1959 3200 H033 Rear Axle Rebuild

[BurgerMan]

So I am currently in the process of rebuilding my rear axle off my 1959 3200 . I took the whole axle, wheels and all to my home garage to speed up the process. As i started breaking it down i noticed that one side smelled like diff fluid and was caked with greasy nastiness, other side was clean(ish). I figured the axle seals had gone bad and was just leaking after 15 years of sitting. I have the original axle for my 59, the H033 with the 6x5.5 lug pattern (someone correct me if im wrong here). My backing plate was riveted in, but ground them down and punched them out today after the axles were removed. Everything looks good and the tolerances/machined surfaces on the axles looks good, so im going to rebuild it. It is all pulled apart, sandblasted and ready to go. Here are my questions:

1) I noticed there were not any inner axle seals? Does the diff fluid enter the tubes to allow it to get to the wheel bearings? Is that how they are lubed?
2) When I pulled the bearings i noticed there were 3 pieces in this order from the center: A spacer, bearing, and a seal. Is this correct? Is this all considered part of the wheel bearing.
3) What are the part numbers for these 3 pieces? I found the bearing at autozone, but the seal and the washer are nowhere to be found.
4) When I hammered out the lug nut studs there was a backing plate/dust cover/something that the lugs also went through. There appeared to be a gasket on that but I can't find it either. Is it necessary? What is it?

I think that's all for now, I just need to order parts and get to the assembly. Im sure i will have more questions soon. And I know I should post some pictures to show the progress. Thanks for thr help in advance

[Katrina/10]

The wheel bearings are lubricated by the differential gear oil, so there are no inner seals. I just bought an outer axle seal at NAPA last week. Not sure about your other questions.

[BurgerMan]

awesome. i tracked down the parts and they should be here tomorrow to see if they fit.

Also, is it safe to just replace the pinion seal without having to redo the torque settings on that pinion nut? I tried my damnest to not get any sand in there while blasting, but i would rather be safe than sorry later on.

Mark it, count the threads, remove nut, pull yoke, replace seal, assemble and torque nut to its current location? is that the right process?

[Katrina/10]

You can get away with doing it that way, but you are supposed to replace the crush sleeve. If you didn't damage the seal and it wasn't leaking, I would just leave it alone.

[BurgerMan]

Is there a good way to test it or clean it out withough removing it? Carb cleaner soaked in there? Kinda hard to tell if it's gonna leak while it's on my bench.

[Katrina/10]

Should be a lot of caked up gunk under the yoke if the seal was leaking. For now, I'd pour some oil in it and turn it yoke down for a day and see if anything comes out.

[BurgerMan]

hard to tell now that everything was blasted, but i don't remember it being bad at all before hand. Truck was sitting for 15 years before i rolled it. I will let you know how that works but sounds like a great idea.

[Katrina/10]

Glad you found all the parts you needed, that seal was very expensive at NAPA. But it's a good axle, worth keeping.

[BurgerMan]

Ya so far everything I've heard about it was good, gears were good so I decided to keep it. The seals were only $17 each and the bearings were $60. Ordered wheel cylinders for 10 each and shoes for $30. Whole thing is about to be good as new.

One more question, should I use the felpro gasket or is RTV good enough for the cover/3rd member seal?

[Katrina/10]

If you have a gasket, I would use it, but I have used straight RTV many times with no leaks on the cover.