Green Bearing 8.75 Axle Leak

-

EmersonC

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 28, 2011
Messages
116
Reaction score
1
Location
Seattle
I have a 66 dart that I changed out the rearend so I could do a brake conversion. Currently running Yukon axles and have the green bearings on the 8.75. This conversion was about 6 months ago now and I have a leak on the driver side axle making one hell of a mess and will have to get new break pads.

Before I spend the $40 to get new seals and more for break pads I wanted to run things by the forum to see if there is something that I can check first.

Could it be something just with the inner seal that needs to be fixed so I dont have to have a new bearing pressed on? Where should I start checking? Thanks


PS the brakes are "Right Stuff." Do all pads have the same fit or since this is aftermarket do I have to go through Right Stuff again or can I search around for different makers? And any suggestions for a daily driver?
 
If you have sealed "green" bearings, there would be no leak unless the housing is screwed up, or the bearing is bad
 
If you have sealed "green" bearings, there would be no leak unless the housing is screwed up, or the bearing is bad

and make sure your rear end vent is open and clean

X2 ^^^^

IMO green bearings are supposed to be sealed but the inner seal is what really holds the oil in.

As for the brake shoes, if your going to replace them I'd use the same type shoes as the friction coefficient is different on different shoes. But you may be able to clean them up with some good high powered brake cleaner. I had a axle seal let go on mine shortly after I rebuilt it and soaked the shoes on one side and I used 2 cans of good brake clean on the shoes and they were fine. 10,000 miles on it now and they look and work like new yet
 
When putting the axle in did you lube up the O Ring on the bearing at all? If not you might have tore it a hair putting it in dry and now it is leaking? I had a new sending unit on a gas tank leaking like a sun of a gun one time. I pulled it apart and used a good bit of lithium grease on the gasket both sides before I put it back on and it never leaked again.
 
I had the same problem on my racecar.
The green bearings had been in it for several years & just had one side started to leak mid-way thru last season.
I pulled the axle, inspected the o-ring. no concern found.
I then noticed that the inner seals were not there.
Picked up replacements from Orilley's, the price was resonable. They weren't the rubber coated seals like the OEM ones, which was fine with me.
You need to make sure you drive them in far enough to clear the retainer lock ring on the green bearing.
No more leaks.
I agree, the o-ring should be able to seal it. I'm assuming that over time the o-ring can shrink.
 
I'm going to pull the axle out tomorrow and take a real close look at everything. It might be possible the vent is blocked, that will be the first thing I look for.
To be honest I can't remember if I lubed up the o ring on the bearing. I'll take s close look tomorrow.
I'll keep you all updated. Thanks
 
I was told you can run the green bearings without the inner seals, but I installed new inner seals anyway when i put mine together. I figured if anything gets past the first seal the o-ring on the green bearing would take care of it.
 
and make sure your rear end vent is open and clean


Finally it stopped raining and I was able to take a look at the car. I am not 100% sure where the vent is located. But I did find a hole on the top of the driver side shaft if the housing. I had a Y block for the brakes screwed into it. So I unscrewed that and secured the y block somewhere else. Is this the vent your talking about?

My guess is that if that was blocked as things heat up and expand there is no where for the pressur to go so out the axle seal it went. Do you think that the seal is done for or since this vent is open I wont have any more problems? Thanks
 
There is a special bolt, available thru Year One or a used one, that retains the brake hose block.
It also has the vent on it as well.
 
I was told you can run the green bearings without the inner seals, but I installed new inner seals anyway when i put mine together. I figured if anything gets past the first seal the o-ring on the green bearing would take care of it.

Bingo, Cheap insurance, less headaches.
 
Finally it stopped raining and I was able to take a look at the car. I am not 100% sure where the vent is located. But I did find a hole on the top of the driver side shaft if the housing. I had a Y block for the brakes screwed into it. So I unscrewed that and secured the y block somewhere else. Is this the vent your talking about?

My guess is that if that was blocked as things heat up and expand there is no where for the pressur to go so out the axle seal it went. Do you think that the seal is done for or since this vent is open I wont have any more problems? Thanks

Yes, the special bolt/vent assy. is what holds the brake tee in place. If you used a regular bolt you eliminated the vent and that's your problem. The seal might still be ok but the bearings are packed with grease and if it blew gear lube out I'm sure it washed the grease out of the bearings so you need to pull the axle, carefully pull back the seal and pack it with grease. Since you have it out you might as well replace the seal so you know it's ok.
 
Yes, the special bolt/vent assy. is what holds the brake tee in place. If you used a regular bolt you eliminated the vent and that's your problem. The seal might still be ok but the bearings are packed with grease and if it blew gear lube out I'm sure it washed the grease out of the bearings so you need to pull the axle, carefully pull back the seal and pack it with grease. Since you have it out you might as well replace the seal so you know it's ok.


Good idea, better to fix things now than in 2 months. Do you know were I can get the seals? All I hve seen online are for the whole set
 
I bought some at O'Reiley's a couple yrs. back. Not sure if they still have them but it's worth a try. If they don't and your not in a big hurry I bet www.rockauto.com has them. Just have to wait a few days for them to arrive
 
You can get the axle housing seals at NAPA. Part number 15460


So I got the NAPA 15460 and it did not fit. I put it into the the housing and hammered it in but it did not go further in and the axle when put in did not even come close to to fitting all the way in.
Maybe I need to hammer it in further? I'm thinking maybe there is a different size. Anyone have some picture?
 
So I got the NAPA 15460 and it did not fit. I put it into the the housing and hammered it in but it did not go further in and the axle when put in did not even come close to to fitting all the way in.
Maybe I need to hammer it in further? I'm thinking maybe there is a different size. Anyone have some picture?

Is your axle housing stock?

I ran into this with an 8 3/4" housing I bought. Turns out the guy I bought it from shortens truck axles to A body width and installs new housing ends. Because the new ends are designed for green bearings, the shoulder isn't deep enough to install the inner axle seals.

On a stock housing end, if you measure from the inside of the outer flange to the end of the welded shoulder of the housing end its usually around 2 1/8" to 2 1/4". If the housing end is much shorter than that, it may be an aftermarket housing end, and doesn't have enough room for the inner seal.
 
So I got the NAPA 15460 and it did not fit. I put it into the the housing and hammered it in but it did not go further in and the axle when put in did not even come close to to fitting all the way in.
Maybe I need to hammer it in further? I'm thinking maybe there is a different size. Anyone have some picture?

Since your seal isn't going in maybe you should post some pictures of what you have so the members can help you with the information you need.
 
Ya I realized after I put it all back together I should have taken pictured :( 77bulnblu you are totally right. The guy I got the housing from said it wad a truck unit that he shortened. That totally makes sense. While things were out I soaked the pads in brake cleaner and cleaned all the other parts.originally I had the vent closed and in hoping that was why fluid was leaking out. Unfortunately I did not have bearing grease with me, so soon I'll have to take it apart again to repack the bearings. I plan in keeping an eye on it to see if it still leaks with the vent open.
BTW when everything was disassembled I inspected the parts and they all looked fine.
 
Yeah I really dislike the fact that the replacement housing ends aren't deep enough for inner seals. Even though they aren't really necessary with the green bearings its not a bad idea to have them anyway, as a few folks have pointed out. It also means you can't ever run tapered bearings, only the green bearings in that housing. The stock style tapered bearings need to have the inner seal.

After I figured out the one I bought was like that, I sent it back. I run tapered bearings, never been a fan of the green bearings. Fortunately the seller worked with me to get a housing that had stock ends on it. He never specified that the housings he was selling were for green bearings only, which is a pretty important piece of information.
 
I know this is old, but I'm having a leak as well. I have green bearings, but also have the inner seals? Is this possible?

20170507_162631.jpg
 
It's possible with the stock housing ends, they're deep enough to use the inner seals with the green bearings.

If you're pushing oil past the inner seal and the o-ring on the green bearings I would suspect your have a blocked axle vent and are building up a little pressure. Either that or both the inner seal and the o-ring are damaged.
 
-
Back
Top