Recently I found on Ebay rubber-type seals for the U-Joint ball assembly I think they came from California somewhere and were about $20 plus shipping, the seals are angle cut, one large for the ball collar area and a smaller one for the threaded collar. I've been fighting the leak at the collar forever using the cork seal. I have tightened the collar with big channel locks, and a large pipe wrench. I think the use of those two tools might get the collar slightly out of shape, sort of like egg-shaped. I got another assembly from a used axle and used that threaded collar with the rubber-type seal, still got a leak, bought a chain wrench off Ebay (looks like a bicycle chain), and used that tool as it wraps around the collar applying pressure more evenly, and tightened it as tight as I could. Still got a drop of lubricant, so I sealed both sides of that collar with a Permatex product that is gear oil resistant. I'm now in the test phase to see if the drops will stop, I know the collar is supposed to slip on the torque tube as the suspension moves so I'll be checking that after each drive. In the 1938 shop manual it mentions using a special tool to tighten that collar, and after thinking about that is when I looked into the chain wrench, probably what GM used.
Glen
1938 half ton pickup
