KEK Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Hello everyone - I finally got around to pulling the rear wheel hub so I can replace the axle seal on my model 24. I thought I would remove the wheel bearing and repack it while the hub was off. The bearing doesn’t appear to just slide out. Do I need some sort of puller to remove it? It almost looks like a large washer is holding it in the hub - see photo. I don’t want to start prying on it until I get some advice… I can see the felt seal that needs replaced sandwhiched between the shedder. I read elsewhere on the forum that the shedder is held together by 2 spot welds. My shedder does not seem to have spot welds but there are a series of tabs around the hub- see photo. Any guidance on how to take the shedder apart so I can replace the felt would be appreciated. Thank you, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Ken: Your internal taper on the hub looks better than what was on my car. The rear axle bearing should pull out easily. On the underside of the shedder assemblly the felt is held in by a steel cap which were usually just knocked out. The new felt installed and the cap pressed back in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldtech Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 You don't likely have to take the seal unit apart, you should be able to pry the felt out and weasel a new one in there. Might be easier to split it if you have the spot welder to put it back together without setting the seal on fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Oldtech: That is how I did mine. I "weaseled" them out and weaseled" the new in! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 Yep the bearing came right out after turning it and pulling at the same time. Larry - Do you have the ID of the felt seal shown in the picture you posted? I think the felt seals I got from Bob’s might be too small. I ordered the RS-258 which are the seals for a Standard 1925 Buick. The ID of the new seals are about 1.93”. The ID of my shedder is about 2.45” and the OD of the hub is about 2.39” Seems to me the ID for the felt seal should be about the same as the OD of the hub so there is a tight seal. What do you think? Did I get the wrong seal? Thanks, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Ken: Sure looks smaller that the one in my photo from 10+ years ago. The one you show may be for a front wheel seal. My yet to be installed refinished 22" wheels with new seals show about 2 3/8" ID. For the rear. Seals with their retainers. Below the front felt seal. A quick scaling shows about 1 15/16", which should be correct for the front. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 (edited) That makes sense that Bob sent me front seals. I’ll contact him and see what he says. Thanks for the help. I took a good look at my shedder and I just don’t see the two spot welds. I attached a couple more photos that show tabs around the perimeter of the shedder. I attached photos showing the front and back side views. I don’t think I want to try and take it apart because I might not get it back together. I’ll just try and ‘weasel’ in a new seal. Maybe there are different styles of shedders. Some are spot welded together and others use tabs? Edited February 1 by KEK Soekling (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 (edited) Ken: I would get new correct felts and "weasle" them in. Your shedder looks to be more complicated than mine. With the Victor part number stamped they are aftermarket replacements. Mine are spot welded. I have got to get these on the car this spring! Edited February 1 by dibarlaw spelling (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 Larry- Thanks for pointing out my shedder is an aftermarket replacement. Being a replacement it may not be rebuildable. I would hate to take it apart and not be able to get it back together again. I’ll try to weasel in a new felt. The old felt is very tight and I have the same concern that I would not be able to get the new felt in without distorting it. That would not be good. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 Ken: I do not believe you will have an issue pulling out the old felt. An old style cork screw works well. Clean up the inside well and work the new in with a wood stick. Patience is required...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 Larry- That’s encouraging. I haven’t heard back from Bobs so I don’t have the correct size felt seal yet. I don’t want to remove the old seal until I have the replacement. I noticed the 6 bolts that hold the shedder on the drum were not very tight. Probably just a little more than finger tight. Since the shedder and cork gasket were not tight on the drum I had oil all over my brake liner and drum. I am thinking it’s possible my felt seal might be okay since we know it had been replaced with an aftermarket shedder and seal. If the ID of the new seal is the same as the ID of the old seal then I’ll try replacing the cork shedder gasket and tighten the bolts. Maybe that will solve my leaking oil problem? Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 (edited) Ken: If the shedder is actually doing its work any oil getting past the seal should just go out the drain tubes on the backing plate. Quite an oily mess. Here is what mine looked like. Definately in need of a new gasket. Edited February 2 by dibarlaw Added content (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 (edited) Larry- I am pretty sure my shedder gasket was not working. I also had oil on my service brake bands. I am trying to clean them off with an engine degreaser and brake cleaner. They are cleaning up but I don’t have any idea how much oil is still soaked into the bands. Maybe after I get them back on the car and heat them up a couple times with some firm stops will help. If I can rivet new E-brake bands on without any issues then I am thinking I should put new bands on the service brakes as well. Still no word from Bob’s about the felt seals…. Ken Edited February 2 by KEK Spelling (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert_25-25 Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 If the bands (internal or external) have gotten oil or grease on them, they are done and need to be replaced. I have never been able to sucessfully reuse any brake friction material after it has been contaminated with a lubricant. Save yourself the trouble of doing the job twice. Hugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 Hugh- You’re right…I am going to replace the service brake lining at the same time I replace my E-brake lining. I called Bob’s and got his service manager. I told him the felt seal they sent me was too small to fit over the hub. He said it was the right seal and I could return it. I asked him if he saw the photos I sent him of the dimensions of the seal and hub and he could see it’s not correct for the standard and was probably a front axle seal. He told me he doesn’t get Bob’s email and was too busy to check and to just return them! Geez…..what terrible service. I called Olson’s gasket and got just the opposite response. Very happy to help me. All they need are the dimensions and they will make me a pair of felt seals (same price as Bob’s). I am thinking I need a seal that is 0.40” thick with an ID of 2.5” and an OD of 2.75”. Hugh- do you happen to have the dimensions for the rear axle seal? Thanks, Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert_25-25 Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 (edited) Ken, I have an option for you. Option 1 is as NOS as it gets. In 2015 I bought a set of NOS wheel shedders in the original box and packing. There are 2 in this box. Here are a couple of dimensions. Cone on the inside 2.410 ID metal against the hub 2.460 ID Felt when installed ID 2.310 I was not able to easily remove the felt seal, so I cannot give you the dimensions of just the seal out of the shedder. I also have this picture of the 2 rear wheel felt seals. I cannot seem to locate this bag, although I did find the bag with front felt seals. I also looked thru my notes and I have the following. Original felt seals for the shedder are 2 5/16” x 3” x 3/8” Hugh Edited February 4 by Hubert_25-25 (see edit history) 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 Hugh- That’s awesome you have NOS shedders. Cool box. I’ll forward the dimensions of your original felt seals to Olson’s. They are slightly different that what I had so I really appreciate you taking the time to dig out your measurements. Nothing surprises me anymore with the amount of information you have on these old cars. Just amazing! Thanks, Ken 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted February 20 Author Share Posted February 20 All- I received my new felt seals from Olson Gaskets and did the best I could to ‘weasel’ them in the shedder. The felt bunched up a bit at one end but it should work okay. If not, I am going to install a modern seal that Hugh has a procedure for. I replaced the felt seal on both axles. The other shedder is spot welded like Larry’s and the dimensions of the after market shedder is the same. I installed the wheel and torqued it to 220 ft/lbs and bent over a tab to lock the nut in place on the axle. Larry - Thanks for making those locking washers for the axle. They worked perfectly. Neither of my axles had a washer when I removed the hub. Also the axle nut was definitely not torqued to 220 ft/lbs when I removed them. It took very little force with the hub puller to remove the hubs. Hopefully nothing was damaged from the axle nut not torqued properly. Thanks everyone for helping me with this project. Ken 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Engle Posted February 20 Share Posted February 20 When I need gaskets or seals, My first choice is always Olsens. Great service and quality product. Friendliest people to work with. Bob Engle 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert_25-25 Posted March 2 Share Posted March 2 Ken, Here are the factory dimensions on the oil shedder felt. A little late but they are in the big parts book. The book should have the dimensions on the other felt used as well. Hugh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KEK Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 Hugh - The dimensions listed above in the parts book for the 1925 standard shedder felt are the same dimensions that you provided me from your notes. So the dimensions I gave Olsen’s are correct. I think the shedder was just to tight to ‘weasel’ them in without deforming the felt. If I could have separated the shedder then I could have installed the felt without distorting it but I wasn’t confident I could R/R the shedder pieces without damaging it. The snow melted last week enough that gave me an opportunity to drive the car and test the seal. It was in the low 40s so not too cold. So far no oil has leaked out of the drain tube so I think it is working. I would have had a lot of oil on the floor with the old seal for the distance I drove it. So far so good! Thanks, Ken 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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