Ok....here's the deal...I smelled something burning....looked around and noticed that all around the left rear wheel was fluid....thought ok...bad wheel cylinder, no big deal....nope...the axle seal is bad the wheel cylinder was perfectly dry.....ok...here is my question....what all am I going to have to replace to make my car road worthy again....and don't anybody say put the wheel back on and drive it till it falls off.....don't feel like driving around with 3 wheel brakes...

 

If it’s a 10 bolt rear you have to remove the axel and pry off the axle seal, while your at it you might as well replace the bearing. If it’s a 9 bolt rear you will have to remove the axle and take it to a shop so they can remove and press on a new bearing and seal. You also have to replace your brake shoes since they have oil on them.

 

alright....sounds easy enough...but I'm going to ax ya another question....tranny had a bad front main seal....replaced it...2 months later it had another one...is there something I should check for to make sure this isn't going to happen to me with axle seals?

 

The usual cause of premature axle seal failure is a bent rear housing and there is no way to tell if your housing is bent without removing it and sending off the a specialty shop. If the seals haven’t been replaced in a long time they probably just failed due to old age. I would recommend doing the other side also while you are at it.

 

just bought the rear end not too long ago....because I KNOW the axle housing I had was bent....I bought it used....there wasn't a gasket in the dif....I'm going to call the place I bought it from tomorrow and see what's up...if the housing is bent that will be fun...switch ANOTHER rear end into it....a rear end I plan on replacing when I have the money anyway...gotta love that....it's the same reason my engine runs like poo poo....don't want to dump money in an engine that's getting pulled anyway....

 

I don't believe I've ever seen one leak for a bent housing; usually they leak because the axle and bearing are toast.

Remember, in the 10-bolt, the inner race of the bearing is the axle itself, so if the bearing goes bad, the axle gets smoked.

You need to pop the axle out and see what kind of shape it's in. Which you have to do anyway to change the seal. Then go from there.

 

bearings started falling out as I took the axle out....YUMMY.....

 

Hmmmm.... a clue!

How's the axle?

 

ummm....how can I say this nicely...*^&%#*......yeah that pretty much describes the axle....it's got a deep little groove cut into it....those things are hard to find too....hi ho hi ho it's off to the junkyard I go...lol