Axel seals & pinion seal

[Karl kostman]

Good Morning All I have a couple questions pertaining to my M35A2 it is a 1971 Jeep with Rockwell axels this weekend I am going to be replacing an axel seal on the back axel it is starting to leak I just noticed, my question is can I just pull the axel out to get at the seal or do I need to pull the wheels all off to get access to the seal? Obviously if all I neede to do was pull the axel it would be an easier replacement? Sorry for my ignorance on this subject but I have not done this on this truck before. Also my front differential is leaking from the front pinion (one not used) any words of advice before I jump into this project would be highly appreciated, you know pre-emptive info to keep me from getting myself into trouble!
Thanks very much for any insight on these projects!

Karl

 

[Marlboro]

There's two seals. One behind the inner bearing and one in front of the outter bearing. They sandwhich the bearings to keep the oil from washing the grease out of the bearing. Also a peice of cork goes in the key way. Taking the tires off is the hardest part of the job

 

[clinto]

axle seals: https://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?5935-leaking-axle-seal-repair

pinion seals: lot of threads out there, do a search.

 

[hndrsonj]

Make sure you read the TM.

 

[OldDominionIron]

I've looked into doing all my seals and came across this.

2.5 TON AXLE SEAL KIT M35 M35A2 DEUCE ROCKWELL AXLE Parts - DragTimes.com

This seems like a decent price to get seals for all six hubs. What do the rest of you think?

I've also seen someone advertising seal kits for $99/axle, including pinion seals, but since my pinion seals aren't leaking I didn't look real hard at it.

 

[hndrsonj]

The cheapest ones I've found are at Erik's Military Surplus online.

 

[hndrsonj]

Here you go: BEARINGS & SEALS

 

[ARYankee]

Doing the rear axles isn't so bad. You really don't have to remove the tires. I didn't.

 

[sandcobra164]

You don't have to pull the rear tires. I lift the axle housing, remove the axle shaft, loosen the spindle nuts, place a furniture dolly underneath the tire / brake drum, lower tires onto it slightly, remove spindle nuts / seal / outer bearing and roll the assembly out from under the truck. Replace inner seal, cleaned and repacked inner bearing, tire / hub assembly, cleaned and repacked outer bearing, seal, spindle nuts, TORQUE TO 50 ft pounds and back off at least a HALF TURN, install axle shaft, lower truck and test drive. Beware of hot hubs, I recommend a heavy truck grease such as Lucas XTRA Heavy Duty or comparable. I've had poor results from "high temperature disc brake" automotive type grease so I would avoid that so I didn't having to do the job a second time (I did). The biggest hurdle from me was just getting out there and doing it. I swear I put that task off way too many times.

 

[Karl kostman]

Good Morning Sandcobra your information is very good and exactly what I wanted to hear, trust that I will purchase the CORRECT grease for this job, I like doing this stuff ONCE not really into having to fix what I already FIXED! Thanks again for your assistance in this matter! Truly appreciated!
Thanks Karl