i was towing the boat today to put her inside for the winter, a bit of the towing involves engaging 4wd to get up a grass/mud hill side. anyway after i dropped the boat off, i was driving home and heard a "different" noise coming from the front end. being a 16 year old truck, i don't get to worked up over noises, b/t that and the knobby tires that are on the truck. for the hell of it i looked under the truck, on the passenger side i saw oil in the ball joint area , coming out where the front axle is.
what kind of PITA is replacing the seals in the front axle?? i tend to keep everything clean, all the joints, connections, the undercarriage, engine and engine area to spot this thing quickly.

last weekend was the alternator and fan clutch.

 

Gotta change the differential seals. Full disassemble except for ball joints, pinion, and housing removal. Gears gotta come out to get to the seals. You won't have to mess with the gearing, unless you get the shims mixed up.

Frank

 

i was hoping you would say yeah its easy.....

the last time i pulled the hubs to replace the yellow vacuum gasket i laid every piece i took apart on cardboard and marked around that part with a sharpie the order it came out! ill do the same thing to avoid mixing anything up that could potentially be damaging.

 

this way, you get to look at each part of the diff to make sure it's still good...

 

i tend to be proactive with replacing parts, if i see something questionable, im changing it

 

Just remember that the tapered roller bearings are pressed onto the carrier, and the races come out too when you extract the carrier. The shims sit behind the bearings [edited]. The races need to go back in where they came from.
Good luck with it, and I feel your pain since I have to do the same thing to mine in the next couple of days 😬

Frank

 

easy way out is to think about why bother with it....it sounds like it is bad...but it leaked becuase you were on a grade.....option is to clean up the area, add more fluid to differental and monitor it. 16 year old truck...how much work do you really want to do on it.

 

that is a tough question to answer. the engine only has 97000 miles on it, its not really a daily driver, ive put about 8500 miles on it in the past 2/1/2 years. i don't mind carrying around a little fluid and adding some hear and there. say i had someone fix this, what is a good idea for price?

i don't want to sound stupid, but the front diff doesn't really do much unless 4wd is engaged right? i know it spins, but the need for the fluid is to lube the gears when 4wd is engaged? or am i wrong

 

If the hubs are not locked and the transfer case is in 2H it shouldn't even spin.

 

Agreed, I think he has a lockout that is stuck..

 

i checked the diff fluid, it was damm near as full as where i left it last year when i changed it . i cleaned the area up, then drove around in 4wd for a half hour or so, did not see any additional oil leakage covering the steering knuckle a , ball joint area after the drive. .

 

Before you tear down the front end, be sure the axle vent is clear and free-breathing. Any pressure in the front axle will cause a seal like that to leak. I would check the axle vent, clean up the area, and keep an eye on it - and wait for it to reoccur or get worse.

 

Cleaning and monitoring won't fix the (Different Noise) I'm more inclined to remove the diff cover and inspect for debris. If it's clean, add new oil and re-install the cover. Then try out the 4wd again, if it's quiet yah, if the (noise) returns you know there's a potential issue within the front differential. At least your doubt will be satisfied.