Fun with Ax es, diffs, u-joints, tranny seals!
04-05-11, 05:01 AM
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Knucklehead
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Fun with Ax es, diffs, u-joints, tranny seals!
Well since I've had the car going I've had an issue with the differential leaking, so today I got around to finally pulling it out and re-sealing it. I figured while the diff is out I'll replace the u-joint as well as re-seal the tranny seal at the rear of the tranny.
As I was taking the driveshaft off, first I noticed that the bolts that hold the driveshaft to the differential were not even really tight. This is my fauly really. My setup for some reason is a hybrid of a SA driveshaft with an early GSL differential mated to a GSL-SE rear end (I have the 4x114.3 pattern around). I only had the bolts standard for the later model FB driveshafts so I stacked it with washers and a lock washer to try to keep any play out of it. I guess I didn't do that correct; time to get new bolts.
Next up was removing the axles. I was really expecting this to be a little harder than it was. I read that people say trying to hit it out with a hammer would risk damaging it, but I gave it a shot with some light taps to see if it would magically work, and it did. But that damn bearing on the axles on both sides look like they were scorched! I was kinda disappointed to see that since it wasn't really expected but it's ok.
After that, taking out the differential was a breeze.
I do have a few questions about all of this...how do my axles look? And I'm sure this is easy to confirm, but what is the condition of my bearings on the axles? As I said before, my main objective was to re-seal the differential...what do I use to seal it? RTV?? If so, which color? And how do you get the rear seal out of the tranny? A pick? Is it normal to have that fluid where I pulled out the axles?
Here is some pictures:
As I was taking the driveshaft off, first I noticed that the bolts that hold the driveshaft to the differential were not even really tight. This is my fauly really. My setup for some reason is a hybrid of a SA driveshaft with an early GSL differential mated to a GSL-SE rear end (I have the 4x114.3 pattern around). I only had the bolts standard for the later model FB driveshafts so I stacked it with washers and a lock washer to try to keep any play out of it. I guess I didn't do that correct; time to get new bolts.
Next up was removing the axles. I was really expecting this to be a little harder than it was. I read that people say trying to hit it out with a hammer would risk damaging it, but I gave it a shot with some light taps to see if it would magically work, and it did. But that damn bearing on the axles on both sides look like they were scorched! I was kinda disappointed to see that since it wasn't really expected but it's ok.
After that, taking out the differential was a breeze.
I do have a few questions about all of this...how do my axles look? And I'm sure this is easy to confirm, but what is the condition of my bearings on the axles? As I said before, my main objective was to re-seal the differential...what do I use to seal it? RTV?? If so, which color? And how do you get the rear seal out of the tranny? A pick? Is it normal to have that fluid where I pulled out the axles?
Here is some pictures:
04-05-11, 11:18 AM
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the bearings on the rear axle are actually sealed, they don't see the diff oil. so it looks like yours got wet, i'd clean it all off, and spin the bearing, it should be smooth with no rough spots, no play.
if you decide to change em its not hard you need to buy the bearing and the retaining collar.
if you decide to change the axle seal its easy to pull off, but to install you put the new seal on the AXLE and put the axle in
if you decide to change em its not hard you need to buy the bearing and the retaining collar.
if you decide to change the axle seal its easy to pull off, but to install you put the new seal on the AXLE and put the axle in
