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| Joined: | 03-12-2005 |
| Location: | Kingman, Arizona USA |
| Posts: | 532 |
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Good point. Perhaps folks living along the Mississippi River or Gulf Coast could comment on that? Maybe a small hole on the either side of the bottom of the rear end housing, just inboard of the flange, would eliminate both that concern and any worries about lubricant seepage past the retainer plate. I'd also put a small cotter pin through each hole from the inside, to prevent blockage due to grime.
"Also, there is no gasket between the axle flange and the brake backing plate?"
No gasket. This isn't common practice anywhere and there's nothing in the documentation to indicate a gasket there.
"... when I put my five speed rear end in I'm gonna lather it all up with silastic to seal what I can. ..."
In places where all you need is a sealer, rather than a filler of gaps, I'd recommend using Hylomar instead. It remains flexible indefinitely and thus tends to provide a better seal than anything else of which I'm aware.
"I'll cut new paper gaskets since Delta no longer stocks the OE ones."
You might want to go to the trouble of making a good dimensioned pattern drawing so that when someone asks about the gaskets, a couple of years from now, you could email them a copy. Or perhaps you might want to make and sell these for a few bucks a pair.
"Do these bearings fail frequently?"
Save for one case where a vehicle was overloaded by a couple of tons, the only rear wheel bearing failures I know about occurred because the owner let them run dry. Keep the rear end lubricant level where it should be, don't take elephants for rides, and the bearings will likely last approximately forever.
"Has anyone found a completely sealed bearing substitute?"
I think you'd actually want the 'semi-sealed' bearing which is sealed on one side and open on the other to allow a lubricant to enter. It's sort of hard to tell, but from the attached photo that appears to be the type they used.
Attachment: Brg set #2 QWB149C.jpg (Downloaded 357 times)