8 3/4 seals

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dylan_becker

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I just put an 8 3/4 together for my dart swinger. It held grease fine till I started driving it. Now whatever way the car is leaning it leaks oil out by the wheel. Any thoughts? What did I screw up? Brand new seals. Anyone have a diagram of how to put them together? Thanks.

8 3/4- a body- small bolt pattern.
 
Did you replace the axle bearings? If so, it's fairly easy to nick the seal surface which will cause a leak. More than likely if you just replaced the seal only, you didn't install them correctly, damaged them during installation, or didn't set the end play on the axles correctly. There should be many threads here about setting the end play so you might want to do a search.
 
Unless you turned the adjuster, the end play shouldn't change if you just pop in some new seals. If your rear is a clutch type sure grip, it's possible the equalizer button(s) fell out and is now allowing the axle shafts to move in and out. That excessive end play can cause the axle to pump oil right out through the seals. It's kinda hard on the bearings and brakes too. In some cases the buttons can get caught in the gears so I wouldn't drive that car until I checked to see what the problem is.
 
The car leaning is an indicator that something is drastically wrong with the bearing(s) and if the bearing isn't correct it'll leak cause the seal gets distorted. More than likely it damaged the new seal on the side it's leaning.
 
cudamark said:
Unless you turned the adjuster, the end play shouldn't change if you just pop in some new seals. If your rear is a clutch type sure grip, it's possible the equalizer button(s) fell out and is now allowing the axle shafts to move in and out. That excessive end play can cause the axle to pump oil right out through the seals. It's kinda hard on the bearings and brakes too. In some cases the buttons can get caught in the gears so I wouldn't drive that car until I checked to see what the problem is.
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I hate to sound stupid, but how can you tell if the equalizer button(s) are still in place? I have a lot of endplay in both axles in my 8 3/4 rear end. Plus something strange..there are adjusters on both axles, left and right, for the endplay instead of just on the right side. These are aftermarket axles with small bolt pattern.
 
With the axle shafts out, you can see the buttons with a flashlight. If they're missing, you'll see daylight through a 3/8 diameter hole in the center block. It's a 3 piece assy. A button on each side and a roll pin in the middle supposed to hold them in place. It's common for the roll pin to break and allow each button to come out when you pull the axle shaft. Once the button clears the center block, it can fall into the bottom of the axle housing as the only thing holding it to the axle shaft is surface tension. Sometimes it will come all the way out with the axle shaft but usually if falls off inside. The thrust button parts can be reinstalled but you need to pull the 3rd member to install it. You just don't want to drive it that way or you might get those parts caught in the gears and destroy something. This only applies to the clutch type suregrip unit. The non-sure grip and cone type sure grip don't use this design.
 
furydan said:
I hate to sound stupid, but how can you tell if the equalizer button(s) are still in place? I have a lot of endplay in both axles in my 8 3/4 rear end. Plus something strange..there are adjusters on both axles, left and right, for the endplay instead of just on the right side. These are aftermarket axles with small bolt pattern.
Click to expand...
With two adjusters, I'd turn the LH adjustment nut so it's flush with the retainer plate face and then do all the adjusting on the RH. Just make sure you install lock tabs on both sides or the adjusters will move.
 
cudamark said:
With two adjusters, I'd turn the LH adjustment nut so it's flush with the retainer plate face and then do all the adjusting on the RH. Just make sure you install lock tabs on both sides or the adjusters will move.
Click to expand...

The retainer/adjuster on the left side was damaged when the adjuster backed all the way off while driving the car. I am looking at the "green" bearings as a replacement. Your opinion on those bearings? They come with new retainers is the main reason I am considering them. No adjusters needed.
 
A retainer should be easy enough to get. They used to come in a kit that included the bearing, seal, and gasket. If you can't find one, I have new retainers and bearings. Maybe a seal too but I'd have to check. Just replacing the LH bearing and retainer should be cheaper than changing both sides to the green bearings isn't it?
 
Did you put new axle seals in this housing, if you are not fimiliar with these they are in the axle tube about 6 or seven inches , and you can very easily get them crooked and they do not seat right , which will give you a definite leak .
 
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