98 ltd, 320k
Looking to replace my original CV boots which surely lasted a long time. I will be pulling the axles, cleaning, re-greasing, and replacing the inner axle seals. While the axle is apart it seems like the inner CV hub would make a perfect seal driver since it would hold the seal perfectly flat and centered. Now that I have pulled the axle I can see the seal has a raised lip that needs to be protected so maybe I can fab some kind of spacer donut to insure only the outer ring of the seal is pushed on.

 

Take the new seal and compare it to your largest sockets or some pipe you may have around. They sell specialty seal driver kits that are brass and non-marring and fancy/spendy, but I've always had success with leftovers around the garage.

 

This is the RH side seal which is smaller larger and I probably have a socket that would fit, but I have had problems with driving seals straight (rear axle). Its all about getting it started flat and not crooked. If there is a step to prevent the seal from going too far then I would worry less about it, but I had heard there might not be (there isn't).

 

If you're worried about driving it deeper than the surface of the race, once you get it going in straight with your socket, switch to a block of wood. It still won't damage the seal and now the block of wood will only go as far as the face of the case.

 

Yes, I now plan to do just that but it isn't that simple. Take that board and make a hole for the raised rubber lip and you can drive the seal flush to the axle rim which is a great start. The desired position is ~5mm further down inside the bore so you need to add a stepped surface (or make a spacer) for your board to get it there. I can make that on my lathe and post the pic. BTW I was wrong and RH side uses the larger 3" dia seal. There seems to be no common pipe or pipe fitting that has that dia. One video used a 2.5" PVC pipe fitting but that is really too small and probably bends the seal. The board idea is better.

 

Any solution that rhymes almost has to be a good one.

 

98 LTD Front Axle rebuild

Some highlights:

I had a couple of boots that had cracked through, but only recently so the old grease was not contaminated.
The metal guards for the oil seals were knocked loose while prying/pulling the axles. I tapped them back on during assy.
My outer seals seemed OK so I only re-greased them.
Once I removed an axle, I quickly plugged in a large socket into the open seal and taped the end to prevent loss of oil.

To index the CV hub, to the three arm roller yoke, to the axle, I first filed a small notch on the hub exterior aligned
with my 'index' yoke arm. After removing the hub I made a small punch mark on the axle end aligned to that same arm.
Since the yoke is harder than any file or punch I had (Krell steel?), I stuck a small piece of tubing in the end of the
'index' yoke arm. This allowed me to use solvent without losing the index.

My process was to clean the axle exterior before and during teardown to avoid getting dirt inside. This year/model has a
needle bearing yoke (yellow grease) for the inner CV joints and a ball cage joint (black grease) for the outer CV joints.
After thoroughly wiping the grease off with paper towels, I used compressed air to blow out the joints. There was very
little old grease left. I used brake cleaner and repeated air blasts for the needle bearings.

The inner axle seals require a seal driver to seat at proper depth. I wanted something a bit more foolproof than using a
large socket or pipe fitting, so I made a slightly better tool on my wood lathe. With it I was able to drive both the larger and smaller seal in
to proper depth without a risk of a crooked seal or driving too deep.