Well just finished the job. The caliper was the biggest PITA by far. What i ended up doing was welding the nut to the sleeve around it, wrapping it with a vice and twisted it out.

Another question though, when I slid the axle out there was oil coming out within a few seconds. And when i slid it back it it was still coming out. Does that mean I broke my seal? Wasnt very happy about it...

 

[QUOTE=DodgeDodgeDodge;2970710]Well just finished the job. The caliper was the biggest PITA by far. What i ended up doing was welding the nut to the sleeve around it, wrapping it with a vice and twisted it out.

Welded the broken bolt not the nut sorry bad terminology

 

Or pry on the caliper to compress the piston, and see if you can't get at the part of the bolt that screws into the bracket.....

 

Good thinking on your fix!

It is possible that the seal was damaged, but if its all back together already, I would drive it for a few days and keep an eye on it. If the leak doesnt get crazy, then your additional fluid may have just been coming off of the axle shaft where it meets the seal. The seal may have been acting like a squeegee on the axle shaft, and pooled up some fluid at the mating surface. Hopefully, that is what you saw dripping out.

 

seal damaged? probably not.

its impossible to damage during removal, only during reinstallation where you fail to lift up the end of the axle and gently probe it into the center hole of the seal. where the damage occcurs is letting the end of the axle droop - and drag on the bottom of the axle tube - and then it catches on the lip of the seal and stops and then you slam it in....

the end of the axle is covered in gear oil, so when you pull it out, it'll drag oil out with it. and if the diff is full or overfull, some will run out, and continue to drip out for several days.

i wouldn't worry about it yet. top off the diff. ignore small drips for 1-2 weeks, but closely monitor it for large leaks. check it regularly for a while.