Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Rear Axle Seals

[JohnCarr]

I am looking for input. I have had to replace the rear axles seals twice on my 1995 3/4 within the last 20k miles. Am I doing something wrong with the installation or is this just bad luck? I am using Napa parts for the truck and following the specks from the Haynes repair manual.

 

[RT66DOC]

Might want to talk to Dan the Gear Man at Quad4X4 and check out their kits. Look pretty stout.



No affiliation with Q4X4 here.

 

[Forrest]

Frank just had one go out, remembered an old thread about a plugged vent hose. He checked his, was all clogged up. :{



I went out & checked mine, was pretty good, still breathing, but is much cleaner now.

 

[Mokerz]

check to make sure that your wheels are balanced. I had a friend have one go out on his a couple times, turned out he had a bent rim and it was way out of balance.

 

[JohnCarr]

Thank you for your replies. Looking at the manual I may have found an error on my installation. I installed the seals flush with the hub as described. Is this correct or should it be in as far as possible?

 

[KYOUNG]

rear seal leak

the napa seal i had has a shoulder on it ???????

 

[ctopp]

John,

I have a 99 with 112,500 miles. Just had both rear axel seals replaced last week for the first time. I also am wondering why both would go bad at the same time. I had them replaced with OEM seals. The rear brakes were saturated but are only 30% worn so I didn't replace them.

I'll check the vent tube to see if it is clogged. Is there any way synthetic differential fluid could be causing a problem with the seals.

ctopp

 

[TRAMPLINEMAN]

I changed both of mine about 3 months ago. The new ones were from NAPA. I didn't have anything wrong with the old ones, but I changed them because I had the axles out and figured it was a good time to do it. I put the new ones in flush as recommended by a Cummins mechanic. Make sure every surface is clean and dry before installing. I've been using synthetic fluids for years and the only leak I've ever gotten is from the power steering. Changed ps fluid back to regular and problem went away. Hope this helps, Mike

 

[JohnCarr]

I'm using Royal Purple in the diff; and the fluid is seeping into the brake drum and saturating the brakes. I have not checked the vent tube yet but will check to see if this is an issue but thought that it was seeping into the brake drum area that would not be an issue. Also the seals that I used looked identical to the original seals that were taken out and did not shoulder on them. I do not know if they both went out at the same time because I have not had the drum off since I did the last repair but the one side had a small amount of fluid in them while the passenger side was saturated to the point that the fluid was caked on the pads and other internal parts.

 

[BigPapa]

My diff/transmission man said that most of the axle seal leaks he sees are from overfilling. I think he said that the lube should be 1/2" below the check hole, not up to the bottom of the hole.



Scott

 

[Dan_69GTX]

When I got my truck I replaced the rear seals because they were weeping, 10,000 miles later one was leaking again. I did some research and found that Mopar had updated the rear seals - they were different than what I put in. Replaced them with OEM seals - haven't had a leak since.



The seals were bought at Carquest - they were "national" brand seals.



Dan

 

[Bart]

Hey, ctopp, those rear brakes are poor at best. If they're saturated get rid of them. The few $$s you're saving isn't worth it.

 

[ctopp]

I wouldn't be surprised if overfilling the differential contributes to the axle seal failure. When I changed my fluid I figured more is better and filled it as full as possible.

Bart I noticed my parking brake was not catching, but after I replaced the seals and steam cleaned the drums, it is working fine.

I'll change the drums as soon as I get a chance.

ctopp

 

[Patriot Diesel]

a little help...maybe?

My Y2k Dana70 has a driver side leaking axle seal. Saturdated and ruined the OEM shoes. I replaced the shoes and drum this past weekend but need to get in there and replace that seal. This is something I've never done before. The Service manual does not help much either. Can anyone walk me through this procedure or better yet... how about some diagrams or instructions?



Thanks in Advance!



Jeff

 

[Dan_69GTX]

You don't need to replace the drum, just the shoes. Steel doesn't absorb oil, the brake material does. Just clean the drums good (brake cleaner, pressure wash, whatever).



Hey Jeff - Do you have the OEM manual or a chiltons/haynes. The OEM should help a lot - but then I don't have the 2000 manual - I have the 96.



The basic procedure - remove wheel, remove drum, remove axle, remove nut lock pin, remove nut, remove outer bearing, remove hub, pry out seal. Make sure you clean and dry where the seal goes into the hub. Lube the bearings and seal lip real good before reassembly. AFTER reassembly tilt truck side to side (to get oil into hubs) then recheck diff level.



Good luck!

Dan

 

[Patriot Diesel]

I had to replace the drum because the OEM material on the shoe was completely shot and in turn it ruined the drum...



Yeah... I can do most stuff on these trucks if I have a diagram and instructions. I have the service manual put out by DC (the big orange one)





No diagrams, just text instructions

 

[Sandifer]

I don't understand how the drum was ruined.

 

[JohnCarr]

kyoung, you said that the NAPA seals you had, had a shoulder on them. I checked with NAPA and Dodge and neither of their seals had shoulders. Do you have a part number? NAPA tried to find this part but were not able to.

 

[Patriot Diesel]

kyoung, you said that the NAPA seals you had, had a shoulder on them. I checked with NAPA and Dodge and neither of their seals had shoulders. Do you have a part number? NAPA tried to find this part but were not able to.

DC parts carries both the seal with the shoulder and the one without. I bought both because I am not sure which one i need...

 

[MHalloran]

Frank just had one go out, remembered an old thread about a plugged vent hose. He checked his, was all clogged up. :{



I went out & checked mine, was pretty good, still breathing, but is much cleaner now.

I have a 96 Dana 80. Where's this vent hose you're talkin' about? Does this rear have one?