Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) rear axle drive shaft seal

[MAllen]

How hard is it to replace the rear axle seal where the driveshaft enters the Dana 80 rearend

 

[CJ Johansson]

Not very hard at all. I've done it, need to do it again. The main thing is to get the right wrench socket, 1-7/8 I think. I'm not near the shop right now, or I'd check for sure.

First you have to disconnect the drive shaft. This it just a few bolts on the yoke. You might as well think about replacing the U-joint while you have it apart, or at least check it.

Then, the socket can be placed on the nut. Here's where it gets fun. The nut is really tight and there's not much room to work. The socket I have is a 3/4" drive, I had a slide bar type handle for it and slipped a length of pipe over the handle so it would lay on the ground. Then you and a friend can gently push the truck, just make sure you have the socket and bar on the proper side and you push the truck so the bar is forced into the ground, not against the truck body. Do NOT do this on a hill.

Once the nut is broken loose, you just take it off. The yoke will slide off, it's on a splined shaft. The seal is just a standard oil seal, like on axles, etc. I like to put a bit of silicone sealer around the outside of seals just in case, to make sure I get a good seal to the housing.

There may be a bit of a groove worn in the shaft where the seal was riding. I try to put the new seal is a slightly different spot.

Then, just reverse the procedure to reassemble. There's a torque spec for the nut, but unless you have a mega torque wrench or a torque multiplier, you won't be able to do it. We just tried to match about the same "push" to tighten it as what it took to loosen it. Seemed to work just fine.

-cj

 

[DKnowlan]

My yoke was real hard to get off. I had to rent a 2 jaw puller from napa and use heat on it too.

Good luck.