Rear Diff driveshaft seal replacement question?

[4WDFrenzy]

Hey all.

My Father informed me today that the seal where the driveshaft goes into the rear differential, is now leaking. My car is in his care as he is still in the states. I will be returning in the next few weeks for some R & R and was just wondering how difficult it is to replace. It looked pretty straight forward, but I was just wondering if anyone has ever replaced theirs and how hard of a job it was.

 

Also, is there a certain way that the driveshaft is supposed to fit together? What I mean is, I would assume that the driveshaft is balanced. But if it isn't balanced, is it possible that when I replaced my clutch, that I reinstalled the front half of my driveshaft wrong? My reason for asking is that I figured that if it wasn't, the vibration could've caused the seal to leak. I noticed that after I replaced the clutch, there was kind of a strange vibration that seemed to be coming from the driveline. If anyone can shed some light on this for me, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks everybody!!!

 

Patrick

[Subi81]

I replaced all three seals on my rear diff. I ended up dropping the whole differential to get the seals out. But I think if you are just doing the front one you could leave it on the car.

 

I think drivshafts are balanced to themselves so there should be no problem with balance issues. The Factory Service manual states that you only need to mark orientation if disconnecting the Driveline at the middle.

 

I know that when I disconnected my driveshaft from the rear diff I didn't note orientation or anything. If you want to put it back where it came just mark it, or stick it in 4wd so the drivshaft doesn't turn while it is disconnected.

 

Good luck

[4WDFrenzy]

Thank You for the info. I did happen to disassemble the driveshaft during the clutch replacement and forgot to mark the orientation. I guess I'll have a little project on my hands when I return! Thanks a bunch!!!

[Numbchux]

the driveshaft can only bolt back together in one of 2 orientations. the bolt pattern is not a square, so if you think it's off, try flipping it 180*

 

the 2 halves of my driveshaft are from 2 different subies, no vibrations (actually less, since now my rear u-joints aren't seized...).