durhamd

Just had a guy do lower ball joints on my truck and within a week of getting it back I noticed something leaking on the inside of the front driver side tire. Turns out it's gear lube. Won't bore you with the details, but the guy has seemed pretty honest so far. I called him and told him about it, and he said it'd be another $600 to do the seals. Truck is a '00 with 225,000 miles. Do I push the guy because it wasn't leaking before, or just accept that the truck is getting old and stuff is gonna break?

I'm running out of cash, so I'm considering doing this myself, but I've read a couple of threads so far and this would definitely be something above and beyond anything I've done before. I always do basic stuff - alternators, starters, brakes, etc. myself. I did the heater core on it last weekend. Other than that, probably the biggest job I've ever done is replaced a clutch plate in a car with a manual tranny. You guys think I should try to tackle this one?

Gotta admit right now, I'm wishing I'd have gotten rid of it last year. It had almost no problems 'til I hit 200K. It was rusting pretty bad but it'd been such a great truck I decided to hang on to it. I had it painted and new doors put on last year for $5000 . . . got it back and had to have tranny rebuilt . . . another $2000, then $800 for tires, this year, . . . steering gear box and lower ball joints $1100, . . . now another $600 for seals. I think I could have gotten $5000 for it easy last year. Don't think I could get $10,000 for it now though.

vzdude

With those miles....anything is possible, but I have seen more than one leak because the axle wasn't supported when they were shoved back in. That will push the spring out of the seal, and may also cut the seal too. They can be a real pain to install if you haven't done that type of work before. While $600 may sound steep, but it is about 6 hard hours of work. BUT!! Since it has been apart recently for the ball joints, that will make it easier. Tough call......if you have reservations of being capable to do the job, you may be better off either getting help or paying someone. Only you can make that call.

wurkenman

My son and I have his 99 Ford Superduty tore apart as we speak. The job is a real PITA even if you are mechanically inclined. Not to mention about 300 worth of "special" tool if you dont work in a machine shop and are capable of making your own tools. I would not recommend doing the job yourself. I sure dont ever want to see the inside of another one.

vzdude

The last set I did, I used washers and all thread rod to install the seals instead of borrowing the special tools. Works the same. Still not easy to do, no. The biggest tip I could give anyone is to grind the edge of the metal seal ring to a sharp edge. For some reason, that was the only way I could get the seal to go in straight. I only ground the edge of the seal about 1/8 of an inch high, but it made a huge difference. Works on other seals too!

durhamd

I don't have access to a machine shop. I've got basics like sockets, wrenches, screwdrivers, but that's about it. Sounds like this one is probably over my head. Is there anything else I should be having him do so I'm not taking it back again in a week? How many seals are actually in there anyway? Is $600 out of line?

vzdude

If you don't have a very good set of tools, I wouldn't even consider it. Impact wrench? I wouldn't consider it without it! Seals are pretty cheap, 10 - 20 bucks. Labor is the biggest thing. You could have him put in new pinion and carrier bearings in it while he is in there for not much more money. Maybe another $250. Might be money well spent with the miles you have on it.

durhamd

Well "technically" I have an impact wrench. It won't break the lugs loose on the wheels though. It came with small compressor I've got. I've got a Dewalt 18V impact driver though . . . . . . it's a heck of a cool tool, but not what's needed for this job.

patdaly

Why not wait a bit and see if the leak subsides?
When you have one apart, typically they rest the axle shaft in the housing, it deforms the seal, usually not permanently.

Watch it for a month or so, it may simply quit.

BTW, credit for that one goes to Infidel, learned it from one of his posts, seen it work more than once.

infidel

Best advise yet!!!
It's very common for oil to get past the seal while work is being done on the front end. This oil gets trapped in the axle seal and may take 500 or more miles to finally all leak out. All the while the seal is fine.
Be patent.

vzdude

I would keep an eye on the oil level in the diff as well, though.......just in case! Good advice too! If it ain't actually broke.......don't fix it!