Hi BearsFan,
Thx for the quick reply.
Sorry for not being clear, but no, not the green part in your x-section. Referring to your x-sect, I’m speaking of the bushing and seal that are pressed into the ”˜blue’ tube, and through which runs the ”˜yellow’ prop shaft. Based on my understanding (which is always in question), cars and trucks are similar in regards to this bushing and seal arrangement. Your x-sect shows the bushing (the white mass within the blue tube in the vicinity of the green seal), but does not show the seal I am interested in.
According to other forum threads, when this seal leaks it can allow U-Jt oil to run down the tube into the diff, out the axles and into the brake drums. Oily brake drums is where this current project began. I’m dealing with the axle seals as well as the one in question here.
Honestly, I think your 99.9% is low. Not only do I not expect such suppliers to have a clue about ”˜29 truck parts, but I’ve stopped disclosing the automotive application. Twice (once for the steering gear box thrust bearings and now for this seal) I’ve had suppliers tell me that due to liability issues they will not sell parts for use in automobiles.
You are 100% correct in my needing to know the ID of the tube (bore) and OD of the shaft (among many other seal characteristics). However, I am following TFS replacement instructions for the bushing and seal whereby the prop shaft (yellow) remains installed in its enclosure tube (blue), which makes it impossible for me to take accurate measurements. I recalled reading in a forum thread that Parts Masters in years subsequent to ”˜29 often included parts dimensions, even those for ”˜29 parts, but so far I’ve had no luck finding the tube ID and shaft OD (and their tolerances). Help would be appreciated in this matter!
However, in lieu of having the bore and shaft dims, I figured I could use the NOS bushing dims instead (1.733” OD and 1.195” ID, as measured), at least for a starting point. Any comments/suggestions on this approach?
And for the seal depth, I measured the cork seal that I removed (0.19"). There should be some flexibility in this dim, but if it gets too thick, then the bushing will be pushed onto the splines.
Pls see the attached sketch that I created for sending to suppliers. SKF said the closest they had was 1.720 x 1.188 x .270. LocateBallBearings (who found the steering thrust bearing I needed) found nothing to recommend. Another declined due to the automotive application, which I disclosed in a phone conversation while trying to figure out how to send them my sketch.
While waiting to hear from these suppliers I continued to do research into seals. The Timken National Industrial Seals Catalog was very informative and I learned how much I did not know. So I thought I’d reach out to the forum to see if another LQ restorer had already ”˜invented this wheel’.
Thanks again for your help. And sorry for the lengthy reply.
Sketch:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9rykc8tqy41dvc8/drive%20shaft%20seal2.docx?dl=0