Helping a friend with a build of a 47 Chevy street rod. He's using a Lincoln rear end, something out of an early 90s vintage Lincoln with disc brakes and it has tapered roller bearings on the outer ends of the axles, as opposed to ball bearings or straight roller bearings. Thus, some preload of the tapered roller is required. I am not familiar at all with this setup and am wondering how the preload is established and whether or not a gasket is needed/required between the axle retainer plate and the axle flange. Any enlightenment that can be provided will be greatly appreciated.
might help to know exactly what it is you're working on. Pictures would really help. Does the center section of the rear end come out of the housing? if so, then it's not newer than the mid 80s, more likely mid-late 70s. And there were two sizes, the big ones (continental, Mark, T bird) and the small ones (versailles, granada) If the center does not come out, then it's probably a 8.8 which uses straight rollers and C clips. but there could be something else that I don't know about. On these, the seal goes between the retainer and the bearing. It's a rather funky seal.
The center section does come out, like a 9" Ford. The axles are retained by a cast plate on the end which also holds the disc brake calipers via an additional bracket. The hand brake works by apparently rotating some kind of bolt that pushes on the caliper piston and the ring gear outer diameter is about 9" or so, not an exact measurement. That is about all I can tell you about it. Unfortunately, I know nothing about this rear end and neither does the owner, apparently. What I need to know is how the bearing preload is established and I think your answer above says that no gasket is utilized. Is the funky seal you are referring to the cup like thing I see between the inside edge of the axle flange and the tapered roller bearing? It appears to fit kinda tightly in the housing.
Addendum: The owner thinks the axle is from a 91 Lincoln, but my research for caliper piston seal and dust seal (based on piston diameter) indicates the axle is from 75-77 T Bird, 75-76 Lincoln Continental Mark IV, or 77-79 Lincoln Continental Mark V if that helps and this agrees with your statement that it is mid-late 70s.
yeah, the cup seal thingy is kind of weird. The shop manual says something about removing the bearing race from the housing end, before installing the axle---put the race onto the bearing, put the seal over it, and then install the whole ***embly as a unit, so you don't damage the seal.
You can replace the tapered bearing with the ball bearing type. The outer retainer is what preloads the tapered type of bearing.
OK, thanks a lot, I think I have what I need to know to install properly. No gasket required, there is a seal between bearing and outer axle flange, and the retainer plate controls the preload/endplay of the axle.
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