Make a heavy duty seal puller

[ohiofarmer 3,157]

  Well, it is typical to have the auto trans units to have seal leaks after sitting outside and being 45 years old. Pulling the seals on one Horse went fine by using one of these "church keys" pictured here and in the link below.. The other Horse just would not give them up as the church key was too thin and kept bending when tapped with a hammer

https://www.google.com/search?q=paint+can+opener&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi874TAlJDSAhXFRSYKHXi9Al0QsAQIrQE&biw=1177&bih=666

 

 The trouble, is they are not strong enough for the stubborn ones.. First, cut a groove in a 5/16 or so Allen wrench long leg. Cut the groove with a mini grinder with a decently new wheel and quench it in oil if it starts getting hot while cutting. Then grind the profile that you see on the end of the paint can opener illustration. You have to leave a little more meat on your homemade seal puller, but be sure to generously round off the underside so it slips in the area of the seal that is just rubber. The hook portion needs to be pretty tight to the inside lip of the bearing lip to keep from tearing out the lip radius. I took the time to use a fine grit flap grinding wheel to really polish up the end of the seal puller so it would not scratch up the shaft.in the critical seal area

 

 When you use it, the groove you cut might bend the seal lip, but that is ok. If you made it correctly, all the pulling will happen higher up right where the lip bends internally. I hope i have written this well enough to state that all the force is applied inside the seal and nothing ever touches the bore of the axle housing.The fact that you used an Allen wrench is helpful in that the flat of the wrench keeps it square with everything and when you tap the short leg [or L part of the wrench] everything stays square and the tool pulls evenly. The force of the blow actually keeps the tool tight to the shaft and helps keep it square. The tough steel used on an Allen wrench is perfect for this application, but safety glasses are not a bad idea. 

 

After messing with the above pictured can opener above for maybe an hour yesterday. Ten minutes with the grinder making this tool and five more with tapping and out she came. When you insert the tool and tap it into the rubber, the metal capture ring flares out. After doing the first two, i discovered that it is best to just go around the metal ring and flaring the whole thing and then tapping it out. The tool rests tight against the shaft and makes a straight pull. That is why it works so well. You can see how rough the seal metal ring looks after pulling. it makes you nervous until you pull a few .

Edited February 14, 2017 by ohiofarmer