The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Leaking axle seal on '54 rear?

Guys,

Is there a repair sleeve available for the torque tube axle shafts? My axle shaft on the pass side has a wear mark where the seal rides, so the seal always leaks.

How do you guys fix this?

thanks, Chip

Put in another seal and don't seat all the way. Stop about 1/16 before it bottoms.

Chip,

There might be a Speedi-sleeve that will help you.

Tim

What about setting the seal in sealant? If you get a good rtv sealant it should hold up alright cause its not on a moving surface, so long as its very well cleaned before install.

Jeff

Had the same problem on my old 53. Tried to find a Speedi-Sleeve to no avail. Asked about welding - nope. The only thing I could do was try to find better axle shafts. Went thru 10 and 2 okay ones. When you get going on it one thing I learned about seals. There are 2 companies. Chicago-Rawhide and National. CR is flimsy and the lip is not very high whereas the National seal is better in all respects.

Didnt read right before...

Okay, so if its a small nick, how come you couldnt just put a tiny weld on it and grind it down smooth? Its not gonna see a ton of friction or wear there from the rubber seal and I doubt what little heat from a small weld could do any damage to the axle shaft itself.

Rustednuts,
Here is a story from experience:
I had a two seater 61 Scout that I used as a daily driver for years. Same problem with a worn rear axle bearing surface from a seized bearing. Could not find replacement axle, but a "friend" who worked at a machine shop made me a deal to weld up the worn surface and machine it back to original specs. Don't get me wrong, the repair "looked" beautiful to the eye. Little did I know what was hidden underneath.

It worked great for about 500 miles. Luckly, when my right rear wheel parted company with my Scout, rolled across four lanes of traffic and came to a rest on the opposite sidewalk, it didn't bounce off of any oncoming cars, or worse yet, off any pedestrians. Me on the other hand was able to make it to the right shoulder on the three remaining wheels and the emergency brake.

Once we got it towed back to the shop and had a chance to look at the break in the axle, it was clear that the break was clearly stress induced. It was also obvious that it started at the heat affected zone caused by the welding. In other words, the break was caused by the fix.

Every step in the manufacture of an axle from forging, heat treating and machining is geared toward achieving the greatest strength possible. I learned the hard way that welding an axle can create more problems than it solves.

Wow, thanks for the responses.

I was going to install the new seal about 1/16" shallow, as suggested here. That way, the seal will ride on the unworn part of the axle. This axle is pretty worn, a seal groove is worn all the way around the axle.

One gentleman has emailed me offering a NOS RH axle shaft. Its for a '54 Chevy 1/2 ton. Will this fit my '54 Bel-Air sedan?

Thanks! Chip

Chiphead have you looked for a NOS seal that would be leather on E-bay? Call Stacy at Antique Auto Supply in Arlington Texas 817-275-2381. If you shallow set use the rtv and make sure the seal stays flat.

I pulled my axles and spider/side gears. The axles and spider gears are kinda worn. The carrier and R&P look OK.

Is it OK to replace the spider/side gears and cross shaft with NOS parts? Or does all this stuff have to wear in with the carrier?

Anybody got an opinion on replacing rear end parts?

Anyone? Bueller?

Chiphead,

I am no expert but I was recently told the spider gears and the side gears could be "mixed and matched" but the ring and pinion should be replaced as a pair.

I do not know what a cross shaft is (maybe an axle shaft)? Can you find a cross shaft in this picture of the torque tube and rear axle ? (taken from Kieth Hardy's fine website that is part of The Old Car Manual Project.

Tim

look up a user named wdoftexas he has been a good source for gears and other hard parts. As far as the NOS gears, I think that is the way to go. I do't think there is a "matched set" or anything as far as spider gears are concerned. WD sold me NOS spiders and side gears that I will be using when I install 3.55 gears.

Yup, the "5.517 shaft" in that diagram is what I'm calling the cross shaft. You know, goes across the carrier? LOL.