Dana 60 seal instal tool hack

[TomsBeast]

The Dana 60 front axle has a pretty expensive vacuum seal at the knuckle/stub axle interface. Ford wants you to use a special tool, that's also kind of expensive for us DIYers.

I saw this on another site, so I made one up for my project A couple days ago.

[TomsBeast]

The home brewed tool is made from 1-1/4" pipe parts from a plumbing supply, Home Depot in my case. I couldn't find black pipe in 1-1/4", so I used galvanized pipe.

(1) 1-1/4" pipe flange
(1) 8" - 12" nipple
(1) 1-1/4" pipe cap

1-1/4" pipe flange measures about 4-3/16" or so, and has to be reduced to about 3-13/16" (3.812", maybe closer to 3.850"). You can use a grinder to accomplish this, but I had a lathe handy, and the skills, so I assembled the nipple and flange, gripped the nipple in the 3 jaw chuck, and turned the flange down, removing about 3/8". While I was at it, I also trued up the flange face, but that wasn't really necessary.

[TomsBeast]

This may come in handy for even the non-DIY person, who gets caught out on travel with a bad wheel bearing.

The modern Dana 60 uses a non-servicable "unit construction" spindle, wheel bearing, axle needle bearing and seal assembly, that is purchased as a unit. A shop may need a similar seal tool to complete the job.