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What is the permanent fix for rear wheel seals

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regularman

regularman

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Working on my 77 and pulling off the rear hubs it was packed with old dried gunky differential grease. I had also noted a small bit of grease on my 71 that had leaked out from the brake drum on one rear wheel. I was just wondering if anyone had a tried and true method of preventing these leaks. I put all new stuff in the 71 when I restored it.
 
Ken-
One of the best suggestions that I've seen is to not fill the differential completely- leave the gear oil at 1/4 to 1/2 inch below the fill hole.
 
Last time I had a leak, I threw away the paper gasket, cleaned both surfaces w/ gas and used a thin bead of RTV.
After I tightened up everything, I put the wheel on and used the lug nuts to really pull it all together.
No leaks over the past 2 years.
 
This is a constant challenge with racers. The two ideas above are good, but I would say nothing will fix it 100%.

Be sure the vent on the top of the diff isn't plugged.
 
I did a write up on the process, posted to this forum, about a year ago and have since posted it on my web site. If you are repeatedly having leaks from your seals, you might want to check for wear (groove where lip seal rides), pitting and corrosion/rough surface. You can get Speedi-Sleeves for them if they are rough.

I've used the procedure I describe dozens of time with 100% success.

https://gerardsgarage.com/Garage/Tech/rearAxleSeal.htm
 
LOL... did a couple of those too... :cheers:
 
kellysguy said:
Yes, 100% effective: https://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/2807057494.html
Click to expand...

Yep. LOL Mine has 110,000 miles on it and it has never marked it's spot. My current crop of Brits all need diapers.

By the way, my comment about the leaks refers to useage in racing.
My race car has Speedi-Sleeves in both sides: still weeps a bit. And before that, I tried polishing the seal area a number of times but always got weeping. I've also tried the "mid-seal" method where an extra seal is pushed down into axle tube housing from the diff side to form a "pre-seal". Also got weeping.
I just think the design was never intended for all that high side-force sloshing. I've talked about this with lots of Spridget racers and I don't hear anyone claiming their rear brakes are bone dry (unless they cut off the outer ends of the axle housing and weld on the non-floating ends and custom axles).
One of my friends contends that in racing the best thing to do is to start with a really straight rear. Most of them are slightly bent. I've swapped out at least four housings, looking for the "best" one. There's a racer in Ohio who straightens them for about $150 and he claims this helps a lot.

mg-miata-sprite.jpg
 
Rear brakes are for parking on hills and bootlegger turns... both are possible with leaky seals.
 
Gerard said:
I did a write up on the process, posted to this forum, about a year ago and have since posted it on my web site. If you are repeatedly having leaks from your seals, you might want to check for wear (groove where lip seal rides), pitting and corrosion/rough surface. You can get Speedi-Sleeves for them if they are rough.

I've used the procedure I describe dozens of time with 100% success.

https://gerardsgarage.com/Garage/Tech/rearAxleSeal.htm
Click to expand...
Thanks Gerard, as always :smile:
 
regularman said:
[
I prefer the real thing to imitations :wink: If I was going for a japanese cars, it would have to be one of the fairlady Datsun types.
Click to expand...

I have a good friend that restores nothing but Datsun Roadsters and builds as nice of one as you could ever want. Even he has recently been won over by owning a Miata.

I tried to buy it from him and I couldn't pry it away from him....

https://www.datsunsports.com/
 
I have a loaded 2011 Miata GT that is completely stock except.....I had a set of Yokohama AD-08's installed. It's fast and is great in the corners.

About 9 months later I bought my Bugeye. Now, if I had to sell one of my toy cars it would be the Miata. The Bugeye is just a ton more fun. :laugh:
 
Kim, call me sometimes, I'll go over with you what I always did to keep them dry, too lengthy for here.
 
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