Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

I have the same blue point puller. You could separate the hubs of hell with it.

Thanks everyone. Will need to read up on it some more and watch Ross's video again. I'm reading the KPack doc also.

If I can find a puller to borrow I will try the rear axle this weekend while the car is still on jack stands.

Also will reinstall the fuel tank at the same time hopefully. Need to test it for leaks.

I purchased a hub puller from ebay. It worked great, took quite a few hits. 20-2029 Universal Hub Puller. Had to make an axel puller.

Here's the link to where I started my rear brakes/axles. The drum puller I used is linked to Amazon there. I highly recommend you spend the money and buy one of these large pullers. Nothing from Autozone or other rental places will work. And you'll need a big puller every time you need to mess with the rear brakes.

You will almost certainly need to use heat to get the drums off. A lot of heat. On my brother-in-law's '52 I had to apply heat many times over several days until it finally popped. I had the puller as tight as it would go and heated the hub until there was smoke coming out of the drum. Several heat and cooling cycles did the trick. This video shows what will be required, except ignore the puller they are using. Get a real man's puller.


For the axle seals I'd recommend renting a slide hammer. Makes taking the inner seal out a breeze, as well as pulling the axle itself. A couple taps and you're done.

Like David said earlier, be sure to lubricate any new seals with gear oil. I had a heck of time chasing down a squealing noise after I did all my axle work, only to find that I had installed the outer seal on the driver's side without lubricating the leather. The leather was rubbing against the axle as it rotated and made a ton of noise.

After a fair amount of digging, it looks like an SKF 20059 is the modern equivalent of a Packard 446090 seal. This is used on the U-joint shaft inside the diff (pinion seal).

Problem is I don't know the dimensions of the shaft or bore. Best guess it's 2" shaft and 3-1/16" bore. Will add it to the parts X-ref if it works.

Edit:
Kevin, thanks. Was hoping to borrow one but heck, might as well bite the bullet. Might need it on my 400 too, the E-brake cable seems tight but when you pull it it doesn't do anything, so I need to at least give them a normal adjustment (per Ross's video, e.g.).

Since I’ve had five Henney-Packards over the years, I made a simple adapter for pulling their huge axles which is just threaded on one side to fit to axle and on the other to fit the threads on a slide hammer. It typically doesn’t take a lot of force to get it out so even a cheap and relatively light weight one will do the trick with an adapter! I used the same puller but without the adapter, putting back on the arms that it came with, to remove the inner seal.

Don, do you happen to know what size O-ring is needed for the case? (Part 443649)

Also, looking at the parts book, groups 12.031 and 12.033 are gaskets yet I can't really find them for sale anywhere. Do people just reuse them? Edit: looks like Kanter and MM sell them only as kits.

Sorry, I never worked on a 1955 or 1956 which I understand have Dana rear ends. Maybe knowing that along with the diameter and number of bolts will help a store like Napa to bring it up in their system as it's probably not a part specific only to Packard.

Thanks anyway. I mean, if I take the diff cover off I can just measure it myself. Not at my car rn tho.

FYI, only the 1956 is a Dana rear end. The 55's are typical of 1953-54.

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/partslist/index.php?mode=partnumber&SearchValue=443649&ButtonLookup=Go

I thought it was just a gasket on the case?