So, after following 01dodgeram360's thread on dripping antifreeze, and having a currently untraceable coolant smell, I crawled under the truck to check the freeze plugs on the sides of the block and see if any coolant is coming out of the inspection cover. No problems there, the plugs I can see look good and there's no coolant coming out of the inspection cover.

I did notice that there is oil leaking out of the front diff where the driveshaft goes in. I did some searching on the forum, and it appears that the pinion seal is leaking, but the only threads I found describe replacing the one on the rear diff, and make it sound like it's a pain in the ***.

Has anyone done the front one themselves (undoubtedly someone has) and how difficult is it? It looks like there's quite a bit of prying, sweating, swearing, and pulling with the rear one.

The vent hose isn't blocked.

I didn't find the coolant leak either

 

It's better to call your mechanic...lol

 

Look here: http://www.links4jeeps.com/forum/index.php?topic=3659.0

Then here: http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technical...inionSeals.htm

Looks pretty easy.

 

I've been trying to find the seal on the various auto parts websites (advance, autozone, etc.) and can't seem to. What would be the "official" name for this seal? Pinion seal appears to be the axle seals.

 

differential pinion seal. listed under drivetrain.

autozone's website is misleading, but its actually the right part.
you can double check the part numbers to rockauto.com

timken 5778 for front (d44)
5126 for rear (9.25)