I just got done addressing this problem on a 55 1st series rear end. Excessive pitting on the seal area. The fix is called a Speedi-Sleeve. Its a very thin stainless sleeve that is pressed onto the shaft. Its so thin the standard seals work just fine. Its a good idea to do a lot of research on how to install these sleeves, or have a shop do it for you. Long story short, you put the axles in the freezer and the sleeves on a 100 watt light bulb, then use a long pipe of the right diameter to drive them on. The shop that did mine used a heat gun, and the pipe and it worked really well. There were multiple reasons I had a shop do it. One is, you don't want the sleeve halfway on the bearings and halfway off.. so you need to install those sleeves precisely where they belong. No chance of leaks after its done right. I am very happy with the solution.
