Front Axle Leak

[Jspafford]

Hi All,
I just noticed I have gear oil leaking out of the passengerside of my front axle tube. It is wet around the seal, on the u-joint, and down the lower half of the knuckle.

I have not been driving the truck so it is a VERY new leak. Is that outer seal what holds the oil in, or is there a seal inside the differential that is leaking?

How big of a PITA is this to fix?

 

[bushpilot]

depends on WHAT seal is leaking...is it really coming from the axle TUBE ?
if thats the case the seal for the tubes is INSIDE the pumpkin.

theres a dust seal on the outside but theres no GREASE in the
axle tube (least there wasnt when i just pulled mine to do the ball joints).

 

[patrickc]

The outer seal is not what holds the oil in the differential it is just a dust/dirt shield. The seal that is leaking is about 3/4 of the way down the axle tube. They are installed from the inside of the differential which means the pretty much the whole diff on both sides has to come apart to get at it. (front hubs, bearings, axles, diff cover, carrier, etc.)