Leaky knuckle

[Options20002001]

The Front axle was rebuilt about six months ago. I noticed a leak recently...take a look:







It's not dripping so is this normal? Or, the inner axle oil seal has failed? Should I change to HD MC oil seal since the OEM one failed in such a short time. Any other advice.

Thanks.

 

[timer00]

I just did my front axle and used the Marlin Crawler HD seal I'll have to see how it holds up. Most likely you'll have to open her up and use the better seal to see if that works since it looks like its pretty bad in terms of leaking. My one side was so bad it coated the caliper and the brake dust shield in grease/oil.

 

[Ebag333]

The Front axle was rebuilt about six months ago. I noticed a leak recently...take a look:

It's not dripping so is this normal? Or, the inner axle oil seal has failed? Should I change to HD MC oil seal since the OEM one failed in such a short time. Any other advice.

Thanks.

Blown axle seal. My guess is that it was overfilled or contaminated (IE: water).

Redoing it with Marlin's seal would help, but it can't completely eliminate the seal getting blown out if you over fill the knuckle.

 

[LINUS]

Looks too runny to be good grease, but you could always give a closer look by just pulling the felt swiper, ring & rubber seal back & seeing what's going on on the other side of the rubber seal - just pull it all back but leave it on the axle so you can button it back up once you make a final decision, maybe pull it all back & let it sit for the afternoon & see how much drools out by evening.

Then just squirt new grease in up top. So have your grease gun & a fresh tube of grease ready before opening.

 

[zx9r]

Check the breather. If the check-valve is clogged that could account for too much pressure on the inside of the seal and forcing the gear oil outward into the knuckle. Once I started to pay attention to that, I notice it isn't so hard to throw enough mud on top of the hose to interfere with the valve.