Do It Myself or Let Them Try Again?

[macleanflood]

You like to gamble more than myself. In the end, tough to beat the OEM part.

Agree to disagree...I don't trust anything new anymore without first hand experience.

Mopar is all made in China.

Spicer is pretty good.

-Mac

 

[mrblaine]

Agree to disagree...I don't trust anything new anymore without first hand experience.

Mopar is all made in China.

Spicer is pretty good.

-Mac

Not sure why this never sinks in. That said, Mopar is NOT all made in China and never has been. Made in China is NOT indicative of anything but COO.
You can get quality that is equivalent or better than US made from China if you want to pay for it. The reason we get crap is we start with price first. If you don't do that, you don't get crap.

I trust Spicer even though it is made in Mexico and the US. I trust Mopar because I have yet to get a bad or defective part from them and I trust Milwaukee battery stuff implicitly and I've yet to see any of it made in other than China.

 

[Moglocker]

WELL THEN, the saga continues.
That didn't last long. Its leaking again. I guess this is a case of 'if you want it done right, do it yourself.' I went outside to start measuring travel for the lift I'm going to be installing and noticed I smelled gear oil. Looked down, and sure as shit its drooling again. Puddle in the dirt driveway levels of leak. Not nearly like it was last time, but I want NO leak, not a lesser leak. I think I'll give them a call tomorrow and see what they're willing to do for a refund or.... something. Either way, I'm installing new parts myself. I think the O'Criminey auto parts they used have, yet again, bit me.

That’s very very frustrating,I wonder if they are overfilling the diff?

 

[mrblaine]

That’s very very frustrating,I wonder if they are overfilling the diff?

Overfilled diff generally results in the gear oil being pumped out the vent hose due to capillary action and continual slinging of the oil off of the shaft into the end of the breather bolt.

 

[k1n3k]

Whats a reliable source for some good quality parts? Timken, SKF, Spicer, Chicago... Something good. I don't want to order parts thinking its going to be Timken as shown in the pics on the website, then have no-name unbranded parts show up.

 

[lumberjacklloyd]

I'm a really big fan of Denny's for getting genuine Spicer cheap and fast, but it looks like a lot of stuff is out of stock. There and elsewhere.

You can probably reuse your bearing retainers. Source Set10 bearings and your seal of choice.

 

[k1n3k]

Alright. A pair of Set10 Timken bearings and a pair of Timken 9912S oil seals are on the way. If I'm going to do one, I'm doing both. Any reason to replace the retainer plates? Mine look fine, not rusted or chewed up.

 

[lumberjacklloyd]

Alright. A pair of Set10 Timken bearings and a pair of Timken 9912S oil seals are on the way. If I'm going to do one, I'm doing both. Any reason to replace the retainer plates? Mine look fine, not rusted or chewed up.

No issue reusing. I have even slightly straightened them out in a vise or small press.

 

[Rickyd]

You might clean up the seal surface with some fine emery cloth. That did the trick for me on my second attempt.i used spicer

 

[k1n3k]

You might clean up the seal surface with some fine emery cloth. That did the trick for me on my second attempt.i used spicer

Probably not a bad idea. I'll be taking them to my family's machine shop and it will only take a few min to toss it in a lathe and give it a quick buff. wouldn't hurt for a visual inspection to see if its notably bent. I doubt it is but I've been surprised before.

 

[pc1p]

Interesting, I think the Timken/National 9912S and Spicer seal are both great and won't put anything else in my 44. I do prefer the Timken seal because it is collapsing and expanding, which, helps seal to the axle bearing cup and seems to keep a tighter bearing preload. Any other brand I see as a 10-20k mile seal before it starts seeping. ECGS is notorious for using Yukon seals and they are fore sure in that category. I have NEVER had luck reinstalling an axle shaft of any style and it be leak free.

Seals failing in less than 500 miles (seal ID, not OD to cup) are a damaged seal or bad seal surface (sometimes from cutting old bearing off or wear). It is imperative to not damage any of this surface when cutting old bearings off and it would not hurt to polish it with some crocus cloth before reassembling.

I haven't had any issues with the Timken bearings or retainer - it was the Duralast/National and then Timken seals that leaked. I've used Timken seals in the past many times and never had any issues, but in this instance, they leaked within hours.

Shafts were perfectly prepped and nick/damage-free. I mean, you'd have to try hard to damage the sealing surface on Dana 44 shafts as the retention collar is on the other side. We did nothing to them when we installed the Spicer seals (other than replace the bearing retainer) and they have been perfect for years... Can't explain it, but we found similar reports of near identical results on social media and forums. I was skeptical and insisted that he buy a new set of shafts, but he wanted to try them one more time. Sure as can be, the Spicer seals worked!

 

[mrblaine]

I haven't had any issues with the Timken bearings or retainer - it was the Duralast/National and then Timken seals that leaked. I've used Timken seals in the past many times and never had any issues, but in this instance, they leaked within hours.

Shafts were perfectly prepped and nick/damage-free. I mean, you'd have to try hard to damage the sealing surface on Dana 44 shafts as the retention collar is on the other side. We did nothing to them when we installed the Spicer seals (other than replace the bearing retainer) and they have been perfect for years... Can't explain it, but we found similar reports of near identical results on social media and forums. I was skeptical and insisted that he buy a new set of shafts, but he wanted to try them one more time. Sure as can be, the Spicer seals worked!

I'd probably put that down to a few bad seals maybe and not the Timken stuff overall. I've used too many of them with zero issues to be bothered enough to change that.

 

[pc1p]

I'd probably put that down to a few bad seals maybe and not the Timken stuff overall. I've used too many of them with zero issues to be bothered enough to change that.

I agree... I just used Timken seals on my 14B without concern. For the Dana 44 though, I am 2/2 on the Spicer seals working on the Dana 44's without any issues, so I didn't bother trying anything else.

 

[mrblaine]

I agree... I just used Timken seals on my 14B without concern. For the Dana 44 though, I am 2/2 on the Spicer seals working on the Dana 44's without any issues, so I didn't bother trying anything else.

I've got a pretty good success rate with Spicer if I include all the ones I've had to wipe RTV on to make work. Not so much if I don't include those. That said, if I had to get done and all I had was Spicer, I'd use them with a thin layer of RTV around the outer seal surface and call it a day.

 

[pc1p]

I've got a pretty good success rate with Spicer if I include all the ones I've had to wipe RTV on to make work. Not so much if I don't include those. That said, if I had to get done and all I had was Spicer, I'd use them with a thin layer of RTV around the outer seal surface and call it a day.

You must be talking about the front axle seals... I was talking about the rears.

On the fronts I've only used Timkens in recent times (but did historically use National and SKF without issue). I always put a thin layer of RTV on the outer edge, regardless of brand.

 

[mrblaine]

You must be talking about the front axle seals... I was talking about the rears.

On the fronts I've only used Timkens in recent times (but did historically use National and SKF without issue). I always put a thin layer of RTV on the outer edge, regardless of brand.

I am able to follow the discussion and understand we are dealing with the rear axles.

 

[lumberjacklloyd]

I'm standing by the superior rear axle seal is National/Timken with expanding skirt.

Spicer has an equivalent seal performance, but the OD sealing and RTV is a con.

 

[mrblaine]

I'm standing by the superior rear axle seal is National/Timken with expanding skirt.

Spicer has an equivalent seal performance, but the OD sealing and RTV is a con.

I'd like to be convinced but then I remember all the Set 20 failures we had until we started using the thin layer of RTV on them as well. I think the biggest issue is the overall design is fine until it isn't and then there is no obvious reason why what worked fine, no longer does.

 

[pc1p]

I am able to follow the discussion and understand we are dealing with the rear axles.

lol well apparently I can't... So you put RTV around the perimeter of the rear seals?? I can't say I've ever seen anyone do that before...

I'd like to be convinced but then I remember all the Set 20 failures we had until we started using the thin layer of RTV on them as well. I think the biggest issue is the overall design is fine until it isn't and then there is no obvious reason why what worked fine, no longer does.

Makes me wonder if the failures we saw on Dale's Dana 44 was a perimeter leak...

 

[Moglocker]

Why w

lol well apparently I can't... So you put RTV around the perimeter of the rear seals?? I can't say I've ever seen anyone do that before...



Makes me wonder if the failures we saw on Dale's Dana 44 was a perimeter leak...

Why wouldn’t you do it to all hammer in seals,it couldn’t hurt to help seal ?