55 buick century rear axles pitted

[Lucibindle]

Pulled my axles out to replace seals and noticed that they are pitted right where the outer seal makes contact. Not sure what to do.Is there somewhere that sells new axles or can mine be repaired or ?

[Beemon]

You could probably have them turned and sleeved at a local machine shop. I had my axle flanges shaved down to fit inside a disc brake hat when I was going to put discs on the rear and they nearly broke their best tip on the lathe. The metal these axles are made from are no joke.

 

I'm not sure how 55's are, but on 56 there are two seals - one in front of the bearing and one on the bearing. If you have a secondary seal, might not be too much to worry about but still check with a machine shop.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Lucibindle said:

Pulled my axles out to replace seals and noticed that they are pitted right where the outer seal makes contact. Not sure what to do.Is there somewhere that sells new axles or can mine be repaired or ?

Or, you can pm someone on this form to sell U nice used ones so U dont have to modify anything! 54and55 Spec/Cent minimum interchange, prolley others. Suggest U dont knee jerk, expensive,  these are not rare.

 

Edited November 2, 2016 by Guest
Dim bulb! (see edit history)

[NTX5467]

Some brands of seals (in many locations on the vehicle) have seals with the seal section moved slightly away from the contact point on the shaft being sealed.  It still installs as normal, just the actual seal section is moved just far enough inboard (usually) to put it on untouched metal.  NOT sure if that's available for your particular application, though, or which brands might do that.

 

What you might do is to get the affected area "dressed" such that no edges exist which might damage the new seal.  Then see how tightly a new seal fits it.  If it still looks "tight", you might sneak by that way.  Such wear grooves are not uncommon, though.

 

What about the bearing surface on the axle shaft?  I'd be MORE concerned about that area of the axle shaft!!

 

When we did medium-duty trucks, we had a machine shop who would re-weld the damaged bearing surface and then machine the built-up area to factory specs.  Key point is to make sure the repaired area has the same hardness as the factory shaft had when new!  Usually took a couple of days, but less expensive than a new shaft.

 

NTX5467

[Lucibindle]

Nevermind. I figured it out. All the pitting is on the inner race. That was easy