Currie heavy duty Ford 9" rearend, about 3 years on it now, no problems until this year.
I've gone through 3 axle seals on the right side, they keep leaking after just one trip. Not a weap leak either, a drizzle trail. I know I'm putting the seals in correctly.

What could cause this? Bent housing?

Originally posted by cbassett


What could cause this? Bent housing?

Bingo

My 9inch only leaks when the wheel bearing starts taking a shit, which is often because one axle shaft is kinda bent.

yep, something is bent and causing the bearing to get hot.

I don't want to hear about anyone blowing seals...this is not a beastiality site.

could also be a boogered up shaft or a plugged vent line. 9" usually plugs up on the little metal barb fitting thing that screws into the housing and holds down the brake line. On some models the hole is only drilled thru 1/16.

damn, not what I wanted to hear. :(

I've got another symptom I didn't mention. When transitioning between fwd & reverse, I get a 'click' noise from the rearend. It's fairly loud.
I've had the rig through one tough run doing this click, so it probably not something small. I thought initially it was a sticking pad or ebrake pad, due to all the gear oil that had previously spludged all over them.

Guess I'll yank the axles and 3rd (has a Detroit) and see what's what.

Any suggestions on identifying a bent housing, if it's not obvious?

I have already tried a spare shaft, and it leaked bad too.

:bounce:, looking for suggestions on ID'ing a bent housing, and how to repair if that's the deal.

thx,

check your vent! If it's plugged, it will blow oil out of the seals!

Originally posted by Lance
check your vent! If it's plugged, it will blow oil out of the seals!

I second that. It is easy to check. If the housing is not trussed then I would not doubt that it is bent though.

will do, thanks.

It's a heavy duty housing, and has seen rougher years than this one, so I'll be shocked if it's tweaked.

LOL i just posted this on another thread.

Whats your pinion angle at?
if you point them to the sky (mine) a lot of fluid goes into the tubes and blows the seals, you might just have to add less, like have it not come out of the fill hole

ya could check a few other issue's first.... make sure your breather is breathing.... and when you put a new seal in use a scotch pad and the seal surface making sure the surface is perfect.... if your changing the right side, jack the left axle up high enough to get gear lube on the seal, rotate tire by hand.... if it leaks after all of this.... look further into the housing

Make sure the retainer plate isn't bent. That happened to me once.:(

Glad I'm not the only one with this problem. I ended up draining a LOT of grey muck out of the rearend of my Rover after seeing gear oil all over the mud shield (since removed) on the right rear. Yes, I'd been wading! Breathers since extended and tonight, reamed to make sure they are actually breathing.

Here's hoping it's not bent too bad!

Thanx,
Paul

:flipoff2:

Mark,
It's a HP 9" 3rd and the pinion is almost level. ;) Hasn't leaked for 3 years, just this season. That's good info though, thanks for posting it.

BAJG, thanks for the tips.

Junkie, all the currie 9s I've seen have been torqued until there's a slight kink in the retaining plate; including my left side which doesn't leak (knock on wood).

Work's got me bogged down, going to try to clean the breather tonight. Still have to pull the axles an 3rd one of these days and find that loud 'click' too. Maybe the Detroit? but it happens every time I transition from rev - drive.

Nice sceep! :flipoff2:

the click sounds like possibly a u joint? im assuming you have verified the u joints are still intact? my 9" has weeped from day one on the drivers side and i have replaced the seal three times. the shaft is perfect and the housing is perfect. i even did a dye penetrant test to see if there were any cracks..... i just live with it and clean the brakes often. i am stumped as to why, but it leaks/weeps right past the seal and the axel.

If your using the small being reatiners that press on to the axle (currie standard) then you slap 2 seals in there (doubble the seal) if you care i have the #'s at home for you need.
Also are these sealed bearing or tapered bearings?

mine has the large tapered bearings. which you have to destroy to get off each seal change.... unless you have the perfect press which i dont have.

Mark,
I'm not totally following you. Here's a shot of my bearing & seal. You're suggesting stacking two seals on each shaft, one behind the other?