Could use some advice here. My Versailles rear has been leaking and I found this horrible seal surface when I pulled the stock axle. Is this repairable? I found a redi sleeve that I thought would work but destroyed it last night when trying to make it fit. Don't really have the $$ to buy a new axle. Appreciate the help in advance.
Two thoughts.....take it to a machine shop,and have them do the redi sleeve,or heat the sleeve to 200 degrees,and see if it gets big enough to drop on easier with out damage.
To get by you might run less oil to keep it out of the tubes and make sure vent is open and run a bead of RTV around the inside of the housing end before putting the axle in. A true hack fix , but hey it might work !
If you tried doing the redi-sleeve cool and dry, and I have done it myself, maybe do as @irishsteve suggested, and heat the sleeve first. If you can cool the axle with ice pack ahead of time as well, do that as well. Less expensive than trying to find new axle. The other thing you could do, is polish the seal surface of axle down, and find a seal that will ride on the new smaller diameter.
Don't ruin two or three more weekends by bandaiding it, just fix it, you might even consider replacing it as many parts for the Versailles rear are hard to find.
Thanks for the ideas and help guys. I am going to try a sleeve one more time with some heat and better tooling than a pipe to install it. The issue I think is the sleeve max dimensions are the dimensions of the surface...so its a hard fit. Will try and clean it up a bit more. Obviously it's a band aid...but really my only choice at this point. I honestly would like to ditch the Versailles rear anyway (it's been a bit troublesome for me).
Check closely for any high spot or minor burring and smooth them. Dress the edges to insure a roundish edge and maybe even a slight taper at the edge to aid in pressing the parts together.
The Versailles disc brake rear axle was one of Ford's first attempts at OEM rear discs and while they were initially popular with the hot rod set, fell out of favor rather quickly when the myriad issues they had became known. Never common, parts were discontinued rather quickly and the calipers were troublesome. Expensive to repair or replace parts. I'd look for an 8.8 replacement. Nearly as strong, lighter and much better design discs.
Would this bearing fit? https://www.ebay.com/itm/2646837416...1291&msclkid=48a85e9c2c92124fdac33a1e3fdd88a7
Pretty sure it will. The Versailles rear is a big bearing setup. Think it's getting past that non existing surface for the inner seal though. Need to try and sort that 1st.
Looking into this as well. I actually have one but it's from a 2005 and way too wide. The good part is it's a 31 spline posi unit...so internally has the good bits. The Explorer rear shortened is a bit too narrow. My width window with the wheels I am using is a fine line between leaf springs and body rubbing. Rear needs to be 58 to max 58.75 wheel surface to wheel surface.
Something doesn’t seem right to me. There’s not enough surface there for a seal. Are you sure that retainer and bearing is correct? I’m thinking it should be no seal in the housing but rather an o ring on the outer race of the sealed bearing.
Ranger pickup with 4.0 engines used 8.8 axles that are 58.5" wide. 1993-2009 had drum brakes, 2010 and 2011 discs. Most were 28 spline. I believe the pinion is not centered though.
I agree with '"sunbeam" a sealed bearing with an outer ''O ring" will solve your problem. The rough axle is factory, and unless it's machined flat all round for a speedi sleave, it'll never run true to seal..
Correct parts...its just all corroded. Other side has more "shine" to it. Versailles is a strange setup. Big bearings with the inner tube seal, bearing and retainer and another seal in the cast caliper bracket/endplate.
3 ways to repair : 1 new axle 2 bearing with o ring seal on the OD 3 F150 style roller bearing and seal
this looks like one of those places where JB Weld can do a perfectly satisfactory surface for a grease seal. I have done it and it holds up well for many years
I am in the process of cleaning up the surface now. Had to use JB to fill in some of the gouges on the surface and must say it's looking "ok" for a fix. Hoping it will fit on the lathe that's over my moms house so I can get it round again. I also need to check into the dimensions of that Speedway sealed bearing. I think the inner i.d. is slightly different over the Versailles bearing. The lock collar is also about half the width of the Versailles one (not sure if that's an issue). I really appreciate all the help with this guys. My pop was an old school guy and would have had this fixed in 5 minutes for me (along with the project car we never got to finish together). So I am trying my best to learn what I can on the fly and on a tight budget.
I think it was Locktite that makes a liquid just for the purpose of filling in grooves like that. I know when I had my semi trucks we ran into axles that the seal had grooved them, and the mechanic used some kind of thick liquid or paste in the grooves to fill them in. He just rubbed it on smooth with his finger and it dried hard. Never had a seal leak after using it. Might have been some kind of epoxy, I can’t remember right now, been a while back. I do good to remember what I did yesterday sometimes, LOL!
Don't tell the wife! Boiled the sleeve and froze the axle. Used the press this time as well. Debating on if I am leaving the flange on the sleeve or not.
It was too long to fit in the lathe with the tailstock/center thing. The cutting end of the lathe would not reach the end of the shaft to cut a weldover/cut. I got it chucked up enough and supported to sand down the epoxy as level as I could and install the sleeve. The lathe was always off limits to me so I was doing my best to not mess it up...lol.
Well, what you could do if so inclined( and maybe score a meal from mom) is smooth out the hub end, then center pilot it if you have a live center for the tail stock. Then you are “turning between centers” and can approach the cut from hub end in.