Axle seals don't fit help!
01-05-2013, 05:36 PM
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Axle seals don't fit help! So, while I was at work today I had my buddy replace my pinion seal and axle seals. Did pinion seal no problem, but when he went to replace the axle seals he noticed that the ones we had bought (PN 8660s) which is supposed to be the replacement part and from what research I have done hundreds of thousands of rebuilds from g bodys to f bodys of all years use this part..any ways when he went to install it, it was noticibly bigger than the one he took out. He says that the seal about the same size as the axle tube it's self and that there was no chance of getting it to work. So he went to the parts store and tried to find something close but that didn't work. So my question is has this happened to someone else? Because as far as I can tell everybody uses timken 8660s why does it not fit my rear?? My car is a 1996 ws.6 M6 Trans am... BTW, yes he did look on the old seals to see if there was a part number on them... There was not!
01-05-2013, 09:13 PM
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I personally didn't see it, I was at work today and haven't been wanting to do it on the ground and since he is a service tech at a ford dealership we just traded cars and he took it to work so he could replace the seals and do the inspection so it could pass. He says he has never seen anything like this. The rear end has been rebuilt by the first owner 8 years ago by a Pontiac dealership where he lived (the original owner is dead and I bought the car 130 miles away from here) My only hope is that when I go to the GM dealership on Monday they can help. I know that when I was into GBodys the 7.5 took that same seal. I really do not know what to make of this. He says that the 8660S will literally not fit inside the tube and that it just is the same size as the hole. He tried going to multiple auto parts stores and trying to match up the part to see if he could find one. One of my last resorts was that maybe it's happened before and the only post I can find was on another website from like 5 years ago and the guy posted about a very similar situation that I had and unfortunately he never posted a fix..
01-05-2013, 09:56 PM
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http://www.camaroz28.com/forums/driv...please-356204/
He says this is like almost exactly what is happening with mine
He says this is like almost exactly what is happening with mine
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01-06-2013, 12:59 AM
#8
That picture almost looks like a axle repair bearing. The seal OD normally mates with the thin outer axle housing tube. The seal in your axle is inside another metal ring that normally is not there. How do the axles look, is there a worn or damaged area inboard of where the axle bearing is currently riding? If so you've got non-stock axle bearings installed.
I could be wrong but the two rear ends I have in the garage have axle seals that don't look like yours.
I could be wrong but the two rear ends I have in the garage have axle seals that don't look like yours.
01-06-2013, 12:57 PM
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Can I knock the repair bearing out and just go with an OEM bearing? I mean he swears the axles look perfect. But if these repair bearings are pressed in did they do damage to the axle tube itself?
01-06-2013, 03:03 PM
#11
You should be able to use standard bearings and seals to replace the repair bearings you currently have installed as long as your axles are good. Maybe the PO replaced the bad axles that were the reason the repair bearings were installed in the first place.
Or could be someone just installed those instead of the correct bearings.
Or could be someone just installed those instead of the correct bearings.
01-06-2013, 08:39 PM
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Yea, I'm thinking they probably installed them because it what was available or some reason that fits along those lines, axles look good so this weekend I'm just going to reinstall OEM bearings.. Went to the parts store today and asked for repair bearing and when he gave it to me and I saw the seal and from the measurements my friend took that it exactly what it was... I've never even heard of a repair bearing until yesterday when I was doing research.. Why not just buy good axles in the first place.. lol Guess you learn stuff everyday. Thanks!
01-15-2013, 11:32 PM
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Just wanted to update this in case anyone has this problem in the future, I did end up having repair bearings in my rear end.. I was going to just replace them with new bearings and seals because my buddy said the axles looked good, but I decided that I didn't want to take any chances so i bought a set of moser factory replacement axles, bearings and seals for 320 shipped not to bad of a deal.. and I'm glad I did it lol Here's some pictures of what I found when I tore them out...
It's always better to do it yourself and not have a friend relay the info to you lol...
pic with the diff cover open fluid looked really good looks like it was rebuild 30,000 miles ago.. because it was lol
bad axle..
the repair bearing that came out
new mosers next to the old factory crappy ones
It's always better to do it yourself and not have a friend relay the info to you lol...
pic with the diff cover open fluid looked really good looks like it was rebuild 30,000 miles ago.. because it was lol
bad axle..
the repair bearing that came out
new mosers next to the old factory crappy ones
