Dealer Discount? - Rear Axle Leaking L470

[Hokie LX]

Hi all,

My truck has a leaky rear axle seal on the driver side and I am needing to replace it and while I'm in there have the bearings replaced as well. Was looking to have the dealer do it since I don't have time right now and heard there's an ONSC discount at Fred Anderson? Is this true??

Thanks!

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

Hi all,

My truck has a leaky rear axle seal on the driver side and I am needing to replace it and while I'm in there have the bearings replaced as well. Was looking to have the dealer do it since I don't have time right now and heard there's an ONSC discount at Fred Anderson? Is this true??

Thanks!

Do you know if the oil seal in front of the bearing case (the oil seal that sits just inside the backing plate) is the thing leaking or is it the oil seal in the axle? Any runout from the axle shaft?

If it's the oil seal inside the axle, you won't need to use a press. If it's the oil seal near the backing plate and bearing case, you will need to use a press since some of those are non-reusable parts once removed. The rear axle, along with the parking brake assembly, should be able to be removed as one piece without disturbing the bearing case, if you need to get to the inner axle seal.

I would be up for helping with the removal and service of the rear either way. There is bound to be someone among us that would lend the time on their shop press (if it comes to that), may be even their garage. I have a slide hammer, with attachments, for the inner axle seal removal. it works great for this application.

 

[Hokie LX]

Do you know if the oil seal in front of the bearing case (the oil seal that sits just inside the backing plate) is the thing leaking or is it the oil seal in the axle? Any runout from the axle shaft?

If it's the oil seal inside the axle, you won't need to use a press. If it's the oil seal near the backing plate and bearing case, you will need to use a press since some of those are non-reusable parts once removed. The rear axle, along with the parking brake assembly, should be able to be removed as one piece without disturbing the bearing case, if you need to get to the inner axle seal.

I would be up for helping with the removal and service of the rear either way. There is bound to be someone among us that would lend the time on their shop press (if it comes to that), may be even their garage. I have a slide hammer, with attachments, for the inner axle seal removal. it works great for this application.

I’m not sure which it is. Looking at the FSM and some threads, the 100 series needs some SSTs to pull the abs gear and bearing. Then it needs to be pressed back in.

There is oil on the brake rotor shield which drips onto the wheel. I haven’t had time to dig too much into it unfortunately.

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

I’m not sure which it is. Looking at the FSM and some threads, the 100 series needs some SSTs to pull the abs gear and bearing. Then it needs to be pressed back in.

There is oil on the brake rotor shield which drips onto the wheel. I haven’t had time to dig too much into it unfortunately.

It sounds like the inner axle seal. Those are pretty straight forward to replace without many SSTs. The whole assembly (brake rotor, dust shield, bearing case, and axle shaft) come out as one whole unit when you undo the brake line and the four retainer bolts that go into the rear axle bearing case. The inner oil seal can then be removed by a slide hammer with a seal puller attachment.

As long as there isn't any play in the wheel bearings, you should be good to only replace the inner axle seal. In the case that the wheel bearings are bad, it's a good idea to replace both sides of the axle. That said, I would only recommend doing that if one side's bearings are indeed going bad. Check for vertical play in the rear bearings. I believe that, by design, the rear bearings have a tiny bit of horizontal play.

Hope that helps.

 

[Hokie LX]

Thanks. I don’t feel any vertical play at all so the bearings may still be good. I was going to have them replaced while I’m in there since I’m over 200k.

My concern about the bearings is that if oil has been leaking it may have washed the grease out of the bearing.

There is also oil all over the inside of the rotor brake shield. Is that indicative of the outer seal also having failed?

Fred Anderson quoted $1200 to do all 4 rear seals and bearings.

 

[Hokie LX]

Pulled the rotor just now. Outer seal has definitely failed. Ugh. May need to buck up and have the dealer do it.

 

[Green Hell Mustang]

Thanks. I don’t feel any vertical play at all so the bearings may still be good. I was going to have them replaced while I’m in there since I’m over 200k.

My concern about the bearings is that if oil has been leaking it may have washed the grease out of the bearing.

There is also oil all over the inside of the rotor brake shield. Is that indicative of the outer seal also having failed?

Fred Anderson quoted $1200 to do all 4 rear seals and bearings.

Pulled the rotor just now. Outer seal has definitely failed. Ugh. May need to buck up and have the dealer do it.

View attachment 2028515

I think your concerns are well founded; that seal has failed too. The bearings may still be okay for now, but like you said, with enough time spent with the grease washed out of them, they won't be good for long. Time to service and replace.

Since that service requires this SST, and you are short on time, it might be a good idea to get FAT to do the service. Time is a big factor in a lot of this. You also have to figure if it's worth your time to buy the parts, the SSTs (or equivalents), find the a person with a shop press, and do this yourself. If the answer to that question is 'no,' take it over to Fred Anderson. The $1200 price isn't terrible considering you may spend nearly that in time and parts trying to do it yourself.