HO52 woes

[JMD]

Hey all,
I took my '68 k10 out for it's first test drive and found that the rear axle (Eaton HO52) is leaking from the pinion area. The yoke does have a bit of a groove in it from the pinion seal, so I had it sleeved and installed a new pinion seal thinking this would solve the problem...It did not. I also coated the splines with industrial thread sealant but it still drips a few drops every hour. However on my 2 mile test drive the entire back half of the truck became coated in gear oil, so the leak must get worse as it drives.

What else should I be looking at? Any ideas are appreciated, thanks.

[B. W.]

Is there any play in the pinion? (Can you wiggle the yoke?) if so, the pinion pr-load is too loose or (worst case) your pinion bearings are gone. Either of these will allow the pinion to move around & gear lube will leak out of the seal.

the pinion is held in with a retainer ( 5 bolt I think?) if it is not sealed (or loose) it can leak also.

[JMD]

I can wiggle the yoke, quite a bit actually. How do I set the pre-load?

[B. W.]

If I'm right, the pre-load is set by shims that fit under the race of the rear pinion bearing (pinion has two tapered roller bearings that face each other, there is also a small rear support bearing on the tail of the pinion)

So, if the yoke nut is tight the pinion pre-load is set. The manual says torque nut to spec but I couldn't find the spec!

[1972RedNeck]

Are you sure you have an HO52 in a K10?

[Wrenchbender Ret]

Originally Posted by 1972RedNeck

Are you sure you have an HO52 in a K10?

Good catch Redneck. I didn't put that together.

[JMD]

Originally Posted by 1972RedNeck

Are you sure you have an HO52 in a K10?

I wondered when somebody was going to question that! Yes I'm sure it's a HO52. My project started out as a '67 K20 with a rotten frame, so I swapped the axles under a k10 frame and I'm building at as a k10. Good catch!

I did some digging and found a few sources that say 220ft lbs, which is way more than what it's currently set at. I'll tighten it up and see what happens. Thanks guys!

[Wrenchbender Ret]

There is no crush sleeve on that rear end. The brgs are set at the factory with a spacer between them. Unless the nut came loose, any play in the brgs will require new brgs. Some of the older ones had a big double row ball brg. I believe it is replaced with the later roller brgs. Tighten the nut real tight & then tighter as nessesary to line up the cotter pin holes. Your leak may be the flange that the brgs & seal go in. It takes a special gasket but you can use RTV.

[JMD]

Thanks for the info guys. Still haven't gotten around to working on it (Been trying to figure out some electrical issues) but I'll update this as soon as I do some investigating.

[JMD]

Turns out the new seal I installed was shredded. Not sure if it happened when I first put the yoke back in or if the tiny bit of slop in the bearing tore it apart, but the seal was definitely shot. I threw a new seal in there and tightened the nut to 200ft lbs and everything seems fine so far! No leaks on the first 30 mile test drive. Thanks for all the help!