Axle leak at backing plate

[SteveHall64Healey]

Michael, in your post regarding orientation of the oil seal, you advise ‘ place the hub on a flat surface with its inboard side face up’. I think you mean place the hub on a flat surface with the OUTBOARD side facing up, then install the oil seal with the channel facing outboard? I checked the Bentley manual (page 208) but unfortunately my illustration is not perfectly clear ...

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I've always tightened them to 100lb-ft. That's the recommendation for lug nuts on most modern cars, but for our old studs it's probably excessive (though I've never snapped one). I'd be comfortable with 80.

 

[steveg]

I've always tightened them to 100lb-ft. That's the recommendation for lug nuts on most modern cars, but for our old studs it's probably excessive (though I've never snapped one). I'd be comfortable with 80.

Bob - don't most modern cars have 1/2" or 13mm studs?

Edit: From www.floorjackshop.com:

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Good point. I believe you are correct.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Steve--

You said:

Michael, in your post regarding orientation of the oil seal, you advise ‘ place the hub on a flat surface with its inboard side face up’. I think you mean place the hub on a flat surface with the OUTBOARD side facing up, then install the oil seal with the channel facing outboard? I checked the Bentley manual (page 208) but unfortunately my illustration is not perfectly clear ...

Let's refine/define our terminology:

The O-ring (let's call it that as opposed to a "seal") and paper gasket are installed on the outboard face of the hub.
The lip seal is installed into the inboard face of the hub by placing the hub on a flat surface--outboard face down, inboard face up--with the "channel" side of the lip seal facing outboard/down and the smooth side facing inboard/up.

I hope this makes things more clear and sometimes a picture is worth 1000 words.

 

[SteveHall64Healey]

Perfect thanks!

 

[SteveHall64Healey]

Seeing Steve’s article in the Healey Marque reminded me that I wanted to close the loop on this. I followed the shop manual to the letter, and used thinner paper to make gaskets as noted above. I’ve driven the car about 500 miles now and put it on the lift today to have a good look. No leaks and the axle is still full topped up. Thanks for the help on this Steve and everyone!