: Can anyone tell me how to put the new seals in : without bunging them all up like the last guy?
: The brakes are getting soaked with gear oil. And : how should the surfaces be prepared for a good : seal? Any help would be greatly appreciated.First preparation. Everything should be clean and smooth. Polish the shaft with very fine abrasive (leaving none for the transmission gears). If there's a groove worn in the shaft by the old seal, figure on not pressing the seal quite all the way into its recess. Any rough edges will wreck a new seal rapidly. A groove where the seal rests will let a new seal leak. To put the seal in without bashing it up, get a piece of oak or maple wider than the seal and probably several times that long. In the middle drill a hole that is a little (say 1/8th inch) larger than the shaft. Place the seal in position to go into its recess, maybe with a little none hardening sealer, like permatex #2 (a film) on its outside diameter. Then push the seal in with the drilled board and gentle hammer taps. The board will spread the pressure so the seal won't be marked. Move the strike point from side to side so the seal goes in straight. If there was a groove on the shaft, stop with the outside of the seal 1/16th inch or a hair more proud of the axle housing surface to put the sealing on fresh shaft. In really bad cases, you have to take the shaft to a good machine shop and have the groove filled with steel and then reground to standard diameter. This is a common process for when a bearing spins on such a shaft. Its not cheap, but neither is a new shaft. There are thin hardened sleeves that can be epoxied into place, but the nearest shop to here prefers to weld and grind.
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