yoke and pinion seal replacements?
 

can anyone give me an idea how difficult it is (and ideally instructions how) to replace the yoke and pinion seals on a the front and rear diffs from a 2004.5 2500?

thank you.

(i did search and couldn't find anything about the yokes)

just trying to decide if i should have the dealership do it ($500) or if i can easily tackle it ($200)

Just out of curiosity why are you replacing the yokes? Unless they are really badly damaged they should be able to be reused. Even if there is scoring you can usually get a speedy sleeve to repair the damage. My seal was roughly $25 and I didn't need to do anything with the yoke other then some emery cloth on the sealing surface.

As CRXsi mentioned, I can’t imagine why you would need to replace the yokes unless you have been using the truck for mudding. In that case sometimes dirt will get between the seal and the machined surface on the yoke and polish a groove in the yoke, in which case the new seal may leak immediately or very soon after replacement. Otherwise you can continue to use the yoke.

As for the question of replacing the pinion seal, there are two different methods of setting the pinion bearing preload on any differential of the size and style in your truck. One method is with a crush collar (one time use), and the other is with shims. I have been rebuilding differentials for many years and have only seen crush collars used in small axles such as what would be in the front of a jeep.

Dana 60, 70 and 80 all use shims. I have not yet been inside any of the AAM differentials but I would hope they would use shims.

If you have an axle with the pinion bearing preload established with shims you can just torque the pinion nut to specifications after replacing the pinion seal.

If you have an axle with a crush collar (or you don’t know for sure) use the following procedure.

1) Remove driveshaft
2) With a chisel or cut-off wheel on a small grinder make a line across the nut and the end of the pinion.
3) Remove nut, washer, and yoke
4) Remove pinion seal
5) Install new pinion seal
6) Install yoke
7) Clean threads with brake clean
8) Apply Lock-tight to threads
9) Install washer and nut
10) Tighten nut until your marks line up and you are done

Sorry for being so long winded, this is an easy job but needs to be done correctly. I have seen too many mechanics just use an impact until the nut won’t tighten any more and call it good. This is the difference between an axle that lasts 50,000 miles and 150,000 miles.

Both diffs use crush sleeves, as do the one ton rears in Fords and Chevies.

You won't have to mess with the crush sleeve if you're only replacing the seal. Pull the axles, check the pinion preload (in inch-pounds), R&R the yoke and seal, retorque the pinion nut until the preload matches what you had before.

If you've never been into a diff before, it's a huge PITA. If you have an in-lb wrench, a decent impact, 4' breaker bars, yoke holders, etc... it's an evening job.

took the truck in yesterday, the dealership said both pinion seals and yokes should be replaced. evidently there's a groove on the yokes which means they should be replaced. all this per the dealership.

i don't mud, rarely tow and have only put on less than 10k miles in the last 12 months

I find it hard to believe they are that bad on such a new truck but there is a product called a speedy sleeve that slides over the yoke instead of replacing it, installa new seal and you're all good, i did this on my CJ 5 jeep and it lasted for years till i sold it, not a drop of oil (and it got used too, with steep drive line angles and lockers in both diffs I was impressed)
I can see a dealer not wanting to use this when they could sell you a new yoke but a smaller shop would and many shade trees most seal company's offer such a product
Good luck!

My Pinion seal and yoke were replaced under warranty 2004.5 truck.....should be good for 5 years...

when did they do the replacement? i'm at 105k miles and would suspect the dealership won't do it. they want about $250/axle. I've called around and spoken with 2 experienced techs who basically called BS on the yokes.

It appears that only a visual inspection was done and i don't know of any way to know for sure the yokes need replacement with only a visual inspection. think i'm going to find a new dealership for work in the future...

My work was done about 1 year ago and the truck only had about 50,000 miles on it, so maybe you are over the mileage part of the warranty...I would ask them anyway....
The dealership destroyed the yoke when they tried to change the rear pinion seal, they stripped out the bolts while trying to get them out without heating the Lok-tite...Then they took 16 days to find a new Yoke assembly.. Lucky I had 2 trucks at the time....Some of them are not to bright,, I now use a different dealer and service is 100%....

I have 215,000 miles on mine. The front just began to leak. Dealer was the only one that had the seal.

I can get one of the seals from NAPA, but not the other, and no yokes from NAPA. So at the least I'll need parts from the dealership, but should be able to save $200 or so in labor and maybe mroe in parts with another shop.

Need new lock nuts also.

I did my front seal a few months ago. Got the yoke off, and there was a groove in it. About $100.00 later I was installing the seal and the new yoke. Hasn't leaked a drop since.

I second the new lock nut statement.

Aaron

from what i understand reading the service manual it appears there is a fair amount to doing the seal / yokes like removing the axles

and i don't have a flare wrench or a pinion flange puller. is the repair easier then it appears?

The yoke is the piece in the front where the driveshaft bolts to. There is no need to pull axles. Pull the driveshaft, take the nut off, pull the yoke (easier said than done), pull the seal. Then it is install everything. Not too difficult if you are mechanically inclined.