Hello Fellas, First post here ! Been lurking around here for quite a while, finally time to drop in. Im in need of some solid advice from yall. I have a 95 Ram 1500 4x4 5.9 laramie, I bought her used 2 years ago for 2400 with 170 k -ish ,
miles. A couple of months later brought her to a reputable local shop for a once over type inspection. They gave me a little list of things that could be repaired. At the top of the list was the drive shaft center support bearing, which I replaced a year or so ago, and also they said the driver side axle seal needed replacing. It was leaking at that time. So now Ive been hearing a pretty loud clicking ,clunking, maybe slightly grinding, noise coming from under there for quite some time, at least since mid to late summer last year. Of course when Ive done my maintenance and filled the front diff I have noticed a puddle of fluid by that driver front tire. The research Ive done on here makes the job seem do able, but a pain, especially since that special tool that costs 200 bucks is required to get the seal in place. The estimates Ive received said around 800 to replace the seal !!! A local mobile guy said he could do it for around 500.... Since I think its possible more problems may have arisen due to my neglect I may tackle this myself. I figure the bearing and joint may also need some attention, as well as the shocks, and of course, being a 2nd gen ram , has that wandering steering thing, so I thought i would replace the stabilizer. Im hoping you guys could let me know if this is worth me attempting or are these repairs best left to pros ? How much time should I plan on spending ? Is there ANY alternative to the expensive seal installation tool that I will likely only use 1 x ? Thanks for any replys

 

To do the drivers side seal, you pretty much have to disassemble the entire front axle. The carrier needs to come out, so, need to pull both axles..... Getting it apart isn't really that bad. It's putting it back together where the fun begins. The differential gears have to be set up EXACTLY correct, else they will either wear prematurely, or, fail entirely. Both of which are expensive propositions. If you haven't done gears before, this could definitely trip you up, and may end up costing you more than just paying someone to do the seal.... If you have a friend that can advise you, that has done gears before, by all means, give it a shot. You could try doing a LOT of reading on gear setup, and try it yourself...... As it's entirely possible you could simply replace the entire front axle for less than the 500 bucks. (that, and paying several hundred dollars in labor to replace a sub-20 dollar part, just rubs me the wrong way....)

I would seriously consider doing BOTH seals, and the bushings in the CAD as well. Considering you need to pull apart the passenger side, to get the carrier out anyway.... You are going to be RIGHT there.

You can make up your own seal installer with some threaded rod, and appropriate sized washers.

Welcome to DF!

Service Manual Thread.

 

Thanks HeyYou. None of the videos Ive watched show the removal of the carrier. But oh man, this sounds bad now ! I have not done gears before. Ive done some difficult repairs in the past but this might be beyond my scope and I did see a entire axle for sale on CL for 250. And YES ! paying several hundred dollars in labor to replace a sub $20 part is unacceptable. I doubt I have the mechanical ability of most you fellas on here, but I did go to vocational school for auto tech, back in the early 90's. I still do a fair bit of wrenching, but mostly on my boat nowadays.Not sure what to do here. I havent replaced an axle either, but could likely get through it easier than this seal. Cant "total" the truck over a "sub $20 part".......F!

 

Doing gears is an art form. You can do it, with time and the right tools.
With the CL axle, just make sure it's not worse than what you already have.

 

It's not that bad. My front seals have been done twice and both times it didn't cost more than $500 and that was with u-joints as well. The gear setup is only required for NEW gears sets, like going to 4.10s or similar. The original gears are setup from the factory so you just have reinstall them the same way. Put the shims in where they were and follow specs for preload. If it was that particular, both rinky dink shops I've used would've screwed up my gears years ago. I've put over 100k on my front end since last seal job.

 

Thanks Ramman, Can you please clarify, did you spend 5oo on the parts, and perform the repair each time yourself, or did you pay the shop that much to do the seals and joints for you ? I would definitely pay someone to do it for 5 hund including parts etc.. But much more than that is stretching it for such inexpensive parts. I would say 6 would be the maximum amount Id feel ok paying someone else to do it (seal and joint). Im leaning strongly towards getting a used axle at a pull and pay junk yard or similar. 200 or so for a non leaking used one seems like a better idea, possibly less work and not as difficult.. Of course then I run the risk of it needing joints or bearings....How much time should I estimate to remove the entire axle assembly ? Would it require special tools ?

 

Also to clarify, At this time the leaking appears (after I fill the Diff) ONLY on the driver side tire area. Do I need to disassemble to axle to change this seal ? It seems the outer seal (near the bearing) would be a pretty straightforward..No ?

 

That's not a seal. Its just a dust shield. The seal is in the pumpkin, and you have to pull the carrier to change it.

 

Ahh !!

 

For me, the biggest part of that job is the removal of the carrier to gain access to the seal for proper replacement. That carrier is typically lodged in there pretty tight. I borrowed a case spreader to get the carrier out easily, replaced the seal and then put the carrier back in-place, just as it was removed. As long as you aren't changing anything other than the seal, you would be fine removing and replacing the carrier.