what is this
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Senior User
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what is this
ok i was out crawling underneath the front end and saw a hard plastic ring with a groove all the way around it in the middle. the ring was, forgive me for my terminology here but.....it was between the end of the axle and the u joints i believe, just hanging there it would spin in a circle freely. not sure how long its been like this. it is the same on both sides. any suggestions on what it is and what i have to do about it. thank you.
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From: Tucson
If it is between the end of the Axle tube and the ujoint it is a Dust Seal that just sits in the axle tube, I guess it is just line of defense for the inner axle seals. I think it is normal for it to be free turning and such just check and see if it is seated properly on the axle and see if it looks like it would keep crud from going inside the Axle tube.
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From: Tucson
The unfortunate thing about that seal is you will need to pull the Axle and probably put a new one on. you can sometimes re-seat them with a large non-tapered punch but becareful not to damage the seal. I think it is a 10-18 dollar part at the stealership.
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Joined: Apr 2004
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From: Georgia
I had the same thing happen to my 2000 4X4 SD. Don't go to too much trouble to fix it. If you look closely you'll see the rest of the seal is still there. The outer flange just gets brittle and seperates. 
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thanks high ho silver. the piece is about 1/4 inch wide and just spins i can move it all over the place. it might have been like that for a while. i wanted to get into it today but the weather hasnt been cooperating. my wife is going to boise tomorrow for about a 100 mile round trip, i think if i just noticed it now it shouldnt be a prob. im not gonna worry about it to much now, but i still want to see what it looks like in there, maybe i could get an inspection mirror and look without having to take off the tire. but thanks for all the info guys.
