Rear axle seal

[Glass Pony]

Tiko,
Is there a specific amount of fluid that goes in the rear axle housing? 2qts? 5 qts? 7.5qt?

Mine was a little over 3 qts.

 

[blubuckaroo]

There's nothing wrong with topping off the gearbox to the top when it comes in hot to the lube rack. Just make sure you don't put the plug in until it quits drooling out.
The problem is when it gets a complete change with cold oil.

 

[Timmy390]

I could go along with overfill being the issue if both sides were leaking. If only one side, then the axle/seal is the issue.

I'm running SET20's and I made sure mine was over the fill limit as the 20's need oil. No leaks in the year plus I've had the 20's installed.

Tim

 

[blubuckaroo]

I could go along with overfill being the issue if both sides were leaking. If only one side, then the axle/seal is the issue.

I'm running SET20's and I made sure mine was over the fill limit as the 20's need oil. No leaks in the year plus I've had the 20's installed.

Tim

Well, they may not all leak when overfilled, but why increase the chances of a leak?
A half inch more oil isn't going to make the rear end last any longer.
On a Ford axle, the only thing the oil does at that end of the axle is to lube the seal.

 

[Timmy390]

Well, they may not all leak when overfilled, but why increase the chances of a leak?
A half inch more oil isn't going to make the rear end last any longer.
On a Ford axle, the only thing the oil does at that end of the axle is to lube the seal.

On the same page......I was saying to the OP that if it was overfilled and that was causing the leak, I would expect both sides to be leaking and the OP only has an issue on one side.

Tim

 

[Rustytruck]

If this remains an issue I would grind off the inner edge of the axle seal by 3/16 of an inch so the seal will go in deep enough to get into a clean ground part of the axle shaft. What make and part number are your seals? If there was too much oil because of your tilted housing, oil would have run out when you pulled and replace the seal this time.

Did you check the the shaft rotates properly on the axle shaft bearing and isnt bent in the seal area. When you pulled the worn seal was the wear only in one area of the seal or evenly around the seal?

 

[blubuckaroo]

I've run into seals that were made with a narrow shell. They didn't work well at all, but I ended up using just the shell as an inner spacer for another seal. It moved that seal to a new wear spot on the axle.

 

[Brent13]

I cold filled mine until it leaked out the fill port. I have no leaks at the axles. It is certainly a head scratcher......

 

[Crawdad]

Any updates Tim?

 

[Crawdad]

I think I have it. Fluid is a 1/2" below the fill. New seal seems to be holding for the moment.

Did you use any sort of lubricant on the mating surfaces for both bearing and seal surfaces?

 

[JohnJohn]

did you try putting 2 outer axel seals in stacked next to each other vs. just one?

 

[JohnJohn]

I had the same leak and could not figure out how to resolve it but a double seal worked for me and that was after replacing both the axel shaft, bearing and seal with new ones. I fit two seals in easy and there was enough room. I have only done this on a 77 9" so I don't know if there is less room on the older year 9" housings.
maybe others will chime in.

 

[JohnJohn]

I did not want to do it but it worked for me. I just put some wheel bearing grease on the seal and knocked it in next to the other one and it has not leaked since.

 

[ljsraptor]

My experience with this issue is not all seals are equal. I found some seals have a bigger I.D. where the axles slips through. National brand had the tightest seal which is good and bad as tighter means more friction and a quicker groove on the axle.

You might try polishing the axle where the seal rides. Then use the tighter fitting seal.

Speedie sleeving the axle is also an option if the axle is pitted and or grooved

Did you put put a little oil on the seal before you slid the axles in? If not dry rubber on dry axle can cause damage to the seal.

Is the axle housing (where the bearing slides in) damaged? Mine was damages from an old bearing failure and was SO bad, the bearing over time "oblonged" the cup thus allowing the axle bearing and axle to move up and deform the seal. I replaced my housing cups and that fixed the issue.

Tim

Hey Tim, just found this thread from awhile ago, but hoping to get some insight from you! My bearing housing is damaged, causing a diff leak out of the wheel end since the axle seal cannot seat properly. The very end of my housing is slightly oval-like as opposed to a circle. Guessing a previous owner had an impact that bent both the axle and housing.

Really trying to avoid replacing my whole rear end, so your thread gave me hope about just replacing the housing cups! Would you be able to link out to the parts and any materials you read to help with the project?

I'll be doing this project on a Raptor, not a Bronco, but hoping your experience can at least give me a place to start Thank you in advance!!!

 

[DirtDonk]

Here's the expensive fix raptor. WH Billet Housing Ends
Pretty sure you can still source the standard steel ones, but these are the nice upper end strong stuff.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

Then again, you might even be able to find for sale (here in the SALE section or online somewhere) an entire housing that someone is getting rid of, but in better shape than your damaged one.

Paul

 

[Timmy390]

Hey Tim, just found this thread from awhile ago, but hoping to get some insight from you! My bearing housing is damaged, causing a diff leak out of the wheel end since the axle seal cannot seat properly. The very end of my housing is slightly oval-like as opposed to a circle. Guessing a previous owner had an impact that bent both the axle and housing.

Really trying to avoid replacing my whole rear end, so your thread gave me hope about just replacing the housing cups! Would you be able to link out to the parts and any materials you read to help with the project?

I'll be doing this project on a Raptor, not a Bronco, but hoping your experience can at least give me a place to start Thank you in advance!!!

It's been 10 plus years so I don't have a link to the ones I bought. Got them off eBay. Lots of options so read everything and know what you're getting. I bought the wrong ones and they wouldn't fit inside the axle tubes so I had a local machine shop turn them down to fit. I did this so they installed the same as stock inside the axle tubes. I didn't have a jig so we welded the housing to a 2 post car lift to hold everything. I then used the 3rd member and the axles with the old bearings on them to get everything in alignment. Measured everything before starting and then duplicated those measurements before welding it up. The heat killed the axle bearings but replacements are cheap enough and I have a press so it was no big deal.

No leaks in 10 years......My damage was from a failed axle bearing that ovaled the area in the cup the bearing seats into.

DANG IT...My contributor status is expired.......I got pictures of the process I used. Let me fix the "status" and I'll post up some

Tim

 

[Timmy390]

How I did it...

Tim

 

[Timmy390]

More

Tim