My 55.1 developed a leak at the rear axle seal. When I pulled the axle, I discovered some pitting on the bearing surface. What are my options? Is this minor enough to ignore? Is it repairable? Can I get replacemets?
regards, Leon
Last edited by klhansen; 10/27/202411:58 PM. Reason: fixed image display
It will only get worse, but how long before it causes real trouble (bearing failure) is anyone's guess. [on edit] it also looks like the area where the seal runs is pitted as well. A new seal isn't going to last that long, but you might be able to use a short speedy sleeve over the seal area. The problem with that is you'd need a LOOONG sleeve driver to install it.
Phil (Phak1) repaired his axles by pressing on a sleeve used on car axles, IIRC. Here's a LINK to where he describes it along with a drawing.
Last edited by klhansen; 10/28/202412:15 AM. Reason: added link
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I had a leak one time because of pitting on the sealing surface. For that case my surface just outside of the seal area was not pitted, so I had success by installing the new seal not all the way in to let the seal ride on that clean outer area.
1950 GMC Half Ton Panel, 1958 270, 196(6 or 7?) Saginaw 3-speed with Borg Warner overdrive, 1966 12 Bolt 3.73
I'm still waiting for my local machinist to call back to talk about sleeving the axle. I called Dutchman axles and talked to Zach in sales. They can build me a new one and ship it to Texas for about $275-$300. I'll see how that stacks up against sleeving. The sleeve, #IR1502 is available for $20-$70.
My machinist friend declined, as he didn't have the fixtures to reliably turn an axle. After a lot of calling around, I found a shop that will repair the bearing journal. They will TIG weld up the journal area with hardened steel rod, then grind/polish it down to spec. This is apparently one of their standard services. They said it would cost ~$160. I dropped the axle off today. I expect to have it back by Wednesday.
That's not a bad solution, and not a bad cost. An alternative to tracking down a good used axle.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
The Eutectic metal spray system I purchased recently for rebuilding crankshaft journals has a "hard facing" compound that was included with the kit. Once I get it set up and working, I might experiment with rebuilding those axle shafts. The procedure involves machining a shaft somewhat undersize, putting a series of V grooves in it, building up the shaft slightly oversize, and grinding it to finish diameter. It creates less stress than welding. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
A lot of axle shops will repair your axles for you. Some will even make you a new one if they can. Because they make custom axle lengths, they can spline almost anything you need. Most of them will ship stuff around. Last axle I was playing with, I was thinking of buying Moser axles. I ended up getting some Currie universal, cut to fit axles.
The price you were quoted, seemed to be about average when I was looking around.
I've seen that spray welding demonstrated on a couple of youtube channels (e.g. Abom79) for resizing shafts with conventional bearings. I didn't know they had a hard coat material. I guess the heat is more evenly applied with the spray than with TIG welding.
I got the old bearing cleaned and inspected. It was badly pitted as well.
It's a Hyatt - I think its probably the original one.
I've got my new bearing and seal and gasket and grease. I'm just waiting on the axle now.
It just needs to be straight enough to catch whatever oil might seep thru the seal. It's there to route the oil to the outside of the axle flange. It can probably be tweaked a bit once reinstalled with the wheel studs.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
The outer deflector is about 1/8" from flat. Maybe that'll draw down when I install the lug studs. And I can use some RTV gasket maker to cover the remaining gaps.
The inner deflector, bearing, and seal installed with no drama.
The National 414045 seal I used has two wipers, so hopefully there won't be any seepage for the deflector to collect.
You could flatten that deflector a bit with some shims and a hammer and punch, but the lug studs should flatten it out against the axle flange. Be sure to get that "trough" lined up with the extra hole in the flange between two of the lug studs. A little RTV would be good to use.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
Late to the conversations here, but I just did this on my '38 by replacing the inner race. It looks like this still has an inner bearing race that is replacable? Not sure when GM changed this. The end of it is the joint between where the axle bearing and the seal surface is on the outermost edge. I bought a new replacement pair at the Filling Station in Lebanon, OR.
Last edited by Mark G.; 12/02/20246:15 PM.
One who knows that enough is enough will always have enough. Lao Tzu
Back in the dark ages, (late 1940s-early 50s) stroker crankshafts were made using the metal spray process. The radius of the crankshaft was changed by offset grinding the rod journal, the journal was grooved, and then built back up to standard diameter once the stroke was altered. That probably handles more stress than an axle rehabbed with hard facing spray welding. Jerry
"It is better to be silent and be thought a fool than to speak and eliminate all doubt!" - Abraham Lincoln Cringe and wail in fear, Eloi- - - - -we Morlocks are on the hunt! There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. - Ernest Hemingway Love your enemies and drive 'em nuts!
Mark, you may have car axles. Some of the GM car makes used replaceable inner races. Truck axles (at least the AD series) don't have replaceable races, and the bearing rollers run right on the axle itself. Thus the need for machining to use an inner race or weld repair of the axle bearing surface. Just thinking out loud here, but maybe GM thought the truck axles needed to be larger diameter and not have a smaller diameter where the replaceable seal installs, and a bit more strength by reducing the stress concentration at that point. I think the weld repair that Leon had done would be the best approach to repairing a worn axle.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
