Leaking rear wheel seals

[360FE68]

Well first I have a '68 F100 with a Dana 44 for a rear end. I have been getting grease all over the rear brakes and figured I would replace the seals and bearing. AZ does not have a listing for the Dana 44, only the Ford axle. I found this out after pulling the passenger axle out and they were not the same. On one hand this was a help as I found that the seal they normaly would sell me was not the one leaking. It is the seal on the flange that holds the axle in place. I could see that the grease was flowing very easily from the center. Also when I peaked behind the flange to see what the seal looked like 3/4 of is missing. Is it possible to get a replacement seal for the flange or do I have to hope I can find a good one in the scrap yard? It contaminats the rear brakes so bad that they are just about useless. Also what is a good source for the regular seal and bearings? The parts stores look at me with the dumbest look when I tell them I don't have the ford axle and tell me that it is the only one ever used.

Thank you!
Will

[Mach428]

Call NPD. They will most likely have the seal that is correct for your truck. I would NEVER install a used seal.

[360FE68]

I will give them a shot. Normally I would never use a used seal either, but it all most looks like the seal is built into the flange. It's hard to tell there was a lot of grease and I hadn't removed the retaining ring or bearing since I obviously didn't have the correct ones. I didn't want to screw them up with out first having replacments. It only left about about 1/4 of inch to inspect the back side of the axle retaining flange. So I could be wrong and it could be a replaceable seal. I know the manual for both the Ford rear and the Dana rear show an outer seal. So I don't understand why the parts stores only stock the inner seal. One would think the outer seal would be the one to go bad the most often.

Thanks for the guidance on a parts source!
Will

[Art]

The inner seal keeps the gear lube (liquid) in the differential.

The outer seal keeps the wheel bearing grease (paste) in the wheel bearing.

The outer seal is replaceable, but requires the tapered roller wheel bearing to be removed from the axle shaft.

To fix your truck right, you need to replace the inner seal as well as the damaged outer seal you have.

Chrysler used a very similar setup (in the 60's and 70's) with their 8-3/4 and Dana 60 axles. The wheel bearing used on your truck might even be the same part, a SET 7 bearing. You can confirm this by the (timken) bearing part numbers on your bearings.

Where are you located at?

Art

[Sidedunp]

Correct. It is a SET 7. Tell them it is from a 1975. Then the parts will show up in their system.

[Art]

Correct. It is a SET 7. Tell them it is from a 1975. Then the parts will show up in their system.

Was that wheel bearing setup used in 1975?

I thought it stopped in 1969.

The later style tapered roller bearings are different and also installed the other way around so there is no thrust spacer between the axle shafts.

[Sidedunp]

My parts guy ordered every bearing from 1950 to 1980 to match up with what my rear had. What the book showed to be was a sealed bearing that was high dollar. What was in my rear was a SET 7. He said it was an upgrade. 1975 was what the book said the kit went to. I guess that was my parts guy thinking out of the box. He's been selling parts a very long time.