34 rear end

[knobless]

Never did get an answer on installing new inner rear seals, pulling the rear axles to install them , are the axles tapered or is here a clip inside the housing to remove axles? Also do they make a puller, I have the old drum puller bought some time ago, but works excellent,  have one leaky seal, inner on passenger side but might as well do both,,,also who has them for 34 Dodge, been waiting on a supplier for a month, never got an answer from him if he had them or not,,,,,any info? thanks 

[Taylormade]

I pulled the brake drum with the usual heavy three (mine is five) armed puller.  The axle  is held in place by the friction fit of the two bearing races inside the axel housing, the bearings themselves on the axel and the outer seal which is bolted onto the axel.  I pulled the drum and removed the outer seal.  Then I put the drum back on the axle loosely without the key and replaced the axel bolt, just screwing it on a little bit.  Now I could slide the drum toward me with a nice solid thunk.  This pulls the axle with the bearings attached and the outer bearing race out of the axle housing.  Just keep sliding and they come out slowly - but they will come out.  You’ll need a a smaller puller with a slide weight to get inside and pull the inner bearing race out.  Then you can pry out the inner seal.  No clips the remove.  Youl’ll find shims behind the inner seal and that’s a whole different story.

[hwellens]

Here is a drawing of the rear axle. May help.

Edited July 25, 2020 by hwellens
Add picture (see edit history)

[knobless]

On 7/25/2020 at 9:33 AM, Taylormade said:

I pulled the brake drum with the usual heavy three (mine is five) armed puller.  The axle  is held in place by the friction fit of the two bearing races inside the axel housing, the bearings themselves on the axel and the outer seal which is bolted onto the axel.  I pulled the drum and removed the outer seal.  Then I put the drum back on the axle loosely without the key and replaced the axel bolt, just screwing it on a little bit.  Now I could slide the drum toward me with a nice solid thunk.  This pulls the axle with the bearings attached and the outer bearing race out of the axle housing.  Just keep sliding and they come out slowly - but they will come out.  You’ll need a a smaller puller with a slide weight to get inside and pull the inner bearing race out.  Then you can pry out the inner seal.  No clips the remove.  Youl’ll find shims behind the inner seal and that’s a whole different story.

Thanks,  are the shims available, if they get messed up, ?

 

[knobless]

On 7/25/2020 at 9:45 AM, hwellens said:

Here is a drawing of the rear axle. May help.

Thank you

 

[Taylormade]

I found shims, I think from McMaster-Carr, but the problem is you have to put the axle together to determine the axle play.  But to take it back apart to install the shims, you end up destroying the new inner seals during disassembly.  You can’t get them out without messing them up.  Then what?  Install new seals - which may change axle play?  I have no idea how to solve this problem.  I brought it up in my restoration thread and a bunch of opinions were floated without coming up with any real answers.  When Phil Kennedy, the previous owner, took the axle apart years ago to change the inner seals, he found no shims at all.

 

I just noticed in the illustration knobless posted that the shims are in front of the seal.  This is different than my 32 - I think.  It’s too late to check now, but I will tomorrow and let you know.

Edited July 27, 2020 by Taylormade (see edit history)

[hwellens]

Unless you are changing the bearings, the existing shims should work OK.

Here are some instructions and end play limits:

 

[Kevin bc]

Kevin BC here, When I pulled the seals out of my 30 DC 8, there were no shims either, and that was at 44000miles, so would guess that was the first pull down, so perhaps they did not all need  to be shimmed.

[hwellens]

1 hour ago, Kevin bc said:

Kevin BC here, When I pulled the seals out of my 30 DC 8, there were no shims either, and that was at 44000miles, so would guess that was the first pull down, so perhaps they did not all need  to be shimmed.

Maybe all did not need shims, but, in the 30 Chrysler manual it also shows shims.

[Taylormade]

Funny how your memory fades.  My shims (if I ever had any) were, indeed, located between the inner seal and the inner bearing race as shown in knobless's illustration.  it finally came to me that you still end up destroying the inner seal when you have to pull the inner bearing race out.  There is not enough room to get the puller tabs in there without bending the heck out of the seal.  The only way I can figure out how to do this correctly would be to install the inner race without the seal in place, then install the rest of the axle and measure the axle play and determine the correct amount of shims needed.  Then pull it all apart, install the seal, then the shims, then the inner race and finish putting it all together.  Too bad i didn't figure this out before I installed the inner seals (which are very hard to get and not cheap) and buttoned everything up.