Rear axle is soaked, need help...

[Nostalgic]

I just checked the nut from my front drive, rear output yoke and it's probably why I bought a 2-1/8" 12 point from Napa or Advance. Mine are Eaton 404, if it helps at all...

[Waterloo]

It does, about what we thought at FleetPride, all he had was the axle nut tool, won't work with the torque wrench, would kind of foul out real quick with 400+ ftlbs...

[DosGatos]

https://youtu.be/xl2UVD4qwco

Start at the 8 minute mark. Think a hf socket would esplode trying to tighten the yoke.

[Rawze]

(12-07-2019 )Waterloo Wrote:  ...Thank GOD I was going slow, around 20 miles an hour, but it hit so hard I had my little coffee pot flying in the cab. It was dark, nowhere to go but forward with idiots trying to get around me, BANG!
/...

You could have also knocked out the rear axle alignment if you did this.

[Chamberpains]

The torque spec on those nuts are huge. Usually 600-900 ft lbs. A 3/4 impact is about the only way to achieve that kind of torque in such a confined area.

Some of that oil looks like it came forward on the brake chambers. You didn't happen to have a greasy 5th wheel and goob of it dropped on the driveline? I get that from time to time.

I would take the other guys suggestion and spray it down and drive it for a bit. Frozen breather is not uncommon.

[Rawze]

(12-08-2019 )Chamberpains Wrote:  The torque spec on those nuts are huge. Usually 600-900 ft lbs.
...

I used a 3/4" Aircat impact gun with 160-PSI of air on it to remove, and later, initially install mine ... but I did also set the final torque for the tightening of it with a torque wrench.

I used a torque amplifier when checking mine after tightening it ( https://amzn.to/357JUuM ) and a torque wrench on its input set to roughly 360 ft-lbs. 360x3 = roughly 1,080 or so ft-lbs. I did this because I didn't trust the aircat at that high of torque.

[Mr Hagg]

waterloo. Check both rear ends see which one maybe low. I have seen alot of pinion seals go but never where it soak the rear alxe like that. My question is could it be blowing back maybe from the front dif. If it did blow out like that like unilevers mention most of the time it had to build pressure up and blew it out....Now if you said the yoke was loose and it had bearing failure then maybe I would see that..Interesting for sure though.

[Waterloo]

This repair is out out of my league tool wise... I'm getting back under there today, will check levels, and will clean everything off and take it for a drive. Shop tomorrow.

[Waterloo]

Well, front diff/power divider was darn near empty... Rear diff was low, but nothing to be nervous about. I skipped cleaning, as I now knew for sure where the issue was. Mr Hagg was correct. Funny too, the way the oil dispersed, I swore it was the rear pig... That front power divider looked to have been a bit weepy, not like it failed completely. I'm not a mechanic... Even if I sometimes pretend to be... LOL!

Got her to the shop, they replaced both seals, the output/rear of the power divider and the rear diff pinion seal. Power divider was inspected, it checked out OK, talk about dodging a bullet. Thank God I went out and inspected the truck...

Real nice guys at the shop, I was at the gate at 0730 Monday morning, they open at 0800, they got me right in, and they had a stack of work ahead of me. I was supposed to be in Grand Rapids MI to start my job at this new carrier that morning... They saved may bacon as I had a load already and did not want to miss it, a good paying load, something I have not had in over a year, it picks up today.

As far as the repair, they power washed all of the gear oil off, roughly 3.5 gallons, and it was everywhere, and replaced both seals. They did a nice job, I have put around 200 miles on her already, no leaks or signs of weeping.

They charge $110 an hour for labor, good sized shop, they have been there for years, American owned, father and sons. The total cost was $970, roughly $350 for parts and gear oil, the rest was labor. These guys have a pit too, so I am pretty confident in the repair, no contortions under or above the truck. I thought that was a fair price, especially the way they got me in.

They do a bit of everything, and it is nice to have found what looks to be a competent shop locally. If you are in the Detroit area, and need work on the tractor, look these guys up...

American Truck
38850 Ford Rd
Westland MI 48185
734-595-0100

Mike Novak is the owner, Corey is his son. They have around a half dozen mechanics and a well stocked shop. They do suspension and driveline work along with other repairs. They are right next door to Michigan Truck Parts, a parts recycler, they work together. Good guys there too.