1960s '61 DeVille Propeller shaft bracket

[ZGJim]

After completing the realignment of the engine/transmission, I decided to inspect the condition of the carrier bearing/support.  The rubber portion of the bearing support is split open.  What function does this rubber provide?  Comparing the rear side of the bearing to the shop manual, it appears that the slinger is missing.
Is that going to be important? 
I am going to take the prop shaft to a local drivetrain specialist tomorrow.  Just curious what y'all know about this.
Thanks

[Clewisiii]

I had my drive shaft rebuilt with new U joints and rebalanced. He asked why but after balancing admitted it was way off. I bought a new carrier bearing and support years ago and just gave it to him. I know of people who have had their originals revulconized. I don't know if the replacements are bad. But I have heard people complain about the new bearings. I tried searching if there was a better quality bearing available. But whatever Chinese company made the new bearings did not put a size, part number, or even their name on it. The driveshaft shop guy said they must not be proud of it at all.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I made up my own Crows Foot tool to remove that center nut from my '60 CDV.

Cut it out of 1/2" steel, and probably will never use it again.   The 1/2" Square hole is there to attach the breaker bar.   But, it did the job perfectly.

As for the rubber mounting, I would hazard a guess that it would be to isolate ant drive-line noises from the Chassis.   Plus, take a lot of shock out of the bearing as the car bounces down the road.

Bruce.

[ZGJim]

Finally got the driveshaft back from the repair shop.  New carrier bearing/bracket installed.  It runs smoothly.  Time will tell about the quality of the bearing.  While I was under the car, saw that the axle seals were leaking.  More deferred maintenance to catch up on.  Had the axle bearings and the diff input seal replaced at the same time as the driveshaft repair.
Car is roadworthy again and drives better than ever, in my ownership.
She goes in Tuesday for a front end alignment after replacing the front strut bushings.
Returning a garage queen to road use involves a lot of maintenance items to be caught up.  Getting there and she sure is a lot of fun to drive.
Got her first car show trophy on Saturday.

[Big Fins]

Nice job! That's a sweet looking '61.

[Clewisiii]

By axle seals d I you mean at pinion or at the wheels/hub.

Because at the wheel there is no separate seal. The bearing is the seal.

[Clewisiii]

Here is the old bearing. It was only sealed on the outside. The bearing was open on the inside to be lubricated by the gear oil.


New bearing next to old. The new has a seal on both sides.


New bearing installed. I did these myself, but one axle is longer then the other. The longer one was almost to tall to fit in my press.



Now here is something annoying. Look at the original bearing, see the O ring on the outside. The O ring is located on the outside of the cavity in the rear end. I installed mine that way. But if you have a service manual you will see the O ring on the inside of the pocket. I talked to one of the rear end shops and they say you would put the seal on the inside thinking if there is any taper on the cut out cavity it should be closest on the inside of the pocket. I asked if I should cut the bearing back off and install new ones with the O ring on the inside. They said no. And the original was the same As I had installed it. The original could never have been installed that way since the seal was on the outside.

[bcroe]

That sealed bearing will have a lifetime limited
by how long the internal grease takes to dry out. 
All of those have failed (and been replaced) in
my cars.  Bruce Roe

[Roger Zimmermann]

For years, I was not sure how the bearings with both seals must be installed, until a supplier explained the difference:



The seal with the visible spring must be installed towards the differential.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

That makes sense as any pressure from within the confines of the Diff, if the vent is blocked, will apply pressure to the seal, stopping the egress of wheel bearing grease.   The internal heating of the lubricant will possibly create a tiny bit of pressure, as will constant hard turning of the car which creates centrifugal pressure of the oil as it is forced outwards.   Do that for too long, and the diff will destroy itself because it will run dry.   Imagine being on a race track with only constant left or right turns.   Oil drains from the centre, and the Sun Gears and Crown Wheel and Pinion will run dry.

The outer seal won't see much pressure unless the diff is totally underwater, as in the car being totally submerged.

Bruce.

[cadman59]

For years, I was not sure how the bearings with both seals must be installed, until a supplier explained the difference:



The seal with the visible spring must be installed towards the differential.

That's correct and also the way I installed them in my '59 two years ago.
However, it is different than the original style bearings.

With the original style bearings the axle seal was on the wheel side. In this way the roller bearing was lubricated by the differential oil.

With the newer replacement style bearings, like in the picture from Roger and the ones I installed in my '59, the axle seal is on the differential side. With this style of bearings the roller bearings are lubricated only by the grease they are filled with in the factory. The seal on the wheel side only prevents dirt going into the roller bearing and (to some extend) grease leaking out of it.
If you would install them backwards not only the axle seal would be positioned wrong (with the spring located on the outside), but als the grease the rollers were packed in would eventually get flushed out by the differential oil.

The position of the O-ring on the outer race in fact doesn't matter at all; both positions will keep the oil in the axle tube.

The factory shop manual refers to the original style bearings, and that's where things get confusing.

[ZGJim]

Interesting info about the axle bearings.  I had the work done by a shop that specializes in drivetrains.  The expectation is that they know how to properly install the bearings.  The new bearings were installed with the outer seal towards the outside of the axle.
Had them do the axle bearings and the pinion seal. 
With the low mileage the car will be driven, they should be good for a long time.