The Ford Barn

Daves55Sedan · 09-24-2018, 10:02 PM

My modified seal puller did not pull the seal out in the slightest. It just bent the inner diameter of the seal outward. I was afraid the seal was gonna be in too tight. Now I know for sure. Will show photos of damage later.
Now I am in the process of manufacturing my own "slide-hammer" type seal puller that is made out of junk I had. Was in the process of welding the sliding weight together when my welding outfit ran out of gas. Will show photos later.
Drilled down into the collar that holds the axle bearing in place with a bit that is nearly as big as the collar is wide. So far, went down into the collar about 3/4 of the way, but the bit became dull. Ho hum.
Will need to come up with something to use as an anvil to set the collar and axle shaft assembly on and I can probably balance it with wood scraps. I sharpened up a couple of heavy chisels well enough to shave your face with. Hopefully they will be good enough to split the collar. More to come later.

Daves55Sedan · 09-25-2018, 11:17 PM

Here is the modified seal puller I used. It should have pulled the seal easily if the seal had not been crushed by the oversize bearing & collar.

Here is the damage that was done by the stubborn seal, still in the axle housing bore.

Forgot to mention, I also tried prying the seal out using the axle shaft partially inserted. All that did was bend the seal more. Hopefully, my homemade slide hammer tool will get it out.

Daves55Sedan · 09-26-2018, 11:00 PM

My welding outfit now back in business so I finished welding the pieces to my homemade "slide-hammer" type seal puller.
You ain't gonna believe this. The dog-gone junk seal puller actually pulled the mangled seal out. Photo below shows mangled seal, the torn up rubber ring part of the seal and the end portion of my seal puller.

Daves55Sedan · 09-26-2018, 11:09 PM

This photo shows the sliding hammer portion of the home-made seal puller. The hammer part consists of a piece of rigid galvanized pipe that I cut the threaded ends off of, a large thick flatwasher, a heavy steel collar with 1/4 inch wall thickness, another flatwasher that fits perfectly inside the collar at one end, and another thick flatwasher that matches the outside diameter of the collar placed at the opposite end. I stuffed another big fat collar inside the outer collar and filled the rest of the empty space with molten lead from old used wheel weights. This is all welded together, then slid onto the long piece of threaded rod. Finally, I used two big thick flatwashers, a nut and locknut at the end of the rod.

bobss396 · 09-28-2018, 11:48 AM

Good job, it worked! You out-smarted an inanimate object. You can probably come up with other uses for the tool, so hang onto it.

Anteek29 · 09-29-2018, 07:56 AM

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Keep that tool...you might need it for the other side shaft bearing when it fails.

56sedandelivery · 09-29-2018, 04:00 PM

I would probably replace both sides at the same time.

Daves55Sedan · 10-03-2018, 11:38 PM

Installing the oil seals in the axle shaft housing proved very challenging. Could not seem to keep the seal going in perfectly straight so it tilted and got hung up. For fear of damaging the seal, I carefully pulled it back out with my homemade slide hammer.
I decided to cut a thin piece of cardboard (like from a cigarette carton or snake cake box). I wrapped a strip of it around the seal and cut it off so that the circumference was about three/fourths of the way around the outer diameter of the seal. I placed the cardboard strip in the larger bore ahead of the ledge where the seal is placed in the housing. Then I inserted the seal. In doing so, the seal was now perfectly centered into the bore and I was able to hammer the seal in past the lip where it had been hanging up previously.
It is a very tight fit. Luckily, I had a 3-1/2 inch, 6-point socket which fit into the bore in the housing perfectly to use as a battering ram. Then just hammered the seal in. Once the seal is set all the way back against the stop, you can just lift the cardboard strip out.
I got both seals installed this way in less than 1/2 hour. Heh!

Daves55Sedan · 10-06-2018, 11:39 PM

So, then on Friday morning, I decided I would try to finish putting the rearend back together and get the rear wheels back on. Since the axle shaft seals and new pinion seal had been previously installed, I began by crawling under the car and cleaning the gasket surface in prep to install the new pumpkin gasket. I had an old tube of RTV gasket maker that was giving me a lot of trouble, but squeezed out enough to smooth it all around with my finger. Then with the gasket in place on the axle housing and sealant on both sides, I rushed to get the pumpkin installed. It really did not want to go in easily, so I got a block of wood and a hammer and used them to hammer the base of the pumpkin down all around. Bit by bit, it moved down into place such that I could begin getting the castle-nuts on part way. Lastly, I took my 9/16 inch socket and cranked them each down all around till the pumpkin was tight against the housing. I tightened the bottom drain plug.
Then I crawled out and used the same tube of sealant to coat the bearing retainer plate gaskets, smearing the sealant evenly with my finger and installing them onto the brake backing plates, applying sealant to the backside of the bearing retainer plates just before installing the shaft. The axle shafts went in easily and the bearing retainer plates slid onto the bolt studs without any problems. Having previously cleaned the threads of the backing plate bolts and the nuts, it was a breeze to tighten down the four nuts attaching the retainer plates.
Then I put the brake drums on then the wheels one side at a time, since jacking the car up high enough on both sides was prohibitive. The raising of the car frame and changing the elevation of the rear axle costed me more time than anything else during the re-assembly, using a bumper jack and two bottle jacks.
Lastly, now that the axle shafts were in place, I could finally fill the axle housing with 90 wt gear oil. Luckily, I had a long round oil container with a long spout and filler nozzle to use. I simply re-filled the container from a large jug of 90 wt as needed until oil ran out the filler hole in the pumpkin.
That was it. By 4:30 pm, the car was running down the road again, hopefully never again to need any rear axle service for the rest of my lifetime.

09-24-2018, 10:02 PM	#21
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	Re: replacing rear axle shaft bearing '55 Ford My modified seal puller did not pull the seal out in the slightest. It just bent the inner diameter of the seal outward. I was afraid the seal was gonna be in too tight. Now I know for sure. Will show photos of damage later. Now I am in the process of manufacturing my own "slide-hammer" type seal puller that is made out of junk I had. Was in the process of welding the sliding weight together when my welding outfit ran out of gas. Will show photos later. Drilled down into the collar that holds the axle bearing in place with a bit that is nearly as big as the collar is wide. So far, went down into the collar about 3/4 of the way, but the bit became dull. Ho hum. Will need to come up with something to use as an anvil to set the collar and axle shaft assembly on and I can probably balance it with wood scraps. I sharpened up a couple of heavy chisels well enough to shave your face with. Hopefully they will be good enough to split the collar. More to come later.

09-28-2018, 11:48 AM	#25
bobss396 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 721	Re: replacing rear axle shaft bearing '55 Ford Good job, it worked! You out-smarted an inanimate object. You can probably come up with other uses for the tool, so hang onto it.

09-29-2018, 07:56 AM	#26
Anteek29 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Santa Maria, CA Posts: 985	Re: replacing rear axle shaft bearing '55 Ford Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) Keep that tool...you might need it for the other side shaft bearing when it fails. __________________ Alan 1929 Special Coupe 1941 Pick-Up 1955 Victoria

09-29-2018, 04:00 PM	#27
56sedandelivery Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: Arkansas Posts: 525	Re: replacing rear axle shaft bearing '55 Ford I would probably replace both sides at the same time.

10-06-2018, 11:39 PM	#29
Daves55Sedan Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Granite City, Illinois Posts: 3,008	Re: replacing rear axle shaft bearing '55 Ford So, then on Friday morning, I decided I would try to finish putting the rearend back together and get the rear wheels back on. Since the axle shaft seals and new pinion seal had been previously installed, I began by crawling under the car and cleaning the gasket surface in prep to install the new pumpkin gasket. I had an old tube of RTV gasket maker that was giving me a lot of trouble, but squeezed out enough to smooth it all around with my finger. Then with the gasket in place on the axle housing and sealant on both sides, I rushed to get the pumpkin installed. It really did not want to go in easily, so I got a block of wood and a hammer and used them to hammer the base of the pumpkin down all around. Bit by bit, it moved down into place such that I could begin getting the castle-nuts on part way. Lastly, I took my 9/16 inch socket and cranked them each down all around till the pumpkin was tight against the housing. I tightened the bottom drain plug. Then I crawled out and used the same tube of sealant to coat the bearing retainer plate gaskets, smearing the sealant evenly with my finger and installing them onto the brake backing plates, applying sealant to the backside of the bearing retainer plates just before installing the shaft. The axle shafts went in easily and the bearing retainer plates slid onto the bolt studs without any problems. Having previously cleaned the threads of the backing plate bolts and the nuts, it was a breeze to tighten down the four nuts attaching the retainer plates. Then I put the brake drums on then the wheels one side at a time, since jacking the car up high enough on both sides was prohibitive. The raising of the car frame and changing the elevation of the rear axle costed me more time than anything else during the re-assembly, using a bumper jack and two bottle jacks. Lastly, now that the axle shafts were in place, I could finally fill the axle housing with 90 wt gear oil. Luckily, I had a long round oil container with a long spout and filler nozzle to use. I simply re-filled the container from a large jug of 90 wt as needed until oil ran out the filler hole in the pumpkin. That was it. By 4:30 pm, the car was running down the road again, hopefully never again to need any rear axle service for the rest of my lifetime.