Yup, very easy to remove the diff. Like Rangerjacob said you only need to pull off 1 wheel, axle nut, brakes, TRE, upper balljoint and pull the end out of the knuckle. Then pry the CV from the diff. Jack under the diff, remove bolts hold it, pry out the other CV and pull the diff away from the CV shaft.

 

And then perform open heart surgery while simultaneously juggling chain saws. My toolbox has a handful of screwdrivers, some wire cutters, and electrical tape

 

i paid 60 to have it done back in the day, with school and all i didnt want to deal with it. i only had 45k on the truck when it started leaking.

 

Alright, what will I need to buy for this project? I'm going to go to either Ford, Advanced or NAPA this week and get everything I need for the pinion seal and the cover gasket. What parts will I need to buy and is there a recomended gear oil for the diff? So far the only thing I know I need is a 30 of bud light.

 

There is no gasket for the diff cover. All you need is RTV for that. So RTV, front pinion seal and 1.7L(3.6 pints) of 80w-90 gear oil.

 

Schweet. Sounds easy enough. Is the pinion seal a dealer part or do most auto part chains have those?

 

I got mine from the dealer. I didn't want to bother driving from store to store. Yes I could have called but I was on the road already when I decided I was going to try to fix it.

 

Word of warning from expereince...that front diff uses a crush sleeve to set pinion bearing preload. If you don't get it back to where it was, you could toast those bearings fast. Too much torque and you crush the sleeve too far. Too little and you'll have play.

You should use a new crush sleeve and pinion nut and set it up iwth an inlbs torque wrench, especially if you are pulling the diff anyway. Many have been successful simply marking the nut, but many have also missed the mark and wound up rebuilding diffs.

 

^ i was just about to say that.. good call carl.

 

I woudl just go to the dealer for the pinion seal. Autozone, NAPA and Oreilys were all around $14 for an after market seal and the dealer was like $17 for a Ford one. Personally I went with the Ford one.

As for the gasket, they make them but when I do my rear diff, I just use RTV. IT stinks but it works.

80W-90 gear oil. I think its only 1.2 L of fluid, you can check in your owners manual it says in there. (1.7L is for the rear end)

 

I got that 1.7 capacity from the manual.

Fluid Ford Part Name
Application Capacity
Fuel tank N/A Regular cab (Short wheel base)
62.4L (16.5 gallons)
Regular cab (Long wheel base)
75.7L (20.0 gallons)
SuperCab 73.8L (19.5 gallons)
Transfer case Fluid
Motorcraft MERCON ATF
4x4 Vehicles 1.2L (1.25 quarts)
Front axle lubricant Motorcraft
SAE 80W-90 Premium Rear Axle Lubricant
4x4 Vehicles 1.7L (3.6 pints)
Rear axle lubricant
Motorcraft SAE 80W-90 Premium Rear Axle Lubricant
All (except FX4)
2.4-2.5L (5.0-5.3 pints)
Rear axle
lubricant (FX4 only)
Motorcraft SAE 75W-140 Synthetic Rear Axle Lubricant
FX4 only 2.5-2.6L
(5.25-5.5 pints)
Windshield washer fluid
Motorcraft Premium Windshield Washer Concentrate
All 2.6L (2.75 quarts)

 

He's doing the front diff......

 

thats why he highlighted the front diff part, tard

 

I misread what he highlighted, I just saw "rear axle lubricant".

He is right it is 1.7L, I checked my owners manual, just like I told him to do.

I only have around 1.7L in my rear dif....and its full.