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Rear axle aeals
https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=68771		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  volaredon [ Mon Sep 28, 2026 5:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Rear axle aeals
I can find ones that are listed as fitting all day long no problem.
The problem is quality or more correct, lack of. I bought a pair of "precision" from o'wrongleys to which last time I needed a seal for something the manager at that same o'wrongleys told me that national seals is no more, precision brand bought them out.
This is on a full floating style Dana 60. The kind where the axle has to come out before the drum and hub can.
The common numbers are 4250 and 24917. The precision ones well. aren't. When I put it all together I had the rear end on a set of sawhorses under my tree (yeah yeah say what you want about "shade tree")
so i had a place I could hang a chain fall from So I could get it off the horses by myself... I put it all together, put the oil in it, having levelled it the best I could before I added oil
I did tip it each way for a few minutes to make sure plenty of 90 wt got to both bearings in each hub on each side, before I put the wheels/ tires on it. I then rolled the rear end by hand the length of my property over to the garage and bolted it up. I then raised it in the air on my 2 post lift and there it has sat. One week later ( this past Thursday) I noticed a wet streak from the bottom of the backing plate down the inner sidewall of my tire. It can't be brake fluid because I haven't even run the lines to the wheel cylinders
I blame it on the seals' country of origin which is Taiwan. They did look like different material than I usually see on lip seals.
Who makes good seals these days?
I did find several Victor seals on feebay and have a couple of sets coming. But being that brand means they're already old. I hope that's a good thing and not a bad one. Victor seals and gaskets used to be among the best.
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Tue Sep 29, 2026 12:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rear axle aeals
Quote:
I blame it on the seals' country of origin which is Taiwan.
No, that's not it; guess again.
Author:  Rick Covalt [ Tue Sep 29, 2026 4:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rear axle aeals
Quote:
Who makes good seals these days?
The same people that make good valve stems! I just put tires on my Tahoe less than 3 years ago. Maybe 20,000 miles. Just before I left for Clay City race I went to check all my air pressures and guess what? All of them were badly cracked and could have blown at any moment! So I had to pull all 4 wheels and tires and install 4 new valve stems! Rubber fuel line is another place where a lot of junk exists!
Author:  volaredon [ Tue Sep 29, 2026 4:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rear axle aeals
Yup. Been seeing a bunch of problems with those things at work too. Ones that weren't put in very long before
Author:  volaredon [ Thu Oct 01, 2026 2:42 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Rear axle aeals
Quote:
Quote:
I blame it on the seals' country of origin which is Taiwan.
No, that's not it; guess again.
So then what's your wild guess,?
Definitely not my first rodeo installing rear hub deals on these trucks or these axles
Author:  volaredon [ Sun Oct 04, 2026 6:09 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Rear axle aeals
Ok I pulled it back apart and re replaced the seal on the driver side. I've ordered a handful of them from eBay since discovering the leak. Still gotta do the other one. I hate redo's
all I got but one said "made in USA" on them, one "Mexico". I got a couple extra for future needs. Like 6 total.
And even though 3 of the seals I recently got have the same number (2 national and 1 federal mogul) they are made different. The seal lip is wider on the Taiwan made "precision" ones and I noticed after putting them in but before I put them on the rear end that the bearings were trapped and more than "just wouldn't fall out when tipped downward" because of the seal now being "in the way". The bearing had no "wiggle" in and out, the seal lip on those actually made contact with the inner race. I never had the outer races out of the hubs and I put the same bearings in as I took out. I didn't replace those, they looked fine. No excess play with the retainer, no pitting, rolled over smooth, etc.
I did the first side yesterday and used one of the victor 47476 that I got recently.
And I took a new seal to Menards and matched it in with a PVC collar that fits just right on the outer edge to eliminate the possibility that somehow the oak block that I used the first time, hit something it shouldn't have and screwed something up while pounding on the other side of the block?? Nothing protruded outwardly from the seal lip so I'm ruling that out.
With the victor seal in instead of the "precision" and noticed that the bearing wasn't trapped as tightly and had room to move in and out a little . The actual seal lip is a little narrower and definitely looks and feels different than the first seal I got.
These precision were supposed to cross over and be "the same" but they're not.

Also I missed something when I put it together the first time. When I took it all apart, I noticed the hubs had more in and out slop than I like to see in those. "But was dry as a bone" no sign of any leakage.
When I pulled it apart for the 2nd time I noticed that the retainer nut was quite worn where it makes contact with the inner race. I had been thinking about replacing those because of age and more likely the wedge ending up embedded in the inner nylon ring of the nut in the same spot as before (it wasn't, probably because of the wear on the nut allowing the nut to now thread in farther than before) and I went to my bolt cabinet and dug out a used one that I have had there for years.... That one wasn't worn on the back side but looked like its wedge had been taken in and out 20 places around the nut over the years... So I threw that one away and went back to eBay and ordered some more. Apparently none of the local places had them in stock anyway.
Somehow NOS Ford ones are cheaper than ones listed for a Dodge with the same rear end although the "fitment" on the Ford ones list a gazillion Dodges first as to what they fit.. and there they were 1/3 of the price vs dorman ones ordered from any local places. I found a couple of factory Dodge ones and they were $74 ea vs $20 or less for a pair of the ones in the ford packaging haha
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