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5 ton rear axle seal fix procedure

MASIC

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losVegasNevada
If needed you can use a pallet jack to remove the whole assembly by jacking the axle at the wheel that you want to remove with a floor jack, slide a pallet jack under the wheel so that the wheel is held between the legs of the jack. Remove the axle shaft, remove the hub nuts and then adjust the jack so that the whole tire, rim, brake drum and inner bearing come off in one piece.
 

jaxsof

Member
584
15
18
Location
Dundalk, MD
Tony, Heavy axles dont lubricate quite like car axles. More like the front on a rear drive car. You MUST pack those bearings well, with a quality qrease. Your Lube Order(LO-9-2320-260-12) calls for GAA which is Grease, Automotive and Artillery(MI1-G-10924) which is Castrol 610, NGLI #2 Grease. Hope this Helps
 

BEASTMASTER

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Burgaw, N.C.
i disagree with the way you've done it. the inside bearing and seal should be installed in the hub first. the way you've done it, when you push the hub on it will just force the seal further onto the spindle because there's nothing to stop it. if you've ever installed an inner seal in anything you KNOW it has to be DRIVEN into the hub.it will NO WAY slide itself into the hub by magic. i've done ALOT of inner seals in my life of 60 yrs and i WISH it were that simple. as long as the outer seal is good you won't see any grease but i would'nt count on the innerseal keeping out water or dirt.
 

eldgenb

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Spokane WA
I am going to share a trade secret with all of you, this is something that we used to change inner wheel seals in the field.
Step by step

DO NOT DISMOUNT THE TIRES FROM THE TRUCK, IF YOU ARE SUPER SINGLED THIS WILL NOT HELP YOU!!

1.remove outer bolts holding in axle and remove axle.
2. remove outer seal, lock nuts, and retaining ring.
3. grab a piece of plywood about 4' long or longer and apply the contents of half a tube of generic bearing grease to board lengthwise about 6" wide.
4. jack up what ever axle you are working on behind the brakes, place the plywood under the entire setup with the grease directly under the tire contact surface.
5. slowly lower the axle assembly down until the tires lightly make contact with the plywood.
6. grab a hold of the entire tire assembly pulling away from the truck allowing the setup to easily slide on the grease with almost no effort.
7. spin the assembly around to access seal, bearings and pretty much everything.
8. reinstall in reverse order.

No broken backs, or marred threads and you can slowly install the unit watching to make sure the seal seats with no problems. As far as I know this has never been covered and I do all of my trucks this way unless I am flipping the hubs. Enjoy.:mrgreen:
 

jpekarek

New member
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Location
Vancouver, WA.
i disagree with the way you've done it. the inside bearing and seal should be installed in the hub first. the way you've done it, when you push the hub on it will just force the seal further onto the spindle because there's nothing to stop it. if you've ever installed an inner seal in anything you KNOW it has to be DRIVEN into the hub.it will NO WAY slide itself into the hub by magic. i've done ALOT of inner seals in my life of 60 yrs and i WISH it were that simple. as long as the outer seal is good you won't see any grease but i would'nt count on the innerseal keeping out water or dirt.
My inner seal slides in and seats against a machined "step" in the axle housing. When the hub is installed, there is no place for the seal to go. It is firmly held against the machined surface.
 

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276
22
18
Location
Hobart, WA
By random chance do you still have to number or packaging for the two seals - need to do one of mine and was going to try and find the seals locally


Thanks

Matt
 

doghead

4 Star General /Moderator
Staff member
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The seals are military specific. You won't find them locally unless you have a mil surplus business near you. NSN numbers are listed in the -20P Tech Manual.
 

kastein

Member
495
26
18
Location
Southbridge MA
Anyone know the proper size wrench for the 5 ton hub nut?
1.5" on my M54A2, plus the Budd nuts

I am going to share a trade secret with all of you, this is something that we used to change inner wheel seals in the field.
Step by step

DO NOT DISMOUNT THE TIRES FROM THE TRUCK, IF YOU ARE SUPER SINGLED THIS WILL NOT HELP YOU!!

1.remove outer bolts holding in axle and remove axle.
2. remove outer seal, lock nuts, and retaining ring.
3. grab a piece of plywood about 4' long or longer and apply the contents of half a tube of generic bearing grease to board lengthwise about 6" wide.
4. jack up what ever axle you are working on behind the brakes, place the plywood under the entire setup with the grease directly under the tire contact surface.
5. slowly lower the axle assembly down until the tires lightly make contact with the plywood.
6. grab a hold of the entire tire assembly pulling away from the truck allowing the setup to easily slide on the grease with almost no effort.
7. spin the assembly around to access seal, bearings and pretty much everything.
8. reinstall in reverse order.

No broken backs, or marred threads and you can slowly install the unit watching to make sure the seal seats with no problems. As far as I know this has never been covered and I do all of my trucks this way unless I am flipping the hubs. Enjoy.:mrgreen:
now THERE is a snazzy trick I am going to have to remember.

jkeparek - thanks a ton for the pics! I didn't know what the names for a lot of those parts were, so a list of steps with no pics just leaves me scratching my head at least for now.
 

MyothersanM1

19K M1 Armor Crewman
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,958
427
68
Location
Culver City, CA
The mechanics in our motorpool would use a dolly consisting of casters and two steel tubes attached to a hoist. The steel tubes could raised and lowered. After jacking the axle and removing axle and spindle nuts, this hoist or jack was placed under the duals. It was then raised to take weight off the spindle. The duals were then simply moved away from the spindle, hub, drum and all by one person. This device was only used in the comfort of the service bays. Never saw a field equivalent.
 

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Floridianson

Well-known member
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Interlachen Fl.
Doing this right now. No chisles buy sockets put inner bearing and seal in first and you don't have to drain diff. Super single 16x20zxl buy my self thank you.

When useing wheel dolly you won't ever catch inside seal on threads.
The inside seal is installed with a seal installing tool into the hub and is a tight fit.
 

Attachments

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Floridianson

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
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Interlachen Fl.
Ran a fleet service and did 27 compleat brakes on big rigs in one week. No that might not be a lot but yes I have done this one or two times.[thumbzup]
 

crasheej

Member
503
5
18
Location
Hermitage,MO
Yes I likie the right tools for the job. When you are out in the bonnies you have to use what you can. I ran heavy equipment shops while in Air Froce and we had the correct tools and I do now for my own shop. But when you are playing at war or are at war for real you do what you have to do with what you have at the time.
 

Floridianson

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
7,409
2,503
113
Location
Interlachen Fl.
Yes I likie the right tools for the job. When you are out in the bonnies you have to use what you can. I ran heavy equipment shops while in Air Froce and we had the correct tools and I do now for my own shop. But when you are playing at war or are at war for real you do what you have to do with what you have at the time.
This is true but at war I would not even worry about a leaking axle seal. It will run fine for months as long as no water is in the mix and the diff will allways have more than enough gear oil in the sump to lube it's self.

Someone asked about sockett size 4 3/8 4 7/8
Another thing I do is never let the hub sit alone on the back bearing and seal on install without the outer bearing in place. This can cause a drop of the hub and can do dammage to inter seal. Try and put outer bearing in as soon as you can then the nut while installing the hub. Then use the nut to pull up the hub to it's final resting place. If you don't have three hands like me have a friend place the outer bearing in as soon and fast as they can. light pressure will hold bearing in place till you or friend can get nut on then tighten down nut as you work the hub on to final.
 
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