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Well, after my last cow food run, I noticed a puddle under the left rear tire. Wasn't sure if it was a wheel cylinder or an axle seal, until I got it up in the air, no mistaking that smell, so, out comes the axle. wasn't really much of a task, changed the bearing while I was at it, it and the axle looked good. Rented / borrowed the bearing puller and slide hammer from Auto Zone, took longer to get the tool home than to pull the bearing & seal. I found I had no seal / bearing driver big enough, so a made one from a piece of thick wall pipe, slightly smaller than the outer race, and some 1" square tubing for a handle, & beating surface. Finished it off with 85-140 dino oil, seems rear diff specialists are finding problems with synthetics being too thin when hot, and not adhering to the parts in need of lube.
Not an F150, but I got these seat covers for my Dodge Ram a few weeks ago and finally got round to putting them on pretty happy with them, blend in with my black truck awesome and I got a killer discount which always makes it better!
[QUOTE=Eric Fullerton;5883116]Well, after my last cow food run, I noticed a puddle under the left rear tire. Wasn't sure if it was a wheel cylinder or an axle seal, until I got it up in the air, no mistaking that smell, so, out comes the axle. wasn't really much of a task, changed the bearing while I was at it, it and the axle looked good. Rented / borrowed the bearing puller and slide hammer from Auto Zone, took longer to get the tool home than to pull the bearing & seal. I found I had no seal / bearing driver big enough, so a made one from a piece of thick wall pipe, slightly smaller than the outer race, and some 1" square tubing for a handle, & beating surface. Finished it off with 85-140 dino oil, seems rear diff specialists are finding problems with synthetics being too thin when hot, and not adhering to the parts in need of lube.
Just what I need to do to mine, but I'm going to do both sides bearings/seals, then brakes while I'm at it. Any tips or tricks to getting the job done?
Just what I need to do to mine, but I'm going to do both sides bearings/seals, then brakes while I'm at it. Any tips or tricks to getting the job done?
He was in worse shape than me, as he had a bad axle, but the techniques are solid. buy a name brand bearing and seal, something like National, SKF, Timkin Torrington.
One problem I encountered he didn't address, was: my 8 mm bolt was really tight and the only way I found to stop the ring from rotating was to stuff a shop rag between the ring and pinion. I had a friend who used to build rear ends, and he commonly did that, so I doubt it hurts anything, worked easily and quickly. Get a Felpro gasket for the cover and clean the mating surfaces well. The cover can be taken to the wire wheel, for that reason alone if you are going to use sealer only do it on the cover side. & no silicone, Permatex or something like that is more appropriate. I used the Lucas 85-140 Dino oil, comes highly recommended. 33 ft lbs on the cover bolts BTW. If you do need an axle you might try Yukon, Pretty tough stuff, & not outrageously expensive
Last edited by Eric Fullerton; 08-17-2018 at 07:05 PM.
Just what I need to do to mine, but I'm going to do both sides bearings/seals, then brakes while I'm at it. Any tips or tricks to getting the job done?
I'm not that Eric,,,A couple more thoughts, since you are doing a brake job as well. Mine still had a fair amount of meat left so maybe next year. Anyhow I had a stuck drum, used an adjuster tool to back off the adjustment and it came right off, but I wanted to save the brakes, since you are replacing anyhow, you can be a little more brutal. I would snap a picture or 2 unless you often do drum brakes that is a lot to remember. Brakes according to this Eric; buy the hardware kits and make it all new, definitely new wheel cylinders, Drums; if they are bad enough, you can find them cheap enough these days, it hardly seems worth having the old ones resurfaced.
if you are working above a surface you care about, you need a cookie sheet or something similar under it this is going to be messy.
Last edited by Eric Fullerton; 08-18-2018 at 09:55 AM.
I'm not that Eric,,,A couple more thoughts, since you are doing a brake job as well. Mine still had a fair amount of meat left so maybe next year. Anyhow I had a stuck drum, used an adjuster tool to back off the adjustment and it came right off, but I wanted to save the brakes, since you are replacing anyhow, you can be a little more brutal. I would snap a picture or 2 unless you often do drum brakes that is a lot to remember. Brakes according to this Eric; buy the hardware kits and make it all new, definitely new wheel cylinders, Drums; if they are bad enough, you can find them cheap enough these days, it hardly seems worth having the old ones resurfaced.
if you are working above a surface you care about, you need a cookie sheet or something similar under it this is going to be messy.
Thanks Eric!! This will actually be the first time I've changed out any of this (brakes, bearings, seals, etc.), but I'm hopeful that I can get it done. I've got most of the parts for the brakes (Carlson hardware kit, Wagner shoes), just need to get the Raybestos wheel cylinders and Timken bearings/seals, Felpro gasket from Rock Auto. I'm also getting new C clips and cross pin bolt from them too. I'm hoping the drums are okay but we'll see how they look when I get them off. I probably won't get this done for another month or so, but will get it done! I've done a fair amount of my own work on this truck, so I'm not too hesitant to give this a go! Plus I know if I get stuck, there are lots of great mechanics here that can help!!!
Well I tackled a big job today! Replaced axle seals, bearings, and brakes on the rear axle. Old seal was gone and slinging oil everywhere!
And after:
First time I've done any of this so a big thanks to those of you who provided advice and encouragement!!! Still need to bleed the brakes, but after about 8 hours of it I was a bit tired! When I went in for the night, I set the parking brake and it felt good, and I also have quite a bit of brake pedal too, so I think I got it done right! Figured I saved myself about $500-600 bucks over a shop job!
07-10-2018, 12:16 PM
pretty happy with them, blend in with my black truck awesome and I got a killer discount which always makes it better!
