VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 I have leaky driveshaft gaskets!!

Hello all,

Last year I was going to replace my transmission mount. But before I did that I replaced the transmission case to rear bearing support gasket, the rear bearing support to ball retainer collar gasket, all of these I installed with the black gaskt adhesive. I also replaced the ball to ball retainer collar gasket or packing, (it's gray round and thick). Now that I did all of this I refilled with gear lubricant and I decided to wait and see if I had any leaks in the system. It leaked from every location! The gaskets were purchased from NAPA and were a grayish blue color. I torqued down the bolts, but not so much that I would have warped the housing. What am I doing wrong? Should I use a different type of cement, maybe no cement at all? What about different suppliers of gaskets, (although I believe the fault lies in me)!

Also I have just fininshed taking the rear end off the car. Since the torque tube is readily accessible, is there anyway to check to see if the propeller shaft bushing and seal need to be replaced? There is a business in Tampa that specializes in drive shafts. Looking in the Chevy repair manual It looks a bit complicated. How can you tell if the bushing and oil seal are still good?

Thanks for everyone's help!!

51Steve

If the torque tube bushings are worn you will get a vibration thru the car...usually begins around 40 MPH and picks-up from there.Drums thru the car.If the seal is bad gear oil from the transmission will work back thru the torque tube on over fill the differential.This will only happen when driving.The bushing wear also can be "felt" by moving the drive shaft up and down when the U joint is removed...and check the front bushing (there are two) by testing the fit of the U joint yoke in the bushing.

Drive shaft places have nothing to do for the torque tube type systems.Repairs usually done right on the car....bushings are pressed into the tube and can be difficult to reomve on the late 1950 and up.The Oakie one piece long bushing sold by the Chevrloet vendors is the way to go if replacement is necessary.

Leakage...The bearing support to the trans. case not common to leak-just a gasket is all that necessary.The ball collar should be adjusted by removal (or installing) shims till ball is snug in the collar when bolted up...also an area where no sealer is required...At the rear of the ball a packing is used.The original was a rubberized felt and squashed rather easily.Most present day sets come witha heavy cork seal.These require making the "nut" very tight to compress the seal and stop the leak.

I doubt if all three locations are leaking.I would clean up the mess and watch where the leak (leaks) are originating from.The gear oil can really travel and a drop makes a real mess.