Front axle seal - Drivetrain Tech - Tech Section

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Posted: Thu Mar 22nd, 2018 08:20 pm

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john112deere
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Was under my truck ('09 4x4, ~127k) the other day and noticed a wet/oily spot on the passenger side axle, where the axle (CV shaft, I guess) comes out of the housing. Doesn't appear to be leaking much- certainly doesn't mark the pavement where I park it.

I'm thinking the seal is probably pretty cheap...but not sure how much of a pain it is to get to it?

Also kind of wondering if I really need to fix it at all...I probably will regardless, but if it doesn't get worse in much of a hurry, it's not causing any issues to speak of right now.

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Posted: Thu Mar 22nd, 2018 10:38 pm

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Jimmyspy
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john112deere wrote:
Was under my truck ('09 4x4, ~127k) the other day and noticed a wet/oily spot on the passenger side axle, where the axle (CV shaft, I guess) comes out of the housing. Doesn't appear to be leaking much- certainly doesn't mark the pavement where I park it.

I'm thinking the seal is probably pretty cheap...but not sure how much of a pain it is to get to it?

Also kind of wondering if I really need to fix it at all...I probably will regardless, but if it doesn't get worse in much of a hurry, it's not causing any issues to speak of right now.
The seals are pretty cheap. But, it is a bit of a pain to get to. As far as if you have to replace it, no, not really. It will take a while to leak out enough fluid for it to be an issue. You could just make sure the fluid is topped off every once in a while. The leak isn't gonna get any better though, and a bad seal can let water in.
You'll need to put that corner of the truck on a jack stand, pull the wheel/tire, remove the caliper and bracket, remove the axle nut, remove the shock (might not be necessary, but makes it easier), remove the pinch bolt at the top of the knuckle, remove the outer end of the cv from the hub/knuckle, and then pull the cv out of the front axle. Then, you can pull the old seal, drive in the new one, and reassemble everything. You can do it with the average set of hand tools, but you will need a 32 mm (?) socket for the axle nut and a torque wrench that goes up to 162 ft/lbs. I would plan on it taking the better part of the day in the driveway, especially if you haven't done it before. There are some pics in my build thread of mine torn apart that might help explain things a little better, if not I'm sure i could dig some up for you (I've had the front end of my truck apart far too many times lol)

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MaDMaXX

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Posted: Fri Mar 23rd, 2018 01:38 pm

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CBB9M
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john112deere wrote:

I'm thinking the seal is probably pretty cheap...but not sure how much of a pain it is to get to it?
It's a $20 seal and it'll take 2-3 hours. I've been through that seal job 3X as unfortunately this is what it took to figure out what brand NOT to use. I should have a few printouts from the FSM and all the needed torque specs in a convenient package, hollar if needed.

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Posted: Sun Mar 25th, 2018 09:14 am

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john112deere
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Thank Bill- I may come looking for that information in a couple months...I'm definitely leaving this one until the weather is a little nicer.

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Posted: Sun Mar 25th, 2018 09:23 am

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john112deere
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Jimmyspy wrote:
You'll need to put that corner of the truck on a jack stand, pull the wheel/tire, remove the caliper and bracket, remove the axle nut, remove the shock (might not be necessary, but makes it easier), remove the pinch bolt at the top of the knuckle, remove the outer end of the cv from the hub/knuckle, and then pull the cv out of the front axle. Then, you can pull the old seal, drive in the new one, and reassemble everything. You can do it with the average set of hand tools, but you will need a 32 mm (?) socket for the axle nut and a torque wrench that goes up to 162 ft/lbs. I would plan on it taking the better part of the day in the driveway, especially if you haven't done it before. There are some pics in my build thread of mine torn apart that might help explain things a little better, if not I'm sure i could dig some up for you (I've had the front end of my truck apart far too many times lol)

OK, thanks. Don't think I need the pictures; I've got a pretty good idea how what you describe will go.

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