TE20 sure seals

[mrpleasant]

Hello everyone. I'm a first time poster, and have lurked for bout 3 weeks. I've recently aquired a 1948 TE20 which I intend to use for only moderate work, mostly plowing snow in the winter and road grading in the summer. It will have a casual retirement.

I've begun the process of taking the tractor down as far as I intend to and replacing seals and gaskets prior to cleaning it up and giving it some paint. My question goes to sure seals on the axles.

Both axles had some oil leaking into the brake drums so I naturally assumed sure seals were needed in lieu of total seal replacement. So, I bought some seals. This evening I pulled the left half shaft and found a sure seal already installed. It did not appear damaged and seems tight. Present were also shims, but there were no gaskets with the shims. I found this strange.

I am a bit confused on how to proceed. Does the omission of the gaskets likely point to the reason for oil leaking? If I were to want to change the sure seal, is there a way to remove the installed seal easily? I guess I'm trying to figure out if I need a new sure seal or if adding gaskets to the shims would likely stop the leak.

I'll be pulling the right hand half shaft tomorrow.

Thanks in advance, and thanks for all the great archived posts that have helped me start on this project.

Erick

 

[Bruce(OR)]

Welcome Erick! When I did sure seals on the TO-20 I used Gray RTV on the gaskets behind the backing plate to axle trumpet mounting. I figured gray was easier to hide on gray paint anyway and the gray RTV is what the auto dealers use to seal oil pans etc.
Also packing the wheel bearings was done with short fiber grease (drum brakes wheel bearing grease). Driving the seal into position is done with a 3 foot section of ABS pipe to slide over the axle shaft.

 

[Jeff-oh]

If your going to pull the right axle you will need to pull the differential gear first. It is heavy but manageable.

Then when you go to put it all back together put on the right side first. hang the Diffy on it then putt the left back on.

Sam, correct if I missed anything.
Jeff.

 

[mrpleasant]

Thanks Jeff. I should clarify. I only pulled the left half shaft, and I only intend to pull the right half shaft. I don't believe I need to break the trumpet on either side at the case. The gaskets I refer to be missing are those at the shims at the brake backing plate side of the trumpet. I thought I could just pull the right half shaft as I did the left...by removing the nuts behind the backing plate and sliding out. Correct?

Any thoughts on the missing gaskets and likelihood of that causing my leak?

 

[mrpleasant]

Thanks Bruce. There is no RTV or gasket on just behind the backing plate here, so that may be the problem. There are only shims. I'll know about the right side shaft tomorrow.

 

[John (UK)]

There should be a gasket at each side of the Brake Back Plate and the shims fit next to the axle housing and the Back Plate gasket. Check the oil level in the Rear axle by removing the bottom screw in the Round inspection covers and allow any oil that runs out to run until it stops, that is now the level you need. Mark the Dipstick with this new level as it may not be the correct dipstick. There are a few that look right but they are marked differently. If the oil is leaking into the actual Drum then the seal does need replacing, but you can use "Sure Seals" and that is an easier fix. You must make sure that the shims are fitted correctly and that you have the correct end-play when it is all re-assembled again. If there is no gasket on the inside of the Brake Drum, this could cause an oil leak into the drum if the oil level was incorrect even if the original seal was not leaking. When you remove the drum, just look at the end of the Hub where the seal is located and if the seal is leaking you will see oil coming out of the seal and running down the Hub and Back-plate. If it was just the gasket leaking, you would only get the oil leaking down the Back-plate below the Hub and also possibly down the outside (back) of the Back-plate too. Always check that the nuts holding the Hub are tight, do this often. You need to determine just where the leak is coming from and why to resolve it, but just follow what is written and you will see what I mean. If there is oil getting into the Drums and both sides have "Sure Seals" fitted then the oil is passing through the "Sure Seals" and you need to check the oil level first and if that is OK change the "Sure Seals". Do not use any gasket cement on the gaskets as they do move slightly and using cement will allow them to move more and wear away the cement and cause it to leak again. The gaskets are quite capable of stopping any leaks, it is the Hubs coming slack that causes leaks, this is especially true if the tractor has a loader as it is shunting a lot.
If you need the correct way to shim the axles or carry out the whole operation, email me at [email protected] or [email protected]

 

[mrpleasant]

Thanks John. That's great info. I'm up early today to get moving on the other side. I do have the maintenance manual, so I have the shim procedure.

Do you have any info on how easy it may be to remove an already installed sure seal? It seems the lack of gaskets may be my problem here (at least on the left side), but since I have the thing apart I may think about changing the sure seal anyway even though it looks ok.

 

[John (UK)]

Sorry there doesn't seem to be an easy way to remove the Sure Seal, it's a matter of levering it out. You need to get underneath it somehow without damaging the Hub and possibly if you are careful you can do this by drilling a hole close to the edge and lever it out. But I don't think it is as easy as it might be...John

 

[mrpleasant]

Thanks John. I inspected both sure seals and they both seem to be in good order. The gaskets, on the other hand, were actually there but not in good shape at all. So, I went ahead and left the sure seals in and replaced the gaskets. If it doesn't fix my problem I'll take another morning to do it all over again and will then have time to contemplate how to pull out the sure seals.

Now, if the gear box seals would just arrive in the mail today.....

 

[John (UK)]

You should know that things very rarely work out as you would wish...It's like a curse sometimes...Have a Good Weekend!!...John

 

[mrpleasant]

I'm very familiar with that concept John! In fact, I often expect it!