TG Trail Safe axle seals & knuckle wipers

[jcardona1]

Anybody used these? Long term reports? I had birf soup again on the driver's side after only a few thousand miles. Not sure what could be causing it. I've used OEM inner axle seals all along. Finally decided to try something different and went with TG's Trail Safe inner axle seals. We'll see if they last any longer.

I also went with their Trail Safe knuckle wiper kit which has heavy duty rock rings to protect the seals. My OEM backing plate was bent pretty bad. This kit replaces the OEM felt/rubber wipers with a thick double-sided polyurethane seal. The entire setup feels really beefy. A few friends run these on their mini trucks and have nothing but good things to say.

Birf soup, story of my life

OEM seal was warped at the top. Not sure what could have caused this. I'm wondering if I damaged it while removing the Hellfire knuckles - with these knuckles the birf won't come out through the opening. You need to remove the knuckle then remove the birf.

Trail Safe seals

Installed

Knuckle wipers and rocks rings..BEEFY! Pay no mind, had it on backwards here. The inner silver ring goes on the outside. The gold ring goes towards the inside.

 

[ewillis]

Interesting. Looks like a decent set up. I've been using the TG spindle nut for a while and believe it is an upgrade to the original Toyota design.

 

[jcardona1]

Interesting. Looks like a decent set up. I've been using the TG spindle nut for a while and believe it is an upgrade to the original Toyota design.

I have those too, they're great and have yet to find them come loose. It is the same setup my Nissan Frontier so there is obviously something good about that design.

 

[BlueCruiser84]

I wonder if your front housing is bent or warped from all the welding you did and that's why your seals keep going? Or, and I'm sure you've checked or have new axles, could the axle have a groove worn into it from the seal? Maybe your hellfire knuckles aren't aligned properly?

I have no experience with the TG stuff but will probably give it a shot when I rebuild.

 

[jcardona1]

I wonder if your front housing is bent or warped from all the welding you did and that's why your seals keep going? Or, and I'm sure you've checked or have new axles, could the axle have a groove worn into it from the seal? Maybe your hellfire knuckles aren't aligned properly?

I have no experience with the TG stuff but will probably give it a shot when I rebuild.

I've always had a problem with the driver's side even before the welding so I think it may be just a worn axle shaft. Visually it looks fine but you never know. Hopefully I get a bit more miles with these seals.

 

[ewillis]

I went through 3 OEM seals on my DS last install. For some reason I couldn't drive them in perfectly straight. The top half would start followed by the bottom half, which resulted in what appeared to be the same "warping" in your pic. I kept pulling em out and re-installing fresh one's until they drove straight.

The TG seal looks entirely black on their website. Are they completely coated in rubber or what?

 

[lazy]

I've got both the axle seals and wiper kit book marked for my upcoming axle job. Sourcing the bearings is easy enough. Thanks, and keep us posted how they are performing a couple months down the road.

 

[Tools R Us]

Hard to tell now, but if that seal damage was done when installed, would cause the leak. If the new seal is damaged the same way, don't see it ending any better? One way that happens is putting the axle/birf in, getting it bound in the ball and horsing/forcing it.

 

[jtwopark]

I too have always had issues with the driver side....seems it doesnt last more than 5-6k miles! Brand new axles were installed 17k miles ago.

 

[ajax1]

Don't know if this would apply to your hell fire knuckles but when knuckle is not centered properly which is wrong shim adjustment the knuckle won't be perfectly centered allowing the axle to ride high or low, causing wear

 

[mkmarz]

Ive used the TG seals on mini truck axles without issue. But hard wheeling always seems to birf soup after a while. Diamond axles with inner seals go a long way

 

[jtwopark]

Could worn out brass bushings in the spindle be causing the seals to fail prematurely? Only thing I can think of! Maybe I need to update the spindles with the ones with needle nose bearings

 

[ajax1]

No I don't think your spindle would cause th S it's either seal not in properly or damaged, knuckle not centered correctly or shaft is worn causing wear, or bur inside knuckle wear seal sets causing it to not seat correctly

 

[2fpower]

Got my bag of popcorn out, sitting back, looking forward to the 12 month report.

 

[jcardona1]

A few folks have suggested that the knuckle may not be shimmed properly. Thing is I'm running Hellfire knuckles, not OEM. These don't use shims and there are no shims available. The top puck that comes with Hellfire knuckles is much bigger and a result the knuckles come with new top trunion bearings. The Hellfires then use a set screw to set preload.

OEM setup:

OEM shims:

Won't work on these knuckles:

 

[2fpower]

Going back to the comment if your welding may have warped the housing, I don't see this could be the issue either. The axle slides into the diff and from what I have seen, allows for a small amount of play if not perfectly lined up. For example if you put the axle in when there is no inner axle seal, you will find that the axle will move up and down, left and right some. From best I can tell, the axle is really centered by the spindle and the brass bushing, (which now has a bearing as part of the OEM part). So, unless the Hellfires are way out of center where the spindle mounts, that should not be the issue.

I used the Marlin seals early on and they failed in all the axles I put them in, and then went back to OEM, and have not seen any issues yet.

Not sure if I am adding anything of value here; however, my only suggestions are:
I would test your breather to make sure you can push air in and out through the hose, so as the oil is heated up the additional pressure is not blowing grease into the knuckle.
In the picture of your bad inner seal, it looks like the top was driven in further than the bottom edge. Not sure if that is just optical illusion or not. It made me wonder if the sealing surface was more of an oval shape than a circle, and/or if the mating axle shaft had a ridge that this was working over thus making a gap.

Anyway, those trail gear seals look pretty nice. Look forward to your update.

 

[240 Jordy]

Hey guys,


Any updates on these TG seals?


I just put in new Birfs this weekend and accidentally put one of my axle seals in backward due to too much activity and distractions in my shop. The only seals I can find locally that are in stock are the Trail Gear ones. So I’m picking them up today and only using 1 on the DS since my PS is completely back together and I’m not about to tear it apart again since I know my seal is installed correctly on that side.


So for me this is kind of an experiment having a OEM style on 1 side and a TG one on the other.


I would like to know how these are handling up for guys running them.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

I have had a chronic driver side seal issue since I bought the truck. I use a seal driver and inspect seals when installed to ensure a nice square/ flush fit and no seal damage. Fun fact, the baffle in the axle housing behind the seal on my axle was knocked out the first time I went to rebuild the axles. I had been chasing a weird noise from the front and thought initally it was the spindle bushings, which replacement did nothing to change. Then when I blew my original birf at the dunes and I mean it looked like several pounds of shiny gravel and a steel bar... I pulled the axle shaft out and low and behold it had the baffle sliding around on it. So...point being, I'm wondering if maybe since the driver side shaft is so long and it is only supported at the birf and the diff; if under acceleration while running large tires like those of us reporting the issue, if maybe the axle shaft is deflecting. Like bending in an arch as we apply power. I guess I should clarify...not the actual axle shaft bending, but the birf cocking at an angle and the shaft forced slightly ascew.

 

[nukegoat]

I had some of the longfield lifetime wiper seals for the knuckle ball and hated them. The OEM design is superior IMO as it wipes a thin smudge of grease on the ball constantly.

 

[fatbikecruiser]

Bump - any updates on the trailgear seals? I'll be on my third rebuild in as many years (though the first two were my fault).