Cross Member Seal

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

hi all,

 

been reading on the gti-6 forum, and looking at the beam rebuild bit, and it says this, "step 19 insert a 0.05 feeler gauge between the trailing arm and the crossmember seal and push the trailing arm against it, you may need to use a wooden/rubber mallet to strike the trialing arm."

 

whats the point in this? i thought the cross member seal lip is squashed up onto the cup on shaft? or is there meant to be this 0.05 gap between the cup and cross member seal?

[welshpug 1,655]

yup, there's a lip on the seal, if you just push the arm up against the seal the cup will wear it away in no time, the 0.05mm clearance is from the main body of the seal not the lip, place the feeler gaueg and press the arm against it to achieve this.

 

This is the one detail that many people don't know about or don't bother with, which leads to premature rear beam death.

 

insert feeler gauge and push trailing arm up against it gently.

 

 

then set stud (wind anti-clockwise until it stops under gentle pressure) and lock in place.

 

 

 

This is what happens when you don't follow the instructions

 

Edited November 26, 2008 by welshpug

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

ace mate thanks,

 

so i have to leave a gap then of 0.05mm between cup on shaft, and outer lip? the out lip i mean is the rubber sticking out when the seal set into exterior crossmember seal, but you said from the main body of the seal the 0.05 is?

Edited November 26, 2008 by surferkid205

[Anthony 1,002]

There shouldn't be a visible gap between the seal and the cup - if there is, water can get in and your beam will die in short order.

 

The outer edge of the rubber seal is flexible. What you're looking to achieve is to ensure there is a gap between the solid "body" of the rubber seal and the cup, and the flexible part of the rubber seal will then fill that gap and make the beam watertight without wearing prematurely.

 

Difficult to explain, but it'll make sense when the beam is in front of you.

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

The cup & seal are fitted incorrectly in that picture imo.

 

Like Anthony says, the seal should be fully pushed into the cup so the flexible outer lip is all that protrudes & the main of the seal is inside the cup which isn't seated fully onto the centre tube.

 

See attached picture.

 

Graham.

[welshpug 1,655]

what's wrong with that picture? the seal is up against the end of the tube and the cup against the trailing arm, what's there to be wrong?

[pug_ham 244 3 Cars]

It looked to me like the seal wasn't fully home in the cup with just the lip protruding but I might be wrong.

 

Graham.

[welshpug 1,655]

oh right, the "cup" is the stainless steel bit on the trailing arm shaft.

 

IIRC that seal carrier sleeve was tapped on a mil too far, but the seal was still seated correctly, and the picture was taken before the arm was pushed home against the feeler gauge.

 

here it is completed and set in place

 

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

Even when fitted correctly the beams still dye in the same amount of time I've found, Even most 306 beams although they move OK are all on the way to dying already. I still say the seal needs replacing every 3 years

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

right thanks all, right i have managed to put the crossmember seal in after a bit of time take the seal back out until i was happy, piccys below,

 

one side

 

 

 

 

 

the other side,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these pictures are the seal with the arms in, i havent yet set the cross member seal gap between arm and seal,

 

pictures below,

 

 

 

 

so what you reckon? i have pushed the crossmember seal to the edge of the beam tube all the way round and got the above, i have had to take the seal out a couple of times to knock the cup on a bit more. dont think it matter's where the seal is as as anthony said they need replacing every 2/3 years. anyhow i have also packe the seal with grease around where the metal like spring inside the crossemeber seal and everywhere really include the cup on the arm shaft so when the seal lip meets it will seal and as i thought push the excess grease out. any problems with this?

[welshpug 1,655]

looks spot on there, not long to go

[yorkshirekowboy 19 1 Cars]

thanks mate,

 

i have a question thou, i have measured and the crossmember lip on one side is set in a bit more than the other, in other words the metal exterior cross member seal is slightly at a angle, from to to bottom, shoudl that matter? also been measuring, and the cup thats on the shaft of arm, when i push them together i think the cup is touching the outer bearing, or maybe abiout a 1mm off touching. any ideas?

[dch1950 37 1 Cars]

Hi all,

I'm slowly (but surely) refurbing a beam in order to do a swap with my current one. The matter of the cross member seal has intrigued me. This business of seating it in a collar and setting gaps is marvellously Gallic.

2 thoughts spring to mind. The actual wear imposed on the seal lip does not appear to be high at all, the arm probably moves about 15-20 degrees at most. So if it's just dirt,dust,salt etc that eventually compromises the seal itself (and ultimately the bearing and/or shaft) would it be practicable to apply a ring of non-setting silicone sealant around the outside to really seal it? Or possibly replacing the stainless steel cup with a rubber version of the same thing maybe ribbed slightly on the face that goes into the seal to form a fuller seal. Or even easier a rubber sleeve (cut from inner tube) which is a tight fit over the whole assembly, couplrd with the non setting silicone.

I'm just punting a few ideas about here, but this 2 thou gap business is daft for a suspension arm. I'm trying to remember how my old Austin 1100 was arranged.

regards

Dave H