To Speedi Sleeve or not: 77 Rear Axle Shaft bearing repair

[Crawdad]

I pulled the first repair sleeve after baking for 15 minutes.

I like my sleeves medium rare. I cooked the first sleeve inside the installation tool I made. That way not much heat is lost from grill to press. I know it's overkill but I was worried the sleeve would crack if I didn't act quickly. Surprisingly the sleeve went on very well.

 

[Crawdad]

Put my make-shift installation tool back in the grill

After another 20 minutes I installed the second repair sleeve without any problems. After a couple of hours I will remove any leftover RTV sealant around the repair sleeve. I hope this will fix the area where the outer seal comes in contact with the axle shaft. Only time will tell as I am years away from putting my bronco on the road.

 

[Rustytruck]

Looks like a job well done.

 

[DirtDonk]

Now we can say "those are some fine looking shafts you got there buck" and really mean it this time!;D

Great job. So the outside diameter of the sleeves is now what the old axle surface used to be? Or is it slightly off of the original size?

Paul

 

[Crawdad]

Well only time will tell as far as durability and dependability. It will be years before I find out if they work or not. The sleeves are 0.010" thick so in the end the repaired area is now 1.520"-1.522", originally the stock width was 1.535". You can still see the worn area in the shaft prior to me installing the repair sleeve. They do make a repair sleeve that fits a 1.527" shaft but I didn't see the big deal in replacing the $50 seals I just purchased. It also would have been a final repair area of around 1.547" which I felt was a lil more than I wanted.

 

[73azbronco]

Nice job, but, you centered on the bearing race/circumference and not the axle right? Seeing as it rotates around the bearing, how "off" the axle shaft is, is irrelevant I think.

 

[Crawdad]

Nice job, but, you centered on the bearing race/circumference and not the axle right? Seeing as it rotates around the bearing, how "off" the axle shaft is, is irrelevant I think.

I started out finding dead center by chucking it as far as I could go on the shaft not the race. Used a 1/2" center Drill to reopen the stock hole on that end. I pulled the shaft out about 24" and used a live center. Using a lot of black permanent marker and a dead blow I could only get within 0.007" off that center. So in the end it's that much off from the bearing i pressed on weeks ago. I wanted to explore an option no one was using. It may or may not work in the end. I won't know for sure for a couple of yrs if u keep up with my 77 build. My build is taking a long time.

 

[Crawdad]

Seating surface prep for rear axle seal and axle bearing

I’m installing the rear axle shaft today. I have a few questions about seating surface prep prior to installation on both mating surfaces.

1. Do I install the outer axle seals dry or spray lithium grease, wipe bearing grease or gear oil on the mating surface?

2. Do I take the same approach with the seating surface for the axle shaft bearing?

 

[74 Bronco Billy]

I've always used gear oil, coat liberally, both surfaces, and make sure the spring on the inner seal is in place.

 

[DirtDonk]

I

1. Do I install the outer axle seals dry or spray lithium grease, wipe bearing grease or gear oil on the mating surface?

Even though it's already got a thin layer of sealant on the outer surface of the seal, I always add some silicone sealer to make up for any imperfections (or seal puller gouges!) in the housing.

For the seal around the axle shaft, I also do what Bronco Billy said. Gear lube (but only because it's usually handy) on the seal and some on the axle shaft itself.
Any oil or lubricant should work. Even the grease you have handy. But gear lube is often right there in finger's reach inside the tube when working in this area. Or handy because you're about to put some in the axle when done.

2. Do I take the same approach with the seating surface for the axle shaft bearing?

I use grease or anti-seize. Even though you don't really need it because a little extra rusty resistance to the bearing moving over the years could be a good thing, I hate fighting a rusted-in bearing!
So yeah, I usually apply a thin layer of grease to the outer bearing shell just to keep it from rusting. Don't need it to slip the bearing in, as it's not a tight press fit or anything like that. Just for a longer life where you can remove it.

Obviously you need to be careful at that initial installation point so you don't scrape the seal surface with the axle splines or rusty, dirty pitted shaft sections either. But once it's part of the way in it's easy to keep it off the seal.

Paul