Rear Pinion Seal Leak

[Cruiserdrew]

I've seen that a few times now and each time the outtter pinion bearing was shot and the diff needed to be rebuilt.

Agree. The seal going bad, is almost always a symptom of the bearing going bad and loosing it's pre-load. Super common on high mileage diffs.

 

[Goobmeister]

So guys, back to original question. IF i remove the drive shaft then the nut, do i need a new flange/crush sleeve.

Or do all i need to order is a new seal?

 

[jfz80]

Just order the seal and the stake nut.

Note: the new oem stake nuts are thicker and have a combbned washer flange. In most cases it replaces a separate stake nut and washer. Just save the old to compare to but you may well do witjout the washer on the new nut or you wont get it threaded fully

 

[ajax1]

If your diff breather is plugged it can weep out that seal

 

[bloc]

typically adjusting back to stock angle via digital angle tool. harbor freight i think has a cheapie magnetic one. ( i forgot what stock angle is- but someone will likely post up)

If the diff pinion flange and transfer case output flange are parallel.. no vibes (as long as the rest of the shaft is set up correctly). So that is what we should look for.. flanges parallel when truck is at ride height.

 

[bugsnbikes]

the key is to simply tighten an extra 1mm beyond - this will take up any bearing wear/slack that has naturally worn due to 200k plus miles on the diff......and it will slow the wear down a tad compared to a wobbly bearing/race interface. Imho- taking out this slop a little should be a p.m. item as its fairly simple and will slow down wear and likely extend seal life.

 

[Goobmeister]

the key is to simply tighten an extra 1mm beyond - this will take up any bearing wear/slack that has naturally worn due to 200k plus miles on the diff......and it will slow the wear down a tad compared to a wobbly bearing/race interface. Imho- taking out this slop a little should be a p.m. item as its fairly simple and will slow down wear and likely extend seal life.

alright I m feeling a little better about this, so all i will need is a new seal and some new Oil

 

[Goobmeister]

I wont need a longer DS will I?

 

[Cruiserdrew]

No, but you need to think more about this. Replacing the seal and tightening the nut is only going to buy you a short amount of time. Your outer pinion bearing is worn out. If you tighten it up to re-establish preload, all you have done is bought yourself a few months. The bearing will wear more (and at an accelerated rate), lose preload and the whole cycle will happen again.

If you like this truck, I strongly recommend you get your differential rebuilt. That is the definitive fix. It will also allow you to check the pattern, and reset the back lash of the carrier. You will end up with a much stronger differential in the end.

Read through the Zuk site to get an idea of what you need to do. In your position, I'd pull that differential out and send it to Ken (Zuk) and get his advice. You're applying a band-aid when the patient needs surgery.

Gear Install Harrop

 

[bugsnbikes]

if your lift has induced added vibes......in the short term it can cause the leaky seal which "can" go away if you fix the vibes.

if the vibes have gone on too long......it may have ruined the seal as well as the bearing and you will need to follow Cruiserdrews recommendations.

the only way to tell is to remedy your pinion angle problem/ and throw in a new seal and take out a tiny bit of pinion bearing slop when tightening down the nut. theres a chance that taking out the tiny bit of slop in the bearing....any driveline slop via greasing ujoints....and getting rid of pinion angle change induced vibes may solve the problem.