Rear T-Case Seal

[RJCruiser]

So, I think that my rear seal on my t-case is leaking (73 stock fj40). I filled it up and it slowly dripped on my garage from the e-brake housing. When I took it apart today, more came out after I pulled the e-brake housing off of the t-case. I saw the part at SOR (the seal) for $7, but am wondering if i have to take the case apart to get the seal out. I just have the Haynes manual (i know, I should get the factory service manual), and it shows that you have to take the speedo cable out and the cover off to get the seal out. Can I get it out and install the new one by just taking the e-brake brackets off? Also, any special instructions on the replacement? btw, this is up on mud to.

[cruiseroutfit]

4 driveline bolts
1 rear output nut
4 park brake backing plate bolts
Remove seal, install new seal

Check the park brake drum seal surface for excessive scoring. If the seal surface has bad scoring, pitting, your have 3 options...

1. Speedi-sleeve (http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/tech_transfer.html)
2. Mudrak (http://www.mudrak.com/products/dual_seal-2.jpg)
3. Used park brake drum with decent seal surface

[Pygpen]

Originally Posted by cruiseroutfit

Drain xfercase oil
4 driveline bolts
1 rear output nut
4 park brake backing plate bolts
Remove seal, install new seal

Check the park brake drum seal surface for excessive scoring. If the seal surface has bad scoring, pitting, your have 3 options...

1. Speedi-sleeve (http://www.cruiseroutfitters.com/tech_transfer.html)
2. Mudrak (http://www.mudrak.com/products/dual_seal-2.jpg)
3. Used park brake drum with decent seal surface

Save him and his garage floor a suprise!
PMK

[numtel]

I have mudrak's dual seal and it's great but the speedi-sleeve would be a cheaper option. That's a good post with the part numbers.

[mean man michael]

I want to chime in here. When I recently pulled mine apart, there were two identical seals in there. Is that correct? It seemed they were two just stacked up.

anyway, I didnt pull it apart until I got the new one from sor. after i pulled the old one out, I realized there were two in there. seemed to be enough room so i replaced the outer with a new one. everything seems all good.

mike

[cruiseroutfit]

Originally Posted by Pygpen

Save him and his garage floor a suprise!
PMK

Oh yeah... or pull the rear end on ramps

Good catch!

[cruiseroutfit]

Originally Posted by sine80

I want to chime in here. When I recently pulled mine apart, there were two identical seals in there. Is that correct? It seemed they were two just stacked up.

anyway, I didnt pull it apart until I got the new one from sor. after i pulled the old one out, I realized there were two in there. seemed to be enough room so i replaced the outer with a new one. everything seems all good.

mike

That would be a double seal unit, custom made by Mudrak (see link above) or others...

[RJCruiser]

Originally Posted by Pygpen

Save him and his garage floor a suprise!
PMK

To late

Also, I'll check my parking brake for scoring tonight when I get home.

As far as removing the seal, it seems to be in there pretty good. I guess I'm not too worried about messing it up as I am going to be replacing it, but any tips/techniques...or just get a screwdriver and just pry it out?

[orangefj45]

use a seal puller or get ready to catch the broken off end of the crew driver with your eye ball!

do yourself a favor and get the double seal unit from mudrak. they work really well. ask me how i know.......

[RJCruiser]

Originally Posted by orangefj45

use a seal puller or get ready to catch the broken off end of the crew driver with your eye ball!

do yourself a favor and get the double seal unit from mudrak. they work really well. ask me how i know.......

How do you know?

Also, I took a look at the pics of the unit. Do I have to pull out the speedo cable to install or does it just bolt on where e-brake plate is currently? Maybe when I get the thing it will be self-explanatory. I want to fix it permanently, but don't want to spend too much $$ and time if I don't have to.

[DOMEK]

Yes, tell us about it. I have exactly the same problem w/ a 78 case. I have been out of town and have not had a chance to start working on it. what's the best way to fix the problem?

[RJCruiser]

Found this over on mud and was wondering if anyone over here had luck with this cheap option.

Posted by dgangle
"Grind the lip out of the speedo housing with a die grinder to fit the second seal trick. Grind a little and try the seal...too much and you are going to have to build it back up with weld or JW Weld epoxy/other. Been there and it has been working fine with no leak for 5+ years. The trick is to enable pressing in another/second seal to seal against the part of the unmolested parking brake drum clean surface. No need to send anything off if you have time, a die grinder, seal and some understanding."

So, if I grind out the speedo housing, I don't need to get a double seal kit from Mudrak's or Marlins? Just two seals to put in there? If I end up screwing up the housing too much, just buy a two seal kit and replace the whole thing? Am I thinking right? Right now, I have more time than money, but want to fix it so that I don't have to worry about cleaning up the mess on the garage floor again and running my t-case dry.

[orangefj45]

i guess it all depends on how much time you want to invest in this!

option one: call mudrak and order the double housing with the new seals already installed. it'll take you no time ) minutes of messing with the existing housing.

option two: clean the exisiting housing, get busy with a grinder. check the clearances, screw up the first seal. do some more goinding, check again. more grinding,...............more grinding. now the friggen hole is too big. so it's off to orchard for some JB weld. wait for that crap to dry. then find out that you now have to do some more grinding,............and when it's all said and done, you might just screw up the housing completely. also keep in mind that you really should'nt grind it down far enough to get two stock seals in there, but rather a stock seal and another one with the same dimensions except for having a shorter shoulder. good luck finding one of those. so to sum it up, option twowould take you who knows how long, would cost you x$s in seals, some more $s for Jb weld and possibly a ruined housing. is that really worth it?! not to me. but then again, it would'nt be the first time i was wrong.

good luck either way.

ps: mudrak's # 707-996-5272

[mean man michael]

Originally Posted by orangefj45

i guess it all depends on how much time you want to invest in this!

option one: call mudrak and order the double housing with the new seals already installed. it'll take you no time ) minutes of messing with the existing housing.

option two: clean the exisiting housing, get busy with a grinder. check the clearances, screw up the first seal. do some more goinding, check again. more grinding,...............more grinding. now the friggen hole is too big. so it's off to orchard for some JB weld. wait for that crap to dry. then find out that you now have to do some more grinding,............and when it's all said and done, you might just screw up the housing completely. also keep in mind that you really should'nt grind it down far enough to get two stock seals in there, but rather a stock seal and another one with the same dimensions except for having a shorter shoulder. good luck finding one of those. so to sum it up, option twowould take you who knows how long, would cost you x$s in seals, some more $s for Jb weld and possibly a ruined housing. is that really worth it?! not to me. but then again, it would'nt be the first time i was wrong.

good luck either way.

ps: mudrak's # 707-996-5272

ive read several threads about this seal on mud and heard similar stories like what you mentioned georg. that said, with the double unit I have, I didnt have any leak problems need to use any silicone like so many others had in the other threads. I have had NO leaks what so ever with this setup.

[65SWB45]

Here's a thought. Since you're at the point of having everything removed to replace the seal, it should be fairly easy for you to check the output shaft for freeplay. If you can move it up and down AT ALL, this could well explain why the seal wore out in the first place.

If you don't deal with the freeplay, all the seals and sealsavers won't help you for very long.

Also, if you are not sure of how long it has been since the t-case was serviced, I would be reluctant to just try and reshim the output bearings without inspecting things further.

[cruzila]

Freeplay = If you get a replacement housing, be sure to CHECK the PRELOAD on the output. If you can't do that, I would take the vehicle to someone who can.

[RJCruiser]

Well, I finally checked for free play last night....none whatsoever. Also, the e-brake housing does have some scoring on it so I guess that explains the slow leak. I've got access to another e-brake housing that I'm going to check on...if that isn't smooth, I'll probably end up getting the two seal unit from Mudrak's. Thanks for all of the advice.

[orangefj45]

sounds like a good plan. good luck with your project.

[dgangle]

Originally Posted by orangefj45

i guess it all depends on how much time you want to invest in this!

option one: call mudrak and order the double housing with the new seals already installed. it'll take you no time ) minutes of messing with the existing housing.

option two: clean the exisiting housing, get busy with a grinder. check the clearances, screw up the first seal. do some more goinding, check again. more grinding,...............more grinding. now the friggen hole is too big. so it's off to orchard for some JB weld. wait for that crap to dry. then find out that you now have to do some more grinding,............and when it's all said and done, you might just screw up the housing completely. also keep in mind that you really should'nt grind it down far enough to get two stock seals in there, but rather a stock seal and another one with the same dimensions except for having a shorter shoulder. good luck finding one of those. so to sum it up, option twowould take you who knows how long, would cost you x$s in seals, some more $s for Jb weld and possibly a ruined housing. is that really worth it?! not to me. but then again, it would'nt be the first time i was wrong.

good luck either way.

ps: mudrak's # 707-996-5272

Nothing against buying from the guy but with a little care this can be done in less time than it takes to find a box to ship your part to him to modify. I used two OE seals and they worked fine. Cost? Two seals and the beer I drank doing it.