Rear axle is soaked, need help...

[hhow55]

Might be a good idea to replace breathers on both axles.

[Chamberpains]

3.5 GALLONS?!?! That is a pile of oil. That only leaves about 1.5 or so gallons in the rear. That is running the power divider, through shaft bearings and input shaft bearings dry. I'd be watching and listening to that rear very closely. Don't be surprised if your doing a swap on it in the near future.

[Waterloo]

(12-11-2019 )Chamberpains Wrote:  3.5 GALLONS?!?! That is a pile of oil. That only leaves about 1.5 or so gallons in the rear. That is running the power divider, through shaft bearings and input shaft bearings dry. I'd be watching and listening to that rear very closely. Don't be surprised if your doing a swap on it in the near future.

I know, I about puked when they told me... I hope I caught it in time, they think I did, remaining oil was clean, no metal. It had to have just happened as it was painfully obvious with the oil everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Fingers crossed.

[Waterloo]

(12-11-2019 )hhow55 Wrote:  Might be a good idea to replace breathers on both axles.

They cleaned them up, both were clear, working. I asked. And that was the first thing I checked after spotting the mess.

[Rockhwy]

My brother drove for a private carrier about 25 years ago and had wheel seal go out on a single rear axle up in Michigan around Kalamazoo and got it in to a deals shop and they replaced wheel seal. He made it about 50 miles away and that wheel locked up, got towed back to dealer and they couldn't figure out what went wrong to cause it, they had to have axle machined to repair, he called me and asked what I thought and I told him if they did everything thing right that it could be a clogged axle vent, sure enough they checked vent and was clogged, expensive lesson to check vents are often

[Magard]

“He made it about 50 miles” sounds like they didn’t pre lube the bearings. A least pour some oil down in the cage. I wouldn’t blame vents on that.

[Rawze]

(12-11-2019 )Magard Wrote:  “He made it about 50 miles” sounds like they didn’t pre lube the bearings. A least pour some oil down in the cage. I wouldn’t blame vents on that.

I would agree -- seen this way to many times. Shop did not fill the axle they had apart or drive it in circles both ways then re-fill the diff again. -- That or they over-tightened a non-sleeved bearing and chewed the shaft to hell.

[JMBT]

Waterloo if the shops fix doesn’t hold and you have to do it again, it isn’t to bad of a job. I have Meritor rears and I have replaced both front and rear unit input shaft seals. The front is a little crazy because Meritor uses, at least on my MT40’s, an adjuster ring. You have to use a dial caliper to get the right in play and not get the ring too tight. There is also a special sealant required for the adjuster ring that allows you 15 minutes or so to futz with getting the iN play right. I have a tiger tool yoke puller and a 1” HF impact that worked great for the job. The front unit nut is listed at 900lbs, and the rear unit was 1100 so I used a torque amplifier and long torque wrench. Both nuts are supposed to have a bead of red lock tight. Hopefully you won’t have to mess with it again for a long while but if you do maybe this will help.

[Waterloo]

So far, so good, nice and dry back there... Fingers crossed!