I can't see how the rotor comes off? I meant to get on here earlier than this, so I could get some posts and be able to do some work tomorrow. Horribly sick, don't know if I'll be able to finish my brake job tomorrow.... Looks like you might just have to take the hub off and then it can slide off?
As some of you may have read in my other posts, that I hate Gorilla lug nuts. Well I was able to get them off, but it took ALLOT of pounding, and I had to torch one of the nuts out. So now I have 1 short stud, and the rotor it is on is scored on the inside (facing the engine). Lucky it isn't one problem on each side eh? Only have to R&R one rotor. But anyways, I think this pounding might have hurt the seal at the end of the axle half shaft. This let a good puddle form on the ground, and it all looks like it's coming right from the end. I'm assuming for now I'll be just fine if I don't go into 4x4 but I'd like to see if I can't get that fixed. Is that a DIY at all?
TIA for any help, I'm off to try to find the answers on the web....
Is it leaking differential lube (gear oil) or did you merely overheat the hub seal and now have wheel bearing grease leaking out?
To replace the leaking wheel hub seal; Remove caliper and support with a length of coat hanger. Remove lock-out hub. Remove outer hub lock nut (4 or 6 notched nut, need special socket, but it can be done with a punch and hammer) Remove lock ring (has a bunch of holes in it) Remove inner lock nut (pay attention to the little pin that protrudes from the face) Yank rotor off as you would any other rotor/hub assembly Clean and inspect wheel bearings, repack wheel bearings if they are serviceable, install new hub seal. Re-assemble in reverse order, adjust inner hub nut to factory spaecs for proper preload Install lock ring so theat the pin on the inner lock nut engages one of the holes in the lock ring Install outer lock ring and torque to spec Install lock-out hub, caliper, pads etc If the rotor is beyond service, knock out all wheel studs and replace with new rotor and new studs if rotor is sold separate from hub, otherwise replace rotor/hub as an assembly. Do not re-use wheel studs once they have been removed.
If the leak is in fact differential oil, strip everything down (as above) to the point where the rotor and hub are off and you have a bare spindle, there are six bolts (capscrews) that hold the spindle to the steering knuckle, Remove the six bolts Now you have two choices; Rent or borrow the proper slide hammer and adaptor that screws onto the end of the spindle and start whacking away until the spindle comes off. The backyard way when a slide hammer isn't available is to re-install the two wheel bearing nuts (to protect the spindle threads) and then wrap the hell out of everything with duct tape (again to protect the spindle threads), then using a soft faced mallet (the bigger the better) hit the spindle left, right, up, down and keep repeating until the spindle is loose (it's just like breaking loose a rusted brake drum except this will be worse) Once you have the spindle off, you'll be sweating so much that you won't notice the outside temperatures. Once the spindle is off, you can pull (slide) the front drive axle shaft and u-joint out, the oil seal resides just inside where the u-joint was. Now's a good time to replace the u-joint also. Clean the area where the new seal will go and clean the rust that made the spindle stubborn to come off, you can install the new seal with a length of exhaust pipe of suitable length of a slightly smaller outside diameter than the seal OD, drive it in straight and true and don't nick the rubber Assembly is the reverse of removal, I'd Loc-tite the six spindle bolts though (blue, not red). Shouldn't take you more than an hour + .3 if you replace the u-joint.
While it is possible that the hub bearings might have been heated up, this fluid is definitely coming from the end of the axle before the 'knuckle' (hinge portion) and before the u-joint. There was a slight amount on the tire (that's how I noticed it) and then I found about a 8" round splotch of brown snow 2" deep. So quite a bit... I haven't checked the diff fluid level but AFAIK if I don't drive the running gear, via the wheels or the t-case, I should be just fine? Right now I am REALLY sick, and I'm going to need this truck Monday/Tuesday (whenever I can drag my ass off the couch/bed/et all). I thought that a weekend would have been good for all of this, but I didn't plan on getting ill.... Basically planning on throwing it back together with good lug nuts, and actually having a whole weekend to work on this, instead of spending about 8 hours getting 1 wheel off.
Is the axle tube seal on the GM 10 bolt in a different spot than the Dana
44? I've never actually replaced the axle tube seals, but when I yanked the axles to replace U-joints, the axle was 'exposed' (rusted and crusted and muddy) all the way until about 2" before the splines, leading me to believe that the axle tube seal is on that end....and it's been so long since I blew up my 10 bolt and replaced it that I don't remember what the axles on it looked like....
. . KJ's sick....he's ruint his axle seals..or most likely jest melted his bearing grease.....now he needs to know how to get his rotors off.
(read the thread....if you're that interested.... it's too dang long to keep posting...)
KJ, don't go out in 14 degree weather turning that cold into the flue....... Cut and paste Neils proceedure to a file you can retrieve later on. Stick your wheels back on and go to work, wait till the weather warms and your feeling better. If it's not pouring all the lube out and the gears ain't grinding.....don't sweat it.... wait for better weather.
marsh monster ~is glad to see KJ didn't put the whole truck on ma's kitchen table....~
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