anyone wanna throw in some insight? I was walking out to my truck this morning to leave for work and noticed a small, but fresh puddle of fluid under the front of my truck. Looked under it and noticed the front diff was leaking. I finally had a chance to somewhat pinpoint the leak when I got home from work (work's only a 1.5-2 mile round trip). The leak appears to be originating from near the flange for the front drive shaft. I'd get pics, but I'm currently over at my gf's place without my camera.

Not looking forward to dropping the front diff given how fun it was for line-up with the RCD brackets.

 

its the pinion seal more than likely.

no need to drop the diff. just unbolt the drive shaft, take off the pinion nut, remove the flange and old seal. install a new one. you will need an impact to install and remove the pinion nut.

 

pinion seal...common problem

 

Beard...

How necessary is the impact? In other words, can it be done with hand tools? I know impacts make things easier, but are sometimes necessary too. Unfortunately the only access I currently have to 2 are both about an hour drive away and me thinking driving that far with this leak is a no brainer. Right now I'm wondering if I shouldn't do new fluid in there anyhow, just drain the diff, new cover seal, and new pinion seal.

 

Oil puddles on the ground may look like a lot of oil but it really isnt.

You NEED and impact. I couldnt imagine trying without one, wait I did, its a pain, that thing is super tight. I could turn it manually but you need someone to stand on the brakes for the truck does not rock, trust me drive there and use the impact.

if it really is the pinion seal they dont leak that much that fast

 

if you have no access to one take it to a shop it shouldnt be over $100 to have it done. the part is cheap and doesnt even take an hour to do...

 

mine was done for 30 and i supplied the fluid and seal. that was when my truck was pretty stock.

 

I had the same problem but fixed it yesterday. It was a piece of cake.

 

I had mine fixed back in Oct. under warrenty. The dumb dealer took 3 days, idiots.

BTW only 100 miles left and my warrenty goes bye bye
I only had to bring it in for the pinion seal and starter to get fixed under warrenty.

 

been a little distant lately...........

pinion seal fixed, or so it looks. Ran me $150 plus tax.