Hi, I am trying to remove the axle seals on my 71 skylark with a 10 bolt rear end. Any tricks would be great I noticed it is not set up like the cars in the early 80's with the c clips holding the axles in. Any help would be great. thanks Bill
Hello. Not that hard, just need access to a press, a press plate, & dremel tool. Basic rundown is pull the axle, then remove axle bearing "locking collar " (dremel tool w cutoff wheel & a sharp chisel work well). Once the axle bearing "locking collar" has a notch & a crack in that notch, both the bearing & the "locking collar' will press off the axle easily. Once the bearing is off, the seal (a National 712146) will come off. In replacing the seal, one will correctly reinstall the 4 bolt retaining plate, the new seal, & then correctly position & reinstall the A-9 tapered bearing on a press. Problem is, if your A9 axle bearing has been previously replaced, one will need to come up with a new "locking collar"& these locking collars are not sold w/o a new bearing. If your A9 axle bearing has been replaced in the past & you just need a locking collar of the proper size, instead of buying a $21+ new A-9 tapered bearing, one can buy a cheap chinese (Partsmaster) RW507CR sealed bearing for around $10. These are the cheapy line of sealed axle bearing used in many earlier 8.2 bolt-in axle rears & their locking collar will be the same ID as that comes with a new A9 bearing. Basically one can use the "locking collar" from the new RW507CR, then just pitch the new Chinese bearing & save $10+ bucks. Of course, if your A9 axle bearing has never been replaced before, just smart to pony up the extra bucks & replace the A-9 bearing with a new quality piece along with the new seal ($8). Have fun. :3gears: Roger
Thanks I hope that helps me I am not going to touch the bearings (Low mile car) if I can help it the seals are a little wet that is all so I will try to get them out without damaging the bearings. thanks again Bill
