hey all,

i have a leaky front axle seal on the passenger side. i am going to have them all replaced, i am going to go with oem inners and possibly mad mfg outters.

does the diff cover have to come off on my truck to replace these?
if so, should i put a mag-hytec on at this time?
would a mag hytec be a useless upgrade or worthwhile? (i drive in 4wd quite often in the winter, but rarely in the other 3 seasons)

please help me decide, and feel free to ask more questions and give suggestions/opinions!!!

thx,
jason

 

Do a search and you'll find more info than you ever wanted on this subject. Just find a good place if your Having the seals installed not alot of places have the proper seal pullers for these trucks and they will leak again if not done correctly. Another note you may just be overful with oil, manf. spec. for oil level is 3/4 inch below the fil plug, if its over that it can cause a leak.

Here I'll grab a search for ya.
https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...archid=2729069

 

thanx for this.

i don't think i am overfull as i have never added/changed the fluid. plus, it has been leaking for well over 500 miles (as per infidel's post). i have done some searching on the overfull subject - i don't think it is my problem, but i could be wrong.
anything else to diagnose the overfull problem?
does the diff cover have to come off while replacing the seals?

 

Yes the diff cover has to come off, and that's the easy part.
Then you have to pull both unit bearings, then pull the axle's out, then take out the CAD, then pull out the inner axle (pass side), then take the front carrier out. Then you can pop out the old seals, then install the new seals with the special tool. It's a real pain to do for a $15 seal or what ever they cost.

 

Thats the basics of it if both sides have to be done. Its a lengthy pain in the butt process, plan on about 4-6 hours of solid work.

If its just the passenger side leaking, you can do just that side by pulling the rotor/unit bearing, outer axle shaft, and CAD housing. Knock the old seal into the CAD housing, and pull the new seal back in with a special puller. This should be a 2 hour or so job.


Either way it sucks, but if its just the passenger side its a lot easier.


Are you going to do it, or take to someone?

 

Just get under there and remove the fill plug on the cover and see where the oil leval is.

If its 3/4 inch below the plug your oil level is good and you need to replace the leaky seal.

If the oil level is above that you should get a cheap vacuum pump and remove oil til its at the correct level, then either wait for the axle tubes to dry up on their own or clean out the tubes with some degreaser and a preasure wash or maybe some brake clean.

hope this helps...Josh

 

i will be having a shop do the work. i don't have the time to mess around with this job, as i have never done it before. if it was middle of summer, i would probably try it myself. . .

since the diff cover must come off, should i upgrade to a mag hytec right now?
also, should i get oem inner seals from the dealership, or are the seals all the same regardless of place purchased?

 

Dont waste your money on the front Mag Hitech - just get the rear and call it good.

 

thanx for the info guys.

i think i am going to NOT replace the front diff, rather i will do the rear instead. also, i have ordered inner & outer axle seals for the front D60 thru mad mfg as well.

anybody have any more info to help me out? i am going to switch to synthetic fluid. do i have to do both front and rear together, or can the rear wait a while?

which synthetic fluid to use?

thanx,
jason

 

Seals are pretty much the same everywhere.

I wouldn't worry about the front diff cover personally, the front is usually never under enough high speed load to generate enough heat to worry about.

And for the synthetics, doing the front for now and the rear later is fine. I run royal purple in mine and it seems good, but there are other good ones out there, I just like RP because I can get it on the shelf at napa.

 

Amsoil is one of the best.