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TR4/4A Changing rear diff seals

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If it is something I can't do myself at home with the equipment that I have available then I consider it a little difficult. I don't do these at home...I send them out. If they are not done correctly, it can result in bent/broken flanges etc and then you have a bigger problem...

Cheers
Tush
 
Alex, It requires a press and a very shape flange tool to grab the edge of the bearing. HF press $129 and flange tool $59, verses $10 for each for a shop to do it. You will have to take the rear drive shafts off the outer axle and the four bolts that hold that on.
They only come out with the flange in a certain position.


Wayne
 
I guess it varies a lot. Mine (on the Stag) popped right off in my 15 ton press (actual force applied was much less than that), but a buddy took his to a shop and they can't get them apart even with a 70 ton press.
 
Or stop them by here on your way to Florida next month to get out of the cold. LOL

Wayne
 
Probably taking them to a shop is worth it. Less grief and aggravation. I'm guessing by looking at the shop manual the bearing needs to be removed to get to the oil seal. And can the bearing be saved or does it get destroyed getting to the seal?
 
My humble opinion is that taking the axles to a machine shop that doesn't have the fixture to support the flange is a crap shoot. There is a good chance that the flange will be destroyed or it won't come apart. There is a method of replacing the seal without removing the flange, but it does involve some machining the small shoulder on the axle and making a ring to replace it. It is shown here, near the end of the article. https://bullfire.net/TR6/TR6-38/TR6-38.html
Probably a better alternative would be to send them to Phil Jaegeling (I sure someone will chime in with his email address), has the proper equipment, and (I think) only charges for shipping to dissassemble the axles.
Berry
 
Alex Grant said:
I'm guessing by looking at the shop manual the bearing needs to be removed to get to the oil seal.
Click to expand...
The bearing doesn't need to come off (assuming you can get the flange off). The seal is in the retaining plate that you take off before removing the bearing from the shaft.
 
titanic said:
My humble opinion is that taking the axles to a machine shop that doesn't have the fixture to support the flange is a crap shoot.
Click to expand...
Come to think of it, that may be why it worked for me. I've got a pair of press plates that fit perfectly behind the flange. When I modified some plates to fit that well behind the rear hubs (for my solid axle TR), they started coming apart much easier as well.
 
Randall-Removing the bearing was an alternative to removing the flange. It is necessary to remove either the flange or bearing to remove the retaining plate with the seal. Kind a novel approach, I thought.
Berry
 
titanic said:
Randall-Removing the bearing was an alternative to removing the flange. It is necessary to remove either the flange or bearing to remove the retaining plate with the seal. Kind a novel approach, I thought.
Berry
Click to expand...
Understood, Berry. I was replying to Alex, not you. Hopefully I've made that clearer now.
 
Finally got around to changing seals on the diff. I was able to press out one of the axles with my 12 ton press, but the other one was more stubborn. Took it to a friends shop and got axle out with 30 ton press, glad I did this , the seals were shot.
 
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