^ sorry. but not true.

here's some good pics. when i first bought my truck i looked at these pics and thought, oh my god, what kind of pita monster have i bought, and i hope i never have to tear it apart that deep. 4 years later - i've replaced the CAD w/posilok, then hub/bearings and brakes in a second tear down. one axle u-joint and seal in a third "NOW" repair, and then the other u-joint, both seals, and axle spline/collar cleanup in a fourth teardown which required removal of the differential.

http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech-article-5.html

http://www.pavementsucks.com/tech-article-3.html

 

LOL. i think that's a record.

I replaced the rear axle seals in my daughter's 4 runner (one side or the other) about 8-10 times, using several different brands of seals before I admitted that I MIGHT be doing something wrong, LOL. I was using my 1-11/16 socket and 3 pound hammer to seat the seal and i was bending the metal face of the seal and screwing something up.

i changed to the "be gentle" method and it magically started sealing fine.

for our D44 axle seals, it took me a couple of tries to build a seating tool out of welded up washers that would seat the seal and not be too small or out of position, or any other problem that mess up the seal and/or pulls it in crooked. zman swears by the $150 seating tool from quad4x4. i agree that its nice, and quick, and foolproof. it just kills me to spend that much money.

 

sorry, but actually it is true, in the links you have he's replacing the hubs too, which I said in that case you would need to remove the axle nut

 

So this is inaccurate?


Ok... So I am second guessing if I need to replace axel seals or not. I have some fluid that is flinging on my fender wheel on my passenger side. Best I can tell, its axle fluid. The rubber piece at the end of the axle is completey broke loose at the end of the axel and it is moist there. Should I just check my fluid leve, and then recheck in a week or so? I have a short video I took and just posted to my you tube account here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7EZ_ev5A_Y

Take a look and tell me what you guys think.

I am getting a little nervous about doing this myself as I hear you guys talk about this make shift tool.

Thanks for all the help, you guys are awesome.

 

I don't really see any evidence of a leak at the axle tube there. The seal is actually almost a foot inboard of the U-joint...... the outer 'seal' you are looking at is just a dust seal. (and yes, it holds the dust and crap in the axle tube very well.)

Clean if off really good, and see if you get any fluid on the end of the tube.

 

No, it's accurate - but I do agree with Hey You, your axle end looks pretty clean. When my seals started leaking, it was obvious.

 

Looks pretty dark to me under the seal. That, along with the grease on the inner fender liner, says blown seal. And true, you don't have to take the axle nut off, but good luck getting the axle back in without damaging the seal, with the added weight of the hub bearing assembly still attached.

 

the knuckle and u-joint looks clean and dry to me. when mine were leaking it was all a big greasy mess including a puddle under the truck.

fill up the diff and monitor it.

 

Will do. I will update as I monitor. Thanks to everyone for their input.

 

Do you have those dust covers at the end of the axles?