Replacing 3rd Member Gasket (1 Viewer)

[ddoughrt]

Okay, two silly quesitons. I have an annoying leak on my third member. I was thinking about trying to tackle this. So two questions: 1- Can I replace without removing the axels? ; 2- What kind of gasket seal would you recommned? The gasket seems a little thin and does not seem like it would be enough by itself to prevent leakage.. Looked at the manuals, I fear #1 requires axel removal, #2, not so sure on... thinking about a silicone with the gasket?

Thanks,

Don

 

[spotcruiser]

Where is it leaking (between third and housing)? I've never had the OEM gaskets leak between the third and the housing. You need to pull the axles out far enough to remove the third. It usually requires significant work to scrape the old gasket off. I've never needed anything but the gasket there to get a good seal.

 

[yotawheeler]

if its between the third and the housing then yup, you are going to have to pull the axles at least a few inches (is there any difference in pulling the axle all the way out of just a few inches? same amount of work no?), in the rear you are going to have to also pull the 2 c clips that hold the rear axles from floating out on you...not too bad to pull axles though

 

[Mr. Toad]

If it's the front that's leaking, then you must pull axles, remove third, scrape old crap off (budget some serious time for this task), replace gasket (I used a little sealer too), replace third, replace axles. Might as well replace the knuckle & hub seals & stuff while you have it apart if they haven't been done in a while.

If it's the rear that's leaking, you may be in luck if the diff cover gasket is the source of the leak rather than the gasket between the diff and the axle housing. If that's the case, you only have to remove the rear cover and replace its cork gasket. Otherwise, see the process above, plus replacing the cork cover gasket (because you have to remove the rear cover to get at the C-clips to remove the rear axle).