I dunno if any other brand still makes 'em in leather . To install , take the new seal in your hand over to your toolbox and match the metal outer part of it with a large diameter socket , invert the socket and place your junky 1/2" drive extension in it , carefully position the seal and inverted socket and SMACK the open end of the 6" extension with a BFH ~ I use a 3 or 5 # Single Jack for this job . If the seal cocks a little bit , don't panic , drive it until it stops then remove the extension from the socket and tap 'round the edge of the open socket to settle the seal in that last little bit ~ you'll hear/feel it seat , the tap , tap sound will deepen at it hits home , just like a breaing race does . If you're lucky enough to source a real leather seal , soak it in oil for at least 24 hours before installing it to ensure it outlasts you . I hope Steve saved his part number notes or the old box as I'm going back to see Mom's monday morning and won't be near my parts books for over a week ~ sorry Buddy . Any older FLAPS should have a Bower/BCA bearing & seal book or if you're lucky , a Chicago Rawhide (" CR ") book , if you order up a CR seal , make sure you INSIST no substitutions ! . Back to ' is it possibly just break fluid leaking ? ' ~ yes it is , or it could be the seal dried out whilst sitting , what I'd do is : clean it all up and re-do the brake cylinders etc. , then de-grease the old shoes and re-install 'em , fill up the banjo with fresh gear oil ($5.00 says it nasty in there now) and drive it a bit and if it doesn't leak , install the newly relines shoes . if it leaks , then jerk the axles out and re-place the seals , wash the backing plate again (it'll simple this time) and install the re-lined shoes . O.K. Andy ? I hope this helped .
Perfect Sounds like a plan. Ordered the new seals from CP. I'm sure they're not leather, though. Gonna do what you said re: old shoes and new cylinders (ordered them too) and see what happens before I pull the old seals. Truck doesn't have a lot of miles on the drive train (less than 100K). Old seals SHOULD still be good, but I KNOW the cylinders are shot. Need to pull the inspection cover anyway as I planned on replacing the ancient gear oil in the rear with synthetic. Time. God I wish I had more of it. Plan on puting the nose back on the truck with the kids this coming week. I have them Thursday through Sunday for Thanksgiving vacation. Also plan on installing the new windshield with them. THOSE projects should keep their interest sparked as it will finally start to look like a TRUCK again. Got a brandy new core for the fresh air heater local (pricey that), so's when we get this rig on the road this winter we won't freeze whilst driving it. Thanks again, Andy
Seals!! Andy, sounds like Nate has you lined out. He's "the man" when it comes to anything related to these trucks! I did install my seals the same way Nate suggested. Although it only took some light taps to get them to seat. I did put a little permatex #2 on the outside edge of the seal (I believe the shop manual said to do this) so that may have helped them slide in.
?? ' NEW ' Heater Core ?? Say what ? . Who has them ? is this the round core ? . Sounds like you're making good progress Andy , good on ya ! give the kiddies a big hug and feed 'em Turkey , Cranberry Sauce and Mince Pie untill they explode . My boy came over this morning for a few hours , what a treat . we're getting his 1999 Subaru Legacy Outback 4 X 4 station wagon ready for sale , he's buying a newer one next year so all the open exhaust came off to-day and we re-installed the original dual CATS etc. .
