Green Bearings

According to my shop manual for my 72 Charger, the 8 3/4 rearend has two axle oil seals - an inner one and an outer one. I have the green bearings pressed on my axles already and now I cannot figure out where these oil seals go. The green bearings came with only the inner seal, which I screwed up trying to install with the wrong tool. Now I have to install new seals, but where?!

Does the green bearing have the outer seal incorporated into its bearing and all you need is the inner seal installed in the usual place (on the machined surface just inside the axle tube)?

[Dart]

Yes the seal is integrated with the bearing. The inner seal keeps the 90wt out of the axle bearing which in your case is sealed (green stripe bearing). I have the green stripe bearings in my '70 Dart and all I did was install the inner seals and slam the axles in - presto fixo - DONE. Unless you are talking about the foam gasket that goes between the axle housing flange and the axle bearing plate. This is the gasket that goes between the two (five studs). I guess it could be called an outer "seal". Not made of rubber, but that may be what they are reffering to since it does "seal" the bearing from the outside.

I have noticed that the green bearings may have to be adjusted on the axle shaft to get the correct fit. If you have some noise from the rear end you may need to have one of the bearings pressed further on or further out to get the adjustment correct.

[tsteiner61]

I just finished installing some green bearings. Out of the box, you will see 4 pieces.

1. Inner seal - The round black rubber thingie.
2. Bearing retainer - The small metal doughnut.
3. Axle Bearing - The actual flanged bearing.
4. Axle Flange Gasket - Shaped just like the axle housing and bearing flanges.

The inner seal gets knocked into the axle housing until it bottoms out. The Axle Bearing gets pressed onto the axle closest to the hub, then the bearing retainer is pressed on behind it. Then slide the gasket onto the axle, it should be the same shape as the axle bearing flange, then slide the axle through the inner seal into the housing. The gasket just sits between the bearing flange and the housing flange. Then bolt it up and you're done..

Oh, yeah, and Dart is right...Mine didn't fit right either. Kept knocking one axle out with the other axle. My solution...Bought gasket material and kept cutting gaskets until both sides fit. In the end the gasket thickness on each side was .125"

Hope this helps.

[tsteiner61]

a70duster,

Please tell me I didn't screw this up.. Do you think the guy at the shop would have had the presence of mind to remove it given the fact that not only did he set up my diff but also pressed on my Green bearings?

If I could slam one axle in and knock the other one out of the housing, it would have to be gone, right? Please say yes.

[tsteiner61]

a70duster,

Unfortunately, you are absolutely right. Is there a lock screw on that drift pin? No matter what I do, I can't seem to hammer it out. If so, where is it? Thanks.

[tsteiner61]

OK. It's midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning, and I have finally gotten the case out of the axle and the pig is still in the case. Now I know you said that I should REMOVE the axle spacer. But how about turning it sideways? It turns out that once I drove the drift pin out, it turned freely enough that I could turn it 90 degrees from its original position, which will give me enough clearance to put the axles back in without having to use 1/8 inch of gasket material at each housing flange. My question is, if I can fit the axles in that way, would doing it that way harm anything?My gut instinct says no, just because it seems to me that there will never be much inward pressure on the springs that preload the cone clutches to the diff. case, but I just want to get a second opinion on whether or not you think there might be any potential danger in doing it that way..It would just be so nice to not have to tear the whole thing out and then have to reset backlash and main cap adjustments. What do you think?

I have included a picture so you know what I mean.

[tsteiner61]

I have a -489 carrier with cone style Sure Grip. This has been a real learning experience. Let me shared what I have figured out so far.

I have an older Sure Grip and a new one. The new one I just ordered direct from MPP.

1. The older one (1973 date stamp) has bolts on the flange where the ring gear bolts go. Remove these bolts, and you can split the pig, slide off the pinion gears and remove the spacer, no problem. DO NOT try to drive the pinion pin out like I did without splitting the pig, it will not work, it is very frustrating, and you will end up smacking one of your fingers with the hammer as I did.

2. The new one looks exactly the same with one catch, there are no bolts holding the two halves together, in fact it looks like an integral casting. I could not find any way to get it apart. There was a lock screw holding the pinion gear shaft in the case. It appeared as if you could loosen that screw and drive that shaft out, remove the spacer and drive it back in. But the area where you would hit it was obstructed by the ring gear. I didn't want to take the ring gear off so I scratched that idea. Then I notice a pin holding the axle spacer to that pinion shaft. My guess is this is the 1/4 hole you were talking about. Drive that pin out and the spacer stays in the case, but you can turn it 90 degrees. This allows the axles to go into the axle housing the remaining distance that they could not before..

If anyone has a clue on how to get this guy apart and do this the right way, let me know...