front dif. question

[Tyler23]

i have a 93 chevy 1500 4x4. and pass. side front dif seal seems to be slightly leaking.. anyone know what is involved with taking the seal out? like do you have to take the whole dif apart or just pull the shaft out or something? any input would be great. thanks

[Big Buck Buster]

Do not just pull the pass. side out. There is a washer inside that will drop down, and you will not be able to get the shaft back in, and will destroy the washer.

Best way, is to drop the front diff. out and separate it. The five bolts on the pass. side, not the case bolts.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I'll second that. Disassemble the passenger side housing from the differential. Once the housing/shaft assembly is dropped remove the shaft and then replace the seal.

Most of the time you can unbolt the c.v. axle from the shaft and have enough room to get the housing out without having to separate the knuckle and lower ball joint to remove the c.v. shaft.

[Tyler23]

ok so can i take the one side of the dif. off still in the truck or do i have to pull the entire dif. out to get at the seal?

[Jeremy airjer W]

Honestly I don't remember exactly but it may work out to be easier for you to pull the hole diff. The axle has a lock ring and you have to wack the flange where the c.v. axle bolts to get it to release. Some of those can be a real bear! Having the hole thing on the ground would make it a little easier.

[Big Buck Buster]

ok so can i take the one side of the dif. off still in the truck or do i have to pull the entire dif. out to get at the seal?

If you have the truck up high enough of the ground on jack stands(assuming you are not using a hoist), you can remove the bolts on both cv shafts, remove the front drive shaft bolts, hang the drive shaft out of the way(you don't have to take the drive shaft completely out), remove the two bolts on the pass. side holding the diff to the frame, and the one bolt on top of the diff.(leave this one in till last) Just loosen the bolt at the rear of the diff, right below the yoke. You may have to remove the three bolts holding the steering sector to be able to move the steering rod far enough forward, and up, to be able to swing the diff down. When you have all the bolts mentioned above out, or loose, take a small jack under the diff, and take out the top bolt. Lower the jack, and it will swing down out. You may want to take the lower air dam out to make it a little easier to see(two bolts, swing it forward). You can then take the rear bolt out, or just split it in the truck. I prefer to take it all the way out and work on the floor or a bench.

Hint: Drain it first(less mess).

[Tyler23]

ok thanks guys.. do you have any idea how long this might take? seems pretty straight forward but i know the littlest things can take forever also.

[Big Buck Buster]

If you are doing it on the ground, it may take a couple of hours. That is, if everything comes apart the way it should(rusty bolts).

[Jeremy airjer W]

I think I remember dropping the center link on the loast one I did instead of removing the gear box bolts. Either way it seems big buck is correct with there being an interference issue with the steering linkage.