Rear Axle: Removing Dana 44 pinion seal

[whitehawk759]

Am replacing the Dana 27 in my Hawk with a Dana 44, just replacing the seals before installing it. I have searched back threads but found nothing on tricks for removing an original type pinion seal. Any one have a trick. I also remember that the drive line for the 44 is shorter but I can't remember by how much, 1 to 1.5 inches as I remember? Don

[Bud]

The pinion seal is easily removed with a tool meant for that purpose. The tool has a hook on one end and a place on the other end to strike with a hammer to remove the seal. It takes longer to remove the rear yoke on the drive shaft than it does to replace the seal. Bud

[r1lark]

The pinion seal is easily removed with a tool meant for that purpose. The tool has a hook on one end and a place on the other end to strike with a hammer to remove the seal. It takes longer to remove the rear yoke on the drive shaft than it does to replace the seal. Bud

Or, a slide hammer with a hook on the end.

[TWChamp]

I've also removed pinion seals by driving a thin screwdriver into the metal lip, then prying it out.

[whitehawk759]

The pinion seal is easily removed with a tool meant for that purpose. The tool has a hook on one end and a place on the other end to strike with a hammer to remove the seal. It takes longer to remove the rear yoke on the drive shaft than it does to replace the seal. Bud

Bud: The rear yoke slide right off with just a screw driver as a lever. The original seal has no lip on the outside, the recommended 5778 Nathanial seal does. I do not have the proper Studebaker tool. I have removed other seals as TWChamp suggested, but with no outer lip that's not possible. I do have a slide hammer, as Paul suggested, so I will try that.
Since this rear end was already out of the car I confess I forgot to mark the yoke, any suggestions there.

I also am seeing some oil stains of the back of the brake plates. How easy is it to replace the inner axle seals? Don

[TWChamp]

I always marked the driveshaft parts so they go back together exactly as the came apart, but the rear yoke shouldn't matter as far as I know.

[JoeHall]

Oil stains on the brake backing plates are no problem. As for the axle seals, they are more to keep dust out than to seal oil in. If the oil level rises to the felt lip of the seal, it passes on outward, the the backing plates, and drips out a drain hole (unless the hole is plugged up). Best way to avoid oil spilling past the felt seals is to run it about 1/4" to 1/2" below the edge of the fill plug. Also, avoid parking on hillsides. That may not be a problem for some, but it is something I am ever mindful of here in Kentucky.

As for the pinion seal, just keep at it, till you find the right tool for the job. I have used a tie rod pickle fork, with one side cut off of it. The remaining side is super strong, angles two different directions, as needed, and gets inside far enough to catch the inner lip of the seal.

[Jeffry Cassel]

Years ago I bought many boxes of Studebaker special tools at a dealers auction. The pinion seal remover has been a blessing. I'll research it and, if feasible, blog it. There are seal removers, but most of them mangle the seal and do not remove them especially well. If you are lucky, the hammer puller sometimes works.

[StudeRich]

Oil stains on the brake backing plates are no problem. As for the axle seals, they are more to keep dust out than to seal oil in. If the oil level rises to the felt lip of the seal, it passes on outward, the the backing plates, and drips out a drain hole (unless the hole is plugged up). Best way to avoid oil spilling past the felt seals is to run it about 1/4" to 1/2" below the edge of the fill plug. Also, avoid parking on hillsides. That may not be a problem for some, but it is something I am ever mindful of here in Kentucky./Cut/

None of the Rear Axle leaking happens quite this way.
The 90 Wt. Gear Lube is held in by the INNER seal NOT the Felt Outer "Dust Seal".

When a good fresh Leather or Neoprene INNER seal is SQUARELY installed in the Housing, it would take a lot to make Oil pass through it, like maybe pressure & heat buildup from a plugged Vent or a rough surface on the Axle.

Other Mfg.'s mostly more recent than Studebaker, use a a Popit valve and hose mounted above "puddle splash/flood level" to vent the Diff. but Dana used only a very small drilled hole near the Top of the axle tube for Studebaker Axles.

[JoeHall]

None of the Rear Axle leaking happens quite this way.
The 90 Wt. Gear Lube is held in by the INNER seal NOT the Felt Outer "Dust Seal".

When a good fresh Leather or Neoprene INNER seal is SQUARELY installed in the Housing, it would take a lot to make Oil pass through it, like maybe pressure & heat buildup from a plugged Vent or a rough surface on the Axle.

Other Mfg.'s mostly more recent than Studebaker, use a a Popit valve and hose mounted above "puddle splash/flood level" to vent the Diff. but Dana used only a very small drilled hole near the Top of the axle tube for Studebaker Axles.

Uh, yes, they leak exactly the way I said. Perhaps you are confusing the outer felt seal on the brake backing plate, with the inner seal inside the axle tube. I was referring to the inner seal. I have removed and installed many, many rear axles, and have yet to have one that did not slip through that tube seal without at least .050" clearance, regardless if the seal is new or old. I can make any Stude leak (out the flange drain hole) in an hour or less, by parking it on a hillside, as described above. And if left parked overnight, there will be a puddle of oil, and maybe even on the inside or the tire.

The oil will simply spill over the inner seal, down the tube, and out the drain hole in the brake backing plate/axle tube flange. The vent hole, if clogged, may exacerbate the situation, but gravity alone will cause the spill over, and exit through drain hole. Air pressure cannot seriously build anyway, since there are several other exits for the air, i.e. out the same drain holes the oil will exit.

None of the above is rocket science. All one needs to understand is gravity, and not mistake the tube seal for a real, "seal". It is more of a dust shield. But if still unable to understand it, just follow the oil trail.

If that is a seal, where is the matching wear pattern on the axle? There is none because, once installed, there is no contact between the seal lip and the axle surface. I have even seen some repros made of felt.

[StudeRich]

Funny how 2 people can work on dozens of the same Cars and see 2 DIFFERENT and opposite situations.

Sure I had one of Dozens of Studes. leak (my '54 Champion) when parked tilted to the Right, but it was a poor condition, old Leather ORIGINAL Seal that when replaced cured it.

I'll Bet that you can turn a Stude. on it's Side and it would make NO difference, no leak with the proper Neoprene Seal properly installed on a Good Axle! Joe must have a lot of Bent Axles!

Every Axle I have seen (Many), had a clear polished machined area where the Seal wiped it, behind the Bearing.

And, I never have seen one with the Wrong Inner Seal made of Felt, the factory Never used one.