Dana 60 Axle Seal Replacement

[Late99EconoWagon73]

Howdy,

Did a little inspecting of the brakes on the EconoWagon (scraping noises, oh no... What? No wear sensors?!) and noticed some gear lube leaking past the right side axle seal (E-Brake shoes were soaked).

Service manual has little info on how to service the seal (unless I'm missing something, which is entirely possible...).

Has anyone replaced their axle seals? It's a Dana 60 Full Floater from what I can tell.

Also, do you need to pull the "hub" off just to service the E-Brake shoes?

Local Differential and Axle repair shop wants $370 to replace two axle seals and pinion seal - OUCH!

Thanks for any info you can provide. Stu


PS - Looking for info on Rotor and Pad choices that other vanners have made as well... Need to replace all four.

[cdnsarguy]

Check out this article.......

Axle seal replacement
TheDieselStop.Com - www.thedieselstop.com
Changeup the seal number to..... #34384

[Late99EconoWagon73]

cdnsarguy,

Thanks for the link. Dana 60 looks to be similar enough...

Where did you find the seal number you mentioned?

Still need to find the torque for reassembly...

Thanks again! Stu

[cdnsarguy]

That link and the seal upgrade # were posted by another member.. I just saved it and pass it on as seen. IIRC I found out the seal was changed up by Chicago Rawhide/parts stores stocking that seal.... the numbers relate to shaft size.........I believe there was a leaking problem and they changed the specs......... see if you can contact the article writer or check with your Ford/parts store..... I will look for further info.

NOTE: A Parts store should have the hub nut torque for old and new bearings.

[toalpi]

Originally Posted by Late99EconoWagon73

cdnsarguy,

Thanks for the link. Dana 60 looks to be similar enough...

Where did you find the seal number you mentioned?

Still need to find the torque for reassembly...

Thanks again! Stu

That scott seal doesn't fit according to chicago charts that I looked at 2+ years ago. Stick with the motorcraft seal. It is a good seal. The spec is ZERO play in the bearings. It is a racheting nut so a torque value can't be used. Once you get close you can temporarily put a tire on to get additional leverage for pushing/pulling on things to "feel" for any play and to see that it still freely rotates.

[klhansen]

Here's the specs for the Dana 60 rear axle for the van.

Dana 60 van axle specs.jpg

The hub nut is a ratcheting affair on the Sterling axles used on the SRW pickups. They use a "click" method of adjustment, but the Dana axle is apparently different. Couldn't find the actual hub removal instructions in the service CD for the van.

On both axles, the wheel bearings get packed with grease, but are actually lubed by the axle lubricant, with the grease just for initial lubrication.

Hope that helps.

[sixiron]

had a couple of axle seals leak on the 98...only the drivers side for some reason....second leaker was solved by cleaning the axle contact area real good with brake cleaner and 400 grit ......I mean clean real good it needs to be squeeky clean ...the first leaking seal did not get the "hospital" treatmenmt only a once over cleaning and it developed a leak later on...

afa oil soaking into the brake linings thats your call but I was able to clean them with brake cleaner and rough up the shoe linings a little bit and got a lot of service from the old ones....after the second seal went out I did replace the linings....once they get really soaked they will not restore for service...

bill

[Late99EconoWagon73]

Thanks for the help folks.

Sounds like I'll stick with the Motorcraft seal and do the super cleaning of the axle.

From klhansen's post it looks like the Dana 60 is slightly different than the Sterling and does get torqued, correct? Still looking for ZERO play from what footnote (b) says though, so I guess the torques are just a guide?? Still a little confused on that...

Stu