I just bought my 2001 Dodge ram 1500 4x4 with 70000 miles on it about 3 weeks ago. The previous owner had Les Schwab put 4 new ball joints on. Recently my front axle seems to be leaking excessive fluid from both ends, but the passenger side leaks considerably more. The passenger side will have a puddle of fluid about the size of a baseball within 10 min, but the drivers side never drips. My guess is that it is diff fluid. I don't know what is involved with changing the ball joints, but would that cause my axle to leak? And if so how much and for how long. I know I should open up the diff and stick my finger in there, but how much fluid should I feel? If it is leaking fluid and I don't put it in 4 wheel drive am I going to hurt anything if I keep driving it?

 

a baseball sized puddle is excessive, and you'll need to check and maintain your fluid level. any brand 75W90, 80W90, 85W90, or 90W gear lube will work ok. buy a quart or two. park level and remove the front diff plug, cut off the tip of the squirt bottle and fill it up. when it runs out the hole its full. its actually full just below the hole but a little extra won't hurt, especially the way yours is leaking.

don't let it get excessively low, or your diff bearings will go next !!!! doesn't matter whether you use 4wd or not.

the problem is the axle seals, which are all the way at the diff end of the drivers side, and at the CAD on the passenger side. you have to remove the axles to change them. the ball joint job required removal of axles and it may/may not have contributed to the leak. it is possible to damage the seals when removing and reinserting the axles.

 

That is what I thought. I expect to be doing a seal replacement soon. Does anybody know of any sites that do a step by step procedure? I have found a few for the Jeep Dana 44, is the Dodge the same? I have also found that I would need a tool to press the seal back in. I have found some pages that describe how to make one out of nuts, bolts and washers for a Dana 30. Will this same one work on the Dana 44?
Troy

 

if the pass side leaking excessivley and you cant change it right away you can part on a bit of a hill (keep the pass higer) and it will slow the leaking but those seals are a pain in the ****

 

ask and ye shall receive. http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech/axleseal.php
lots of good tech articles there.
i've never done it (yet), but have heard you can make one out of heavy threaded rod, washers, nuts, plates.
be very very careful when re-inserting axles, coat the ends heavy with vaseline or grease or something.

 

wire brush the ends too (not the splines but just past them) if there is anything on it it will cut up the seel

 

I finally got some free time and I just went out and checked the diff fluid. I took the bolt off and the fluid was full to the bottom of the bolt hole. It appears from that that it isn't leaking, but I plan on driving it a bit more and checking it again next week. I confirmed that the spilled fluid on the garage floor smells as awful as the stuff I just stuck my pinkie in and they were a match. Both smelled horrible. Any other ideas?
Troy

 

yes it does stink. wait until you drain and change it..... if you get any on your clothes the stink won't come out. if you track any in the house your wife will kill you. and what do you do with the 2-3 qts of that stinking stuff.

mine started to leak a little last year after i drove through a really deep creek (several times). i changed the fluid to see what was going on and found some water in mine. (milky white) after refilling it leaked a little a few more times and then sort of quit. i just check it occasionally and don't worry about. its a good idea to change the fliud every once in a while, much more frequently if your driving in water.

maybe the prev owner overfilled yours. just keep an eye on it.

 

Here's another question. I went to the local auto parts store and they recommended 80w-90 gear oil, but it is black. The fluid in my housing now is clear. I wonder what kind is in there, and what is in the factory specs, and if they can mix.
Troy

 

when they took out your axle shafts some oil would have leaked out, and it can take a while to come through the tube. are you sure the stuff in there is clear or did it just look clear on your finger because there was only a film on there. geat oil is typically dark, and even if they did find some clear stuff to put in there it wouldent be clear for long, so ither it was just changed or isent really clear (just think of moter oil on the dip stick when its new it almost looks clear too because the amount your looking at is so thin)