Rear axle seal leak into drum brake

[Cellardoor]

Hi
I have had my Beddie Cf 75' for about 3 months now, very happy. I'm 21, not a mechanic, but relatively capable with some fixes, and keen to repair most Beddie jobs myself.
I found the van pulling slightly to the left when braking, took the rear drums off and found a slow leak onto one of the left shoes.
It seems to be coming from the centre below the axle/spindle, definitely not brake fluid I think. Not losing fluid. I'm guessing it's a rear axle seal??

Is this a common issue? I have the Beddie manual and will investigate but I thought I would throw it at you guys first as this forum seems unreal, pic attached [the photo is turned 90 degrees anti-clockwise, the shiny bit above the springs in the center is actually small amount of fluid. There is a build up of crud at the base of the drum (but right on the photo)]

I'll replace with new drums both sides, and get someone to check the job for safety but first off;

Has anyone got some hints or words of advice for axle seal replacement? and do I need a special tool to get the center cap/nut off.
Any help appreciated, cheers, Tom

[MaTTe]

Hey mate, if you're getting fluid into the inside of the drum it means 2 things.
Your axle seal is failing, and the drain hole on the backing plate is blocked.

To change the seal requires the bearing being pulled off with a shop press. As a temporary fix, you can remove the entire backing plate by rotating that hole in the axle to line up with each bolt, and remove everything (can keep the brakes all assembled).
Once removed scrape the back of the backing plate, and the axle housing clean, and ensure there is no silicon on there, as alot of people seem to think the silicon helps. All the silicon does is keep your drive way clean, and forces the oil into your brakes. Once the brake linings have diff oil in them, they need to be burnt out with oxy or similar, tho i highly recommend new brake linings. the drums themselves should be fine if cleaned up with petrol or the like.

[BusyKiwi]

I'm not sure about there but you can't get the seals here in NZ

If the seal is ok (not damaged) you can shorten the spring inside the seal, as they stretch with the heat.
The spring is screwed into itself, so unscrew it, cut a little bit off (10mm max), screw it back in, reassemble and you should be good to go

[Cellardoor]

A 'shop press' to get at the seal etc... bummer... looks like a mechanic job. Thanks for the input, I'll check it out some more and report back

cheers

[Dano]

not at all, (unless you need new bearings/seals then just find someone to press these on and off for you) DO GET MORE THAN ONE QUOTE!  i was quoted from $ 150@ axle to $50.00, it only should only take them 30 min to do.

to remove axles, as Matte said, rotate axle to get to mounting plate bolts, then turn your brake drum around,refit loosely (with a good amount of thread) and use like a slide hammer. Axle should adventually pop out towards you.

just a caution note as a good friend of ours did this and fell backwards onto his tailbone damaging his back...it's not too difficult a job cellardoor so you should be ok, good luck!

[Cellardoor]

hey, thanks mate. Getting onto it this weekend.

[ben]

these must be holden brakes are they cause on a bedford diff the oil seal is a simple O ring on the roller bearing.

ben

[BusyKiwi]

ben they have a seal on the side of the bearing as well, thats where the spring is

[ben]

oh i remember of course. thats to seal it against the axel. the one i was refering to is to seal it against the diff housing. if the axel seal is gone then youd have to asume the bearing is pretty bad also yeh?

ben

[Cellardoor]

the front brakes have been converted to holden disks, I thought the rear drums were still original. Anyway, going through the manual now... any alternatives to a slide hammer?