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Swivel Balls


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Supposedly Britpart OEM ones come from the same plant same run as production vehicles. That's what Britpart confirmed to me!

One of mine is already scored and worn after a few months.

Hopefully it is bad luck and not normal.

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The reason I asked is because i have one( Blue box) on the passanger side with 4k miles on it and its doing ok. I dont off road but i do use it on the land. Anyone who cooks on a Teflon pan knows how easy it is to scratch it! Now my driver side is leaking oil/oneshot out and onto the brake disk :angry2: !! but the ball is not badly pitted.Not sure if i will just replace the seals or the lot. Whats your thoughts?? Its a big job to take it all apart without doing it right.

Again THANKS Ralph,Bluehase,Quagmire and Eds!! :i-m_so_happy:

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I think thats what has happened to the old swivell as it leaking badly.

Am i right in thinking a new big outside seal will not cure it as the inside oil seal has failed?? I hate the thought of splitting the swivell ball and the tube..last time a bolt snapped off :blink::angry2: !!

THANKS again Retroanaconda, Love your blog!! :i-m_so_happy:

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There are only a few seals that will result in external leaks, and it's not hard to identify which is at fault.

Working from inboard to outboard, you first have the paper gasket between the axle tube and swivel housing, which is in that flanged joint.

Next is the big swivel seal that keeps the oil/grease inside the swivel and suffers more abrasion than any other seal in the system, especially if the swivels are pitted or rusted, and will leak down the inboard side of the brake shield, so shouldn't get the disc too dirty.

After that is the hub seal, which is tucked up inside of the void of the brake disc, and will leak onto the inboard side of the disc.

Next is the paper gasket (or silicone sealant) between the drive flange and hub, which will fling oil on the inside of the wheel and outboard side of the disc.

Finally, there is the plastic centre cap on the hub, which on 300Tdi and later vehicles is a much looser fit than earlier models as the splined joint is meant to be dry, so a clean up and smear of RTV sealant works wonders. The stub axles on these later models have an internal seal against the half shaft to prevent oil from the swivel housing getting to the end of the shaft and into the splines or the wheel bearings. It was a really bad evolution, causing the bearings to rely solely on the grease added during assembly and causing the splines on the shaft and drive flange to wear rapidly. A lot of people remove or cut that internal seal to allow proper lubrication of these areas, but you do need to add sealant to that end cap to prevent its loss or leaks.

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