Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Front axle seal replacement

[KPfeiffer]

My right front axle seal is leaking ever so slightly. Do I need to change the seal on both axles? Any tips on changing the seals?

 

[Batphreak]

Right as in passenger side? The Pass. side one can be done with out dropping the diff. carrier, just have to pull out the CAD. I did both of mine at once, and it was a bit of a pain since I tried to cheap out and didn't buy any special install tools. If I had it to do over again I'd buy the kit with tools from these guys:

Home

I was trying to use threaded rod and a socket to put the seals in, the problem was a socket won't pull the seal evenly since it doesn't have a good flat surface on it. Other than that, just go slow and make sure you clean the axle tube out real good after you take the old seal out, use a little wheel bearing grease on the splines on your axle when you put it back in. I did mine and was paranoid beyond belief I had ripped a brand new seal, no leaks after 500+ miles.

 

[KPfeiffer]

I did mean passenger and thanks I will give that a try.

 

[n7gxz]

Here is a link to a write up that I did as I did my seals last year. In in MS Word format and about 800K.



http://home. avvanta.com/~n7gxz/Procedure to change the axle seals on the front axle on a 2001. doc



Kevin

 

[Batphreak]

Wow... that's a really nice write-up, Kevin. For the slightly older truck, though the brake rotor doesn't slip off the wheel studs press into it to. I just pulled the rotor and wheel bearing off as 1 unit. Plus, I started about a week before I was going to do the job soaking everything around the steering knuckles with penetrating oil (PB blaster in particular), my hubs just fell out (187k on my truck's clock) it seemed too easy.

 

[AFoulk]

I did mine a few months ago. Wasn't much fun, but I've had worse experiences. I borrowed a tool kit to do the seals on a Ford and rigged it to work. I used a socket on the one end and wrapped electrical tape around the end of it till it fit the seal tightly. havn't had any leaks yet in almost 5,000miles.

 

[obert]

The tie-rod is pretty close to the front diff cover. It looks like it has to be moved to get the cover off, and certainly the carrier out, right?

 

[Batphreak]

When I did mine I had the luxury of a lift, I just dropped the Driver side of the tie rod and let it hang while I installed the seals.