During a recent heavy snow storm in my mountain community I engaged 4x4 and drove rather quickly off the mountain to a hospital. I forgot to turn off 4x4 on the freeway. This resulted in melting the seals on the front differential. The repair, I am told, required that the rack and pinon being "dropped" to get to the differential. With a sick family member I haven't had much driving time. But I've noticed a very obvious pull to the right that became even clearer when I had to apply the brakes hard to avoid a deer. I ended up nearly sideways.

After dropping the rack and pinon and then replacing it, does the front-end alignment need to be done again? Is there another causes related or unrelated to the repairs already done? The tires are fairly new; the disc rotors were recently turned and new brake pads installed on all four.

Thanks,

Bob

 

the alignment needs to be done every time you touch front end suspension (shocks not included) or steering components

the pull could be a dragging brake, check to see if one wheel is warmer(hotter) than the other after driving, stop, get out and feel, if one is red hot and cannot be touched that brake is dragging and you will have to look into replacing the rubber brake lines, if you do this i would do both the front hoses at once.

 

Well, if you melted the front diff seals then most likely you burned up a bearing and that is what is causing the pull. Rebuild the front diff.

As for the R&P, if you are installing you old one back in you might be ok without an alignment. Now if you replace the R&P and with the front end work then look for any other worn parts and align it. You can always see how it drives and tire ware to ensure, however a alignment is always advised.

Buy the way, cheers!.......

 

Yje well respected repair shop tore the diff. apart and reported nothing more than the seals. But a month later I shifted in and out of 4x4 (more snow on the mountain) and found that it does not always shift in and out of 4x4 HI. I have to come to a complete stop, put it in neutral, then listen carefully. That I guess is a problem with the switch in the transfer case. But the diff. oil began overheating during another wet weather run to the hospital (my 9 yr. old daughter has brain cancer) and I need reliability without a budget.

I will make time to get it back to the repair place and ask about the bearings, although I don't get how they could affect stearing. I'll also ask about brake pad hang.