Tips on doing rear axle seals.
If you are doing one side, or one side at a time, set the jack stand on the side you are disassembling a little higher to prevent the diff oil from dribbling out as you are working on it.
If you have diff oil on the drums, most like the lip seal in the hubs need replacement, but check the housing surface and make sure it not rusty, pitted or scored. It will make for a poor seal at best, and destroy your news seals in a hurry at worst. If you can't get the housing polished up with some emery cloth, consider a Speedi-sleeve (also known as Redi-sleeve). It will give you a new pristine surface for the seal to mate. They are available a variety of places from bearing houses to Amazon.
You will want a new lip seal, new paper gasket and O-ring for each side too.
The nuts are "handed" meaning one is RH thread, the other LH thread. The easiest way to remember which is which, is they unscrew opposite of forward wheel rotation. If your lock tabs are badly bunged up, replace them with new. The nut is (if I remember correctly) 1-7/8". You will probably need a hub puller to remove the hubs. Sometimes a good yank will get them off, but usually not.
You can clean the brake shoes with brake cleaner, but if they are worn, which they probably are, just replace them with new shoes and save yourself some labor. If you R&R the brakes, do it before you replace the hub. It's a little easier to install the brakes with the hub out of the way. The next step is to re-install the new seals and bearings back in the hub, and reinstall the hubs. The bearings should be a tight fit going back in the hub and on the axle housing. Lubricate the lip seal before putting them back on the axle housing. Cleaning and repacking the bearings is a good idea too. Replace the lock tabs and then tighten the nuts and bend over the lock tabs. If you are not using new lock tabs, try to use a fresh area to bend over.
Before reassembling, I strongly recommend you clean everything really well and especially the mating flanges on the hub and axles. Make sure the groove for the O-ring is clean too. I use a 6" wire wheel in a hand drill or a drill press to get the metal clean of any corrosion or stuck on debris (gasket material, RTV, etc.) Check the surfaces for any high spots or divots from prior rough handling. Take a file to any high spots.
Once you are to the point to put things back together, I like to wipe down the mating flange on the hub and axle with a solvent or degreaser before applying and sealant. Personally, I hate RTV, especially in "mass quantities". Use whatever you want, but my choice of sealant (if you use any at all) is Hylomar, but use it very sparingly... you don't need a lot if everything is clean and smooth. Install the oil ring in the groove, then apply the gasket to the hub, When reinstalling the gasket and axle, pay attention to the orientation of the three small screw holes in the hub. The center one matches the single hole the axle, the opposing 2 are for the brake drum. Align the spine at the end of the axle into the diff and push the axle home and insert the single screw through the axle and snug it up good. Next, replace the brake drum and replace the screws. If you plan to do the other side without reinstalling the wheel, place at least 2 lug nuts on the studs and snug them up. The (Posi-drive) screws alone may not give you enough compression to keep things a tight seal without the wheel in place. Best to use the proper (Posi-drive) screwdriver to keep from buttering up the screws, if they are not already. I put a dab of anti-seize on them too. Torque on the lug nuts is 44-46 lbs.
Gerard
