diesel402004

Howdy all,
I have a persistent leak between my rear hub/drum and I cannot figure out why. It looks like the first pic in BC847's sticky post here. My wheel seals are fine on the hub (doesn't leak into drum interior) but I replaced them anyways. Still get that "wet" thing happening coming from the hub/drum separation area. Any ideas as to what's leaking? Is there a crack in my hub? Thanks all.

D

thrashingcows

A crack in the external area of the hub, could be? Can't think of any other way for fluid to get out.

cougar

That's what mine was, a cracked hub.

diesel402004

That's what I suspected. Could it be dangerous? I have a long road trip planned. Seems like it could affect the integrity of the hub....Probably should address it ASAP eh?

cougar

Yes, you should.
Now, if you could sneak over here real fast and trade yours for mine. The insurance company would never know the difference.

dodgenstein

If the gear lube is coming out between the hub flange and the drum, the tin splash shield is doing exactly what it is designed to do in case of seal failure. The tin shield is designed to duct the lube away from the internals and out to the outside away from your brakes. Be sure the seal surface isn't grooved or the wrong seals were installed.

torquefan

x2. The deflector shields on the 1st gen trucks usually work very well at deflecting seal leakage away from the brakes. Too bad manufacturers stopped using them.

NJTman

That's exactly what happened with my truck. When I bought it, it leaked as you're describing here. When I took the truck apart, all seemed normal. Unfortunately, they had installed the incorrect seals in the truck, and the gear oil was bypassing them into the shield and out the wheel. IT took me a while to figure out which seal was the right one, as there were a couple different ones available. Now that the correct seal is in there, it hasn't leaked since.


BTW.... if the shoes got wet, replace them. I've tried just cleaning them in the past, and they gum up the drum and cause polishing / locking up of the drum during braking.

diesel402004

So, the deflector shield...is that the rounded piece that gets in the way when trying to remove the seal? So it's doing its job of deflecting oil away from internals. On my 91 I could tell if a seal was leaking by seeing it dribble down the backing plate. So maybe I DON'T have a cracked hub? I will pull it apart and put in another seal then. The previous seal was installed backwards, but I put in a slightly used one (correctly) and maybe it's leaking..

Thanks again guys!

D

dodgenstein

The shield is the cup shaped metal piece retained under the heads of the lug studs. Cheaper to try a new seal than a hub...

NJTman

Pictures here.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...t296794p3.html

The same thread contains the information I figured out when I had a leak in my hubs. There are 2 different seals that have the same exact OD, but different ID's. My truck had the smaller ID's on it, and they both failed due to the excessive pressure on the hub popping the retaining spring off of the inside of the seal. Once I switched to the larger ID'd seals, I've yet to have an issue with it.

diesel402004

Got it now! Thanks NJTman. Obviously, the PO on my 91 had changed drums and hadn't put those guards back in. Deffo have dealt with the oil seal issue many times over the years, but hadn't seen the guards before. Nice to know it's not a cracked hub

Jim Lane

When you pull the drum, check the surface where the oil seal rides, if you can feel a groove on the axle tube surface using your fingernail it will need to be repaired,

You repair it by installing a Redi-Sleeve over the old surface and then replace the seal.

Before repair:



After repair:



How to repair a leaking axle seal:
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...51#post2348051

Some will try and seat the seal at a different depth but it usually still leaks.

Fix it right, nasty things happen when the differential runs out of lube oil.

When I had to get a replacement drum on a Sunday night the dummy at the auto parts had installed the drum onto the hub without the slinger, I made him get it out of the trash and redo it correctly, probably thought I wouldn't notice.

Imagine that, trying to fool someone who takes pictures of everything I do.

Jim

torquefan

Repair sleeves are generally a great repair. In this area though, I find it really difficult to press the sleeve on far enough so it doesn't overhang the shoulder of the seal surface that the bearing needs to ride against. Often, the flanged part of the sleeve will have to be carefully removed, then the sleeve must be delicately pressed on the last 1/8 inch so that the wheel bearing will not contact it. It can be done but it needs a light touch.

NJTman

You're too funny...

Do you really take pictures of everything ?


I wouldn't want to be around after than night of corn based mexican food and a half dozen Heinekens. Who knows what kind of pictures you'd want to show us the following afternoon...