Replacing rear axle oil seals on a 10 bolt axle

srlbotanical · November 10, 2006

I posted this on FSC and thought that it might come in handy for somebody here...

Last weekend I replaced my axle oil seals. It was pretty easy.

When I was checking my rear brakes the other day, I noticed that the seals were leaking. This is what they looked like.

I jacked up the rear end and put the axle on jack stands, removed the wheels and brake drums, removed the differential cover and sprayed everything out real good with break cleaner.

I removed the retaining bolt that holds the differential center-pin and carefully slid the pin down and out of the carrier enough to remove the C-clips.

To remove the C-clips, you simple push the axle in from the wheel-mount end. This is easier if you have someone pushing in for you while you remove the C-clip. I have long arms, so I was able to push the axle in with one hand and remove the C-clip with the other.

It also helps if you have really thin needle-nose pliers to grab the clips.

Once the c-clips are out, the axle shafts pull right out. I held a clean rag around the axle shaft when I pulled it out to prevent gear oil from dripping everywhere.

The old seals were tough to get out. I ended up destroying them.

The new seals.

To install the seals, you can use a piece of wood to evenly tap the new seal in place. I worked my way around the seal making sure it was snugly seated all the way into the axle tube.

Once the seals were in, I inserted the axle shafts back into the tube, and replaced the c-clips, center-pin and retaining bolt.

I then replaced the differential cover with a new gasket and bolted it all up.

I filled the differential pumpkin with about 2.5 quarts of gear oil and took it for a test drive.

Piece of cake!