Duh, forgot something when building my RC-44. Figured it out when gear oil started spewing from the tubes as I filled the diff.:rasta:

Tearing the frontend apart tonight, hopefully doing the seals tomorrow night. Got carquest part number 2300 (National seal) from a rearend shop. He wasn't overly familiar with rc44s; he called his supplier who said rc and std use the same seal.

Does this sound right?

The guy at the shop also said the seals are a real pain to install; he said they have a special tool that's slightly smaller diameter than the outer lip of the seal, they silicon the edge of the seal then tap it into place.

Any other advice on doing this seal install (besides, next time, do it before installing the carrier, axles, and filling the axle with gear oil! :flipoff2:)

Thanks!

Man that sucks! I hate it when that crap happens.

Anyway I believe the seals are the same. Check this thread on the SNORT board. We were discussing this recently. I think some different part numbers were even thrown around.

http://www.snort4x4.com/cgi-bin/YabbGold/YaBB.pl/YaBB.pl?board=General_4x4;action=display;num=10138 22750

As for the install, I used a socket and hammer, and carefully tapped them into place. Wasn't too difficult at all. Some guys seem to have a hell of a time with it.

Good luck

Thanks man!
:beer::beer::beer:

Update:

Bought National seal # 2300. Worked like a champ.

The tolerances probably vary from housing to housing. Mine was very, very tight. So I polished up the inside edge of the seals on the bench grinder first. Then I coated the inside edge with RTV, and popped them in.

Ended up using a 3" long piece of 1.5x.25 square tubing as my seal driver. It fit snugly inside the seal without damaging it. To drive the seals home, I ran a long section of smaller tubing through the axle tubes. Also, taking advice from that SNORT thread Nobody linked, I put the inner shafts inside the seals- acting like something of a guide.

Took eight times longer to break down then rebuild the frontend, than it did to do the damn seals!

Thanks again Nobody! :beer:

Glad I could help for a change :beer: