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BE rear axle shafts

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Hairyone

Hairyone

Jedi Trainee
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last bit of re-build. Can anyone shed a little light on this:
I've fitted new bearings (yes they are fully in) new "O" ring & gasket on flange. Put in the shaft & I can't get it fully home onto the gasket, there's about 1/16" gap. I removed the "O" ring & it went fully home. This "O" ring came in the bearing pack, but is it too fat? Will it squash down that much?
I don't want to put the hub & wheel on & then find a loose wheel a few miles down the road coz the "O" rings new compressed.
Tempted to leave it out & use RTV to make seal.
Any thoughts?
 
Put the O ring and gasket on, install the brake drum with the 2 screws tight.
Now put the road wheel on and tighten it, this will pull the axle seals together.
 
Bingo, Frank.
 
O-rings have to be compressed somewhat to seal. Typically the grooves are designed for 15%-20% compression--that is, the groove depth is 80%-85% of the ring diameter. So, if the ring is, say, 0.100" in diameter (I forget exactly how thick it is; probably a little less than this), you'll have maybe a 20-mil gap between the flange and hub before you tighten the bolts. But it shouldn't be more than this, or something is wrong--like the o-ring isn't in right.

The groove SHOULD be wide enough to take up the radial increase in the ring's size as it gets squooshed, but I've noticed that there really isn't what I would consider enough room. So, all you can do is bolt down on the sucka and hope for the best. If I could, I'd increase the groove width on the outside, but that's obviously out of the question unless you have a big lathe.
 
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