OUTER REAR AXLE SEAL

I am in the middle of attempting to replace my drivers side rear axle seal because there was gear oil leaking out of the brake drum.

I have just a few questions if there is anybody who has done this before that is willing to help..


First; Is this the right seal?






Are there any tricks to getting the old seal out?




And is there a way to know if my bearing is bad, it feels really loose and im not sure if that is the way it is supposed to be or not.

Also the oil was leaking into the brake drum, which makes me think that that maybe the bearing or the seal on the inner side of the bearing might be whats bad if the oil is able to travel through it to get to the inside of the brake drum:






Sorry for the bad pictures and thanks in advanced to anyone who might have some advice.

Jake

 

Here is the play in the bearing that I was talking about:

 

That looks fairly normal there is quite a bit of play in the bearing. Its hard to tell over a vid. The $100 question is when you spin the backing plate what sound does it make? if its pretty quite your in good shape. If it grinds you need a new bearing. Some say that the gear oil isnt good for a bearing and suggest replacing it anyways... But scince its going to cost probably 300 bucks (old one needs to be cut off new one pressed on) its not really something you can do yourself unless you have a machine shop. i would suggest checking on it once and awhile.

 

That seal doenst look familar to me (i havent done the rear in over a year so dont quote me)... i would pull the old one and compare.
To get the old one out i just used a mini prybar. To put it back in grease the outside of it and use a can or a block of wood that will fit over the seal.

 

I think that the auto parts store gave the seals to me wrong, the one that I took a picture of is actually the inner seal. That is probably why it doesn't look familiar to you. Luckily I bought both the inner and the outer just in case, I pulled out the one that they told me was the inner and it ended up being the one I needed.

Thanks for the advice, using a block of wood worked.. just hop I didn't damage the new seal putting it in.

 

Thats good to know. I guess I am not sure if it sounds right when I spin it. It doesn't necessarily sound like a grinding noise but I wouldn't say that it is smooth sounding either... hope it is ok

thanks a lot for the help

 

Also is the O-ring that is around the outside of the axle house necissary to replace or can you re-use it if it is not cracking or anything?

 

I would reuse it aslong as its in good shape no chunks or nics taken out of it.