How are the inner axle seals removed? Can they be re-installed?

[Cobra4B]

I'm going to have the rear axle housing powdercoated. I assume I should remove the inner axle seals to prevent the possibility of damage from the baking heat?

How do you get them out? Do you put something over the end of the axle to press them toward the inside?

Are they just held in by friction? Once pressed out can they be re-used? The ones we have are basically brand new from a recent gear swap.




~Brian

EDIT - They pop out with ease. A wooden dowel (I cut the end off a paint roller extension handle) does the trick.

[CMPanoz]

I pull the axles out, use a short length of 1" or 1 1/4" PVC pipe. Insert at an angle and tap around the outside of the bearing. They come out easy. I have never tried to reuse them. I always purchased new ones from Panoz. They are avaiable through Coleman. Always easier to get the right part the first time from Panoz.

[Panoz60]

I use a wooden dowel, tapping on each side of the seal back and forth until it pops out. I like the idea of PVC pipe...gotta try that. I suppose they can be reused, but; I have tried to operate under a philosophy of "it's already out, why not replace it".

I do not want to take food out of PAD's mouth, but there are numerous sources you can get those seals from. Racecar Engineering is in Lakeland Florida, near me, and have everything imaginable. They ship internationally. http://www.racecareng.com/. Another source (with a better website) is Pit Stop USA. http://www.pitstopusa.com/

[Panoz60]

PS...I thought you might get a kick out of this like I did. This is a 9" Ford built by Trans-Am racer Tony Ave. It's for a friend of ours that races a GT1 Mustang. Check out the bracing. Wow! It's all chrome moly, so it was actually pretty light. We powder coated it in dove grey.

[Cobra4B]

Wow... I was going to do a dark silver/gray color as well.

Here's the response I got from John @ Panoz

I think most powder coating is done around 400 deg. F so I would remove the seals to be on the safe side. The portion that seals over the drive axle should be packed with grease anyway so the powder coater wouldn't be too happy when that comes dripping out They can be re-installed , just inspect the o-rings to make sure they weren't damaged during removal. If they are damaged replacement o-rings are available. I honestly can't remember for sure but there should be a machined step that limits how far in the seals can go. If not, just tap them in at least deep enough so that no portion is sticking past the end of the tube in the housing. Hope that helps.

[Panoz60]

I never heard of the inner axle tubes being "machined" for inner seals, at least not in my experience. My recollection is that they have enough of a resistance fit to hold wherever you place them. There is really no pressure on them once they're installed. I know they come in differing diameters to accommodate different wall thicknesses of axle tubes.

On the powder coating deal...we always prebake our parts at cure temp. It outgases any contaminants in the metal (grease, oil, etc) and anything that cannot take the temp. But yes...most customers don't understand until we explain it; that the part must be fully disassembled. Luckily, this particular rear-end was new fabrication so it cleaned up really easy.

[Cobra4B]

Seals popped out without issue. I cut off the rounded end of a wooden paint roller extension handle. I don't see the need to replace these unless they're truly worn out. They're clearly not a "one-time-use" seal.