Wheel Seal Leaking Water

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have had that rust goo appear on mine before too. I came to the conclusion that the water had actually entered in through the axle shaft seal behind the spindle, then as the temperature cycled over time, the water eventually found it's way to the wheel bearings via condensation. Everything else being so covered in grease is likely why you don't see rust elsewhere.

I wondered about that too, IIRC the axleshaft seals are kind of rinky dink. It just looked so darn clean out the outside of everything though:



All the seals and bearings were brand new when I swapped the axle in last summer.

 

[4x4junkie]

I wondered about that too, IIRC the axleshaft seals are kind of rinky dink. It just looked so darn clean out the outside of everything though:



All the seals and bearings were brand new when I swapped the axle in last summer.

I don't know if you're running the earlier or later style seals, I've found the early style seals seem to keep water out a bit better than the later ones.

This is the early style, it's also the same as used on the D44 ('92 & earlier). There's a metal flange (slinger) that presses onto the stub shaft yoke, then the lip seal goes around the flange. Then a gray thrust washer, and finally a V-groove inner seal at the base of the shaft.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I used Timkin SBK4 seal/bearing kits according to my pictures.

Amazon.com: Timken SBK4 Bearing & Seal: Automotive

Buy Timken SBK4 Bearing & Seal: Hub Assemblies - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[4x4junkie]

^^^
That does look like the earlier style...
How long were you driving through water?
What year is your axle?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Axle is out of a '95 Ranger.

The only water I know of that was over hub deep starts at around the 16 minute mark.

Some puddles here but I had no truck in front of me to judge depth.

 

[4x4junkie]

Dang, there's enough old wood and stick debris laying on those trails to make me queasy lol. More than once I've had a branch like that lodge in my undercarriage (by some miracle though I've managed to avoid having a brake line or something else ripped off, though a buddy of mine had one get stuck in the gap between his aftermarket tube bumper and the tailgate, damaging the tailgate)


Anyway, ok, so your axle should've had the later style seals in it originally ('92-'93 was the changeover year).

I recall there is an axle seal that actually presses down into the back side of the spindle... It's been a long time since I did mine, but I think you have to remove that seal for the others (older style) to work correctly (or maybe it's the other way 'round, you leave the pressed-in one there and not use the V-groove seal, I forget which). Whichever the case, the press-in seal AND the V-groove seal can't be present at the same time (the V-groove seal would have no place to go other than get crushed by the metal surrounding the press-in seal).


It was many years ago (back around '96 when the axle was still under my Ranger) that I lost a set of bearings to water intrusion after going through water very much like in your video (this was with all the factory seals still in place). A couple weeks after that they started humming real bad... Upon inspection they were fully covered in that rust goo and the races were badly pitted.
I switched to the early seals like I showed above before the axle went under my BII, and after this trip below I examined them after I got home and found no trace of moisture (there were about 8-10 puddles in a row like this, coming out the Tahoe side of Rubicon):



Thing to do is slather that lip seal with as much grease as you possibly can. Lay it on thick, fill the whole back cavity. This will further help prevent water getting in past there.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I followed this:

Dana 35 / 28 Spindle Bearings - The Ranger Station

The spindle bearing is often overlooked and needs to be inspected when doing any wheel bearing maintenance on your 1983-1997 Ford Ranger.

www.therangerstation.com

I prepped the axle a couple years ago, I will need to pull it apart and see what all I have in there.

 

[Curious Hound]

I know I’m a little bit late to this conversation. Looks like everything has been covered except one thing. Packing too much grease into the bearings and space between them could be bad. The grease needs a place to go when the bearings are moving and when the grease heats up and expands. If everything is packed tight, the grease will actually introduce friction in the bearings and cause heat buildup, particularly at road speeds. Think of it like you’re wading through a swamp. The mud and water makes it harder to move. The rolling elements in the bearings need to be able to move through the grease. If it’s packed tight, that makes it more difficult.

So in my opinion, for a vehicle that sees road use or even higher speed off-road driving (anything much faster than crawling) there IS such a thing as too much grease.

I’ve replaced some expensive bearings at work due to overgreasing. We also have some bearings with temperature monitoring equipment installed. We can put 3 little squirts of grease on a bearing on a 4” shaft and watch the temperature quickly rise and slowly fall over the next day or so as that new grease gets redistributed throughout the bearing. The dynamics are pretty amazing.

 

[4x4junkie]

^^^
That shouldn't be an issue with the D35 bearings. If there's an excess of grease in there, it'll simply get pushed out into the area around where the bearing locknuts are.
I always pack the bearings full as I can get them, but leave the space around the locknuts with only a light film of grease on them just for that reason (I also put just enough to keep the splined thrust washer lubed where it rubs against the end of the spindle).

85, that article does mention something about "driving" a new seal into the back of spindle (using an installer tool). If that seal had a metal flange that needed pressed in and you also used the V-groove seal, then that might be your issue. Only one inner seal needs to be present.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Found more pics.

Old bearing out:



Looks like there is more to the old one than the new one?

 

[4x4junkie]

I don't see a pressed-in seal there. However I do see what looks like some marks on the back of that spindle... If the surface where the seal rests against has any nicks (including the edge around the center hole), that could make it easier for water to get in.