I have a 655A that is leaking fluid out of the end of the rear axle onto the inside of the rear wheel. I assume there is a seal just inside there that I need to replace. Has anyone done this job? Looking for instruction before I dig into it. A video would be great!! Any links or suggestions where to get the parts would be great too. Thanks Hans
The seal stakes onto the end of the axle housing and is not fun to replace because you have to remove the axle housings and components therein to replace the seal. The problem is the axle housings just don't unbolt and come out. There is a stub shaft in the planetaries that protrudes into the center housing. You have to pull the axle housing clear before it will drop and it hits the subframe before this happens. There's two solutions, both involving unbolting and pivoting the tractor away from the subframe. One theory involves raising the tractor, leaving the subframe as it is. The other involves dropping the center and axle housings and leaving the subframe where it is. There's a lot more to the story if you want to do it yourself. Post back when you decide. You also might want to ask about this procedure over on the Yesterdays Tractors Ford forum as that's the most solid Ford support out there.
Well poop.....That wasn't the answer I was looking for!! Thank you for the reply. I would love to see a video of the process if anyone has a link to one. Not totally sure I want to take this on.
There is no video that I know of. I was out of time when I posted the above explanation and got something wrong, so here's the correction. If you look at your front bolster, you will see the subframe is bolted to the bolster, two bolts per side. You remove one bolt and back off the second a couple of turns to create a hinge. Then you disconnect everything between the tractor and backhoe subframe that prevents the subframe from being raised off of the tractor. You raise the subframe with your outriggers. The backhoe and subframe have to go up high enough for the axle housing to come out straight without hitting anything. The second method is similar, except that you remove the rear wheels and hinge the tractor down. So, one way you're hinging the backhoe and subframe up and the other you're hinging the tractor down. This gets a little more fun if you have an EROPS because the front windshield will hit the hood and fuel tank necessitating more removal. We didn't have many Fords of that vintage with cabs so that was never a problem. It's a job that could be done in less than a day for someone familiar with the process, so figure the better part of 2-3 days figuring it out as you go.