Shaft Seal Replacement

[Large Arbor]

I got the seals from ERA and am ready to start. Looks somewhat straightforward getting the stub axle out. However I would welcome any thoughts or steps in the process. I think this order:

1. Get car elevated.
2. Pull seats and transmission cover to get to brake lines in rear.
3. Disconnect brake lines.
4. Drain rearend.
5. Remove control arms
6. Remove wheels
7. Remove shocks
8. Remove fuel filter strap attached to sub frame
9. Remove subframe
10. Drop rearend

Did I miss anything?

Phil

[Grubby]

I have replaced stub axle seals in an ERA with standard rear and optional rear while in the car. If doing only one side I would definitely leave it in the car. If doing both sides on a standard rear I might pull it but probably not. The optional rear is easier to gain access to the stub axles.

If you are interested in doing the repair in the car let me know and I can write up the details from memory. Which rear do you have? I assume you are replacing the stub axle seal and O ring?

There is enough room to remove the half shaft bolts and then swing the hub down. That allows you access to the stub axle bolts. About a 2 hour job per side in the car.

John

[Large Arbor]

Grubby,

Definitely interested. I was hoping I could do it without dropping the whole rearend. I have the standard ERA rearend. I am very interested in doing it while on the car. Any advice would be most welcomed. I find myself doing a lot of things for the first time on a Cobra.

Phil

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by Large Arbor

Grubby,

Definitely interested. I was hoping I could do it without dropping the whole rearend. I have the standard ERA rearend. I am very interested in doing it while on the car. Any advice would be most welcomed. I find myself doing a lot of things for the first time on a Cobra.

Phil

Absolutely...please post them. I need to do the pinion seal and this may be part of that job or a separate adventure!

[Grubby]

Stub Axle seal R&R in the car.

I did this on a standard ERA Rear about 4 years ago and may miss a few steps.

1. Raise the rear of the car and support by the frame rails in front of the rear axle.
2. Remove the wheel on the side you are working on
3. If you have a rear sway bar you will likely need to disconnect it from control arm on the side you are repairing. My car didn't have the rear sway bar.
4. Usa a long extension or a few long extensions and 3/8 drive sockets to remove the nuts that hold the half shaft to the stub axle. They are the ones by the rotor.
5. I think I had to remove one of the coil overs to give me room to lean the hub outboard. Leaning the hub out pulls the half shaft away from the rotor and gives you room to get the stub axle out.
6. Leave the half shaft attached to the hub and just lay it to one side so you have room to work.
7. Now you can access the brake caliper bolts thru a hole in the rotor.
8. You will be able to move the caliper out of the way without breaking any brake lines loose.
9. Remove the rotor.
10. Now you can get to the bolts that hold the stub axle in.
11. You can disassemble the stub axle on your work bench to replace the seal.
12. Be sure to replace the O ring if needed while you are in there.

Good luck and let me know if I missed something.

I think I spent about 2 hours doing one side on my car.

John

[Grubby]

I haven't tried or needed to change a pinion seal in the car. It looks like there isn't enough room to move the drive shaft out of the way. However, if you remove the tunnel I bet you could do it.

John

[davids2toys]

I have heard this job has to be done just right or costly ramifications!!!
I might take the interior out leave one seat in and drive it to ERA and let Doug do it, throw in a wheel alignment while I'm at it!

[Large Arbor]

Yes, I would pass on the pinion seal. My intent is to remove the stub axle and see the level of difficulty. If its too much, I have someone I will take it to.

Phil

[Grubby]

Both jobs are moderately difficult.

ERA has sections of the Jag repair manual posted on the owners web page. Read thru it and you will get a better feel for what needs done once you get to the part.

John

[Large Arbor]

I think that I am just going to pull the stu axel and send it to someone to put the seals on. I made progress tonight, car is up, wheel is off. and shaft is off, rotor is loosened as well as sway bar and shocks.

Grubby - Can you removed the brake caliper without removing seats and tunnel?


Phil

Looks like this:

[Grubby]

Phil,
The large hole in the rotor that is visible in your picture, when rotated to the correct positions will allow access to the 2 caliper bolts. Remove both and you will have enough room to move the caliper out of the way. You just need enough to get the rotor off. No need to remove brake lines.

With the rotor off the stub shaft bolts are right there.

John

[Large Arbor]

Thanks Grubby. After I removed the caliper and rotor and the bolts holding the stub axle in, will it just slide out? Is there anything that is held in place by the stub axle that when I remove it, other things will drop? Lastly, is the seal hard to put on? I heard it had to be pressed on. Thanks again for all the help.

Phil

[Grubby]

double post

[Grubby]

Phil,

You have it. Remove the bolts that are visible around the stub axle and it slides right out. Nothing will fall out become damaged inside. There may or may not be shims between the stub axle retainer and the third member. Save them and put them back if it has them.

The seal isn't that difficult. It isn't pressed on. There are some Utubes on how to do it and the ERA guys have part of the Jag service manual in the owners pages that should show it. If you are good enough with your tools to get this far I wouldn't be to scared.

I think you have already done the hard part.

The really short version of installing the seal is unscrew the nut; remove the old seal; put the new seal on and tighten the nut. A few more things to watch, but not a big deal.

Once you get the stub axle out and look at the manual, let me know if you have any specific questions and I will answer them.

Send me a PM if you are stuck and I will give you my number.

Also, inspect your O ring that will be visible when the stub axle is removed. Make sure it is still pliable and not cut. They leak there to.

John

[Large Arbor]

Well this just did not work. The bolts that hold the caliper on were not accessible from underneath. So I removed the tunnel to get at them. Got them loose but the caliper still would not come off. I then disconnected the brake line, and driveshaft and dropped the entire rearend. It would not drop enough thus I had to remove the gas tank. I then dropped the rearend. After trying for an hour, there is not enough room to get the caliper out of the cage. Caliper is loose but with the emergency brake portion there is just no room. I am not sure what to do next.Here is a picture of where I am at.

[DanEC]

Have you removed the brake pads? Not sure if that would provide some wiggle room and help or not.

[Large Arbor]

Tried remove the brake pads. By looks this morning I will have to almost remove it from the subframe to get the rotor off. Either I'm pretty stupid or there just is not an easy way to get to this without taking it out of the subframe.

Phil

[Large Arbor]

Ok, the major mistake I made was not removing the emergency brake from the caliper. A big duh on that one. The master cylinder and pads had 90 weight gear lube over everything.

[Large Arbor]

Actually not the master cylinder, but the caliper, pads, emergency break pads, have shaft and underneath. When I drained the gear lube seems like more than a quart came out. I think it may have been overfilled. I do not have the socket to replace it myself so I will make some calls Monday and determine where to ship.

Phil

[Grubby]

Phil,

Good job. You certainly learned a bit about your car.

John