Another front differential side seal insertion depth question (1 Viewer)

[Hatsuwr]

I know this one has been beaten to death, but I have some measurements that don't line up. It seems that when installed flush with the inner ledges of the differential, one side's seal will make contact with the contact area marked below, while the other will have a gap.

On the inner part of the CVs, the part that inserts into the differential, the distance marked is 89 mm.

Inside the differential, there is a corresponding groove past the splines to receive that c-clip and somewhat lock the CV into position. Here is it marked on the left side (the side with the tube).

Now, measuring this distance on the passenger side, where the CV inserts directly into the differential, shows that if the seal in inserted so that the outside of its main body is flush with the inner ledge, then the protruding lip of the seal will be compressed against the marked area in the first picture. This seems correct to me, and lines up well with the illustration in the repair manual.

Here is a picture of that side's seal, although it is driven in about 1 mm beyond flush with the ledge.

My issue is with the side with the tube. 89 mm from the area marked in red in the second picture is actually about 4 mm outside the tube. If the seal on this side is inserted similarly, flush with the ledge marked in red below, then it will not be making contact with the corresponding part of the CV.

Anyone able to clarify what's going on here?

 

[cruiserpatch]

The seal driven past flush will probably leak FWIW

 

[cruiserpatch]

This tool will save you a lot of trouble lining things up:

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[Hatsuwr]

The seal driven past flush will probably leak FWIW

Yea that's not what's being installed, just a picture to show the area. I have a similar tool, although just made of wood, for driving flush with the ledge.

My concern is that flush with the ledge might not be best practice with the tube side, since, unless I'm misunderstanding where the c-clip sits, that would result in no contact between the seal lip and the contact area on the CV.

 

[cruiserpatch]

My concern is that flush with the ledge might not be best practice with the tube side

Try it and find out!

 

[Hatsuwr]

Anyone able to take a quick measurement of the gap between the CV and the tube/differential?

It's hard to tell exactly how the CV normally sits when seated properly. I would think the c-clip sits immediately past the splines on the tube/differential, but my measurements don't make much sense if that's the case:

Here is a quick sketch of the measurements I have. Differential and tube are on the top. Tube is marked in red. CV is on the bottom.

In this case, I just have the end of the seal interface on the CV measured to where the dust shield is. This should ideally be extremely close to or touching the protruding lip of the seal, but that doesn't seem to be happening, especially on the tube side.

 

[badlander]

It should be installed flush and even with the INNER ridge of the tube wall. Where you have drawn the red line.
As shown in the SST picture.