Newbie here and I am getting a little frustrated with a leak on my rear differential. The leak is on the front of differential rearend just behind the four bolts you take off to remove the driveshaft. When you take the driveshaft out, there is a single bolt and the seal behind that is leaking. Here is my delima, I called my local ford dealership to find out what the torque rating on that bolt is so when I replace the seal I don't overtighten. He told me there is no torque rating on it because I have to tighten, measure, tighten, measure the bolt. I was lost, I didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Was he giving me a load of bull so I would bring my truck in so he could charge me $75 an hour labor or can you just simply tighten that bolt back down? I need help!

 

Have you tried referring to a service manual? I have several Haynes manuals for our vehicles and they all list a whole host of torque specifications for virtually every threaded fastener used. I have never looked for the yoke retaining bolt torque specs but I'd bet that if there was a spec for it the Haynes manual will list it.

 

can I see those specs online?

 

be very careful trying to do it yourself...I just redid the seal and now I have too much backlash and have to replace all my gear inside!!! looks like I'm going to spend at least 1200 in parts and labor

 

oh man, what happened? is it not a pretty straight forward job? take out bolt, remove bad seal, replace new seal, tighten bolt?

 

Not at all...
There is a whole lot of mechanics involved with dissassembly of the rear pinion nut.

You have to mark the relation of the drive shave to the pinion flange to make sure you line up the driveshaft right up where its supposed to be. By the way you need a 12pt socket for that.

Then you may need a Large 3 Prong puller to pull the flange from the axel housing. Again marking the relation of the flange to the housing.

To remove the bolt you need a 30mm deep socket and again you have to mark the position of the nut to the flange. I reccommend marking the socket so you can count the number of rotations. Also you need to get a torque wrench to see at what amount of torque the bolt breaks free so that you don't crush the crush sleeve.

Installation is reverse of removal...same turns back in...same torque...all that jazz...

The bigger question is...is there any play in the driveshaft or flange??? Do you notice any knocks when going into turns??? The rear pumpkin is like a HORRID GIRLFRIEND...if you do the wrong thing it will NEVER forgive you.

My pinion was only .020 off on the backlash and I had to replace my ring and pinion...if you replace that...you need a master overhaul kit....(why if you are paying/spending time tearing into it and not just replace all the (wearing: bearings/clutchpack) components so you dont have to open that death trap again???

How many miles do you have??? I hate to sound like I'm making more than it is...but I do all my own work and consider my gear/transmission knowledge to rival a tech.

 

It is not an overly difficult job if you pay attention to what you are doing and have the right tools. Do a Search on Pinion Seal Replacement, the process, tips and tricks have been discussed