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Leak on left hand side axle. Just need new bearings?
Just want to know best course of action to repair this leak I’ve found. Car is about 130k miles and I’m pretty sure rear end has never been touched. Need full rebuild kit or just beartings and races?
Re: Leak on left hand side axle. Just need new bearings?
Originally Posted by sofakingdom
That's not where the axle bearings are. Changing axle bearings won't have any effect on that.
That's where the axle tubes are jammed into the pumpkin and "secured" with 2 plug welds.
The welds have broken and now the whole deal leaks. The tube can probably be moved around in the pumpkin as well.
You can see the welds clearly on the opposite side.
so I’ll need a whole new rear end then is that what you’re saying? I spun the wheels freely while they were up in the air and couldn’t hear anything coming from that area so I think it still has enough grease/oil to keep from seizing up but I would like to fix this before it becomes a big problem.
Re: Leak on left hand side axle. Just need new bearings?
It doesn't "become a big problem", really. It's mostly just a minor annoyance.
The only way to fix it is to tear the rear COMPLETELY down, take it to somebody that has / can make a jig (ahem, "fixture") to hold it PERFECTLY straight, and weld the tubes all the way around where they fit into the pumpkin. And of course fill in the plug welds so they don't leak either. Do the same things to both left and right, all 4 plug welds.
Just as a FYI, I had a car with that problem SO BAD back maybe 30-35 years ago, that I could grab the tube with my hand, and turn it in the pumpkin, as well as warping it back and forth. The car made a weird clicking kinda noise when braking, and then again when accelerating, from the tube rotating. That rear eventually got UTTERLY DESTROYED inside though, by leaking water; it was the tow vehicle for my boat, and it got so much water in it, that the whole thing turned to metal chips. Life lesson learned.
When I say tear down COMPLETELY, I mean every moving part, every bearing, every seal, every EVERYTHING has to come out. Brakes come completely off including the steel lines. To weld the casting of the pumpkin, it needs to go in the oven and get brown-hot at the least. So, at that point, you'd need all new bearings, all new seals, and a complete new set-up. Consider it also the perfect opportunity to get the whole thing powder-coated, weld on some LCARBs, put in new 28-spline aftermarket axles, new worm-gear carrier, gears of your choice, ... in short, make it the rear of your dreams. I wouldn't waste money on all that unless it's a 89-up with the PBR disc brakes. Makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER to spend that kind of money effort and risk on an inferior core. DEFINITELY not if it has the cast-iron 82-88 D-M disc brakes, and not if it has drums.
In a word, either do it to the max, or tolerate it as it is. S*** or get off the pot. It's really not all that big of a deal, probably doesn't leak fluid any more than you'd need to check it every coupla years. Not likely to get much worse any time soon. So, not like you're faced with a crushing decision.
Re: Leak on left hand side axle. Just need new bearings?
Originally Posted by sofakingdom
It doesn't "become a big problem", really. It's mostly just a minor annoyance.
The only way to fix it is to tear the rear COMPLETELY down, take it to somebody that has / can make a jig (ahem, "fixture") to hold it PERFECTLY straight, and weld the tubes all the way around where they fit into the pumpkin. And of course fill in the plug welds so they don't leak either. Do the same things to both left and right, all 4 plug welds.
Just as a FYI, I had a car with that problem SO BAD back maybe 30-35 years ago, that I could grab the tube with my hand, and turn it in the pumpkin, as well as warping it back and forth. The car made a weird clicking kinda noise when braking, and then again when accelerating, from the tube rotating. That rear eventually got UTTERLY DESTROYED inside though, by leaking water; it was the tow vehicle for my boat, and it got so much water in it, that the whole thing turned to metal chips. Life lesson learned.
When I say tear down COMPLETELY, I mean every moving part, every bearing, every seal, every EVERYTHING has to come out. Brakes come completely off including the steel lines. To weld the casting of the pumpkin, it needs to go in the oven and get brown-hot at the least. So, at that point, you'd need all new bearings, all new seals, and a complete new set-up. Consider it also the perfect opportunity to get the whole thing powder-coated, weld on some LCARBs, put in new 28-spline aftermarket axles, new worm-gear carrier, gears of your choice, ... in short, make it the rear of your dreams. I wouldn't waste money on all that unless it's a 89-up with the PBR disc brakes. Makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER to spend that kind of money effort and risk on an inferior core. DEFINITELY not if it has the cast-iron 82-88 D-M disc brakes, and not if it has drums.
In a word, either do it to the max, or tolerate it as it is. S*** or get off the pot. It's really not all that big of a deal, probably doesn't leak fluid any more than you'd need to check it every coupla years. Not likely to get much worse any time soon. So, not like you're faced with a crushing decision.
I see. Thanks for putting it very clearly. So it’s the weld that has split open and is leaking my gear oil. Well in any case, I guess that means I’ll be okay. I have plans to mod this thing pretty heavily anyway but I can’t go through with them until I buy myself a nice reliable truck for a daily. This will ultimately be a project car. A 4th gen rear end with disc brakes was on my shopping list but I only wanted to do that once I put in a 383/t56 combo. And c5 corvette brakes up front to match. But all that is in the far future. First, like I said, I have to buy a truck and move back home (I am out of state on a 2 year contract for my work right now) to use my dads garage and tear this junk 305 out. It’s been good to me hasn’t let me down still runs like new but man is it underwhelming
It's really not all that big of a deal, probably doesn't leak fluid any more than you'd need to check it every coupla years. Not likely to get much worse any time soon. So, not like you're faced with a crushing decision. 
