General Maintenance Questions

[HRTKD]

I have a few questions on general maintenance that didn't seem to fit in any one topic area...

The front seal on the rear differential and the rear seal on the transfer case both appear to be leaking a bit. How tough is it to replace these? I replaced the rear diff fluid about 15 months ago and while it was nasty it didn't seem to be super low. So I'm thinking the leak in the diff isn't bad enough to worry about.

How much play should there be in the carrier bearing? I can easily move the drive shaft up and down some so I'm wondering if it should be replaced.

How long do the OEM u-joints usually last? I'm wondering if I should replace them all as preventive maintenance.

Is there a drain plug for the transfer case? I didn't see one so I guess that means I have to suck the fluid out the fill hole, correct?

It seems like the general recommendation is to not repair the OEM LSD and instead replace it with an aftermarket locking diff. Sound right?

There is a bit of slop in the steering wheel. Is that usually worn ball joints?

The head liner is falling out. How the heck do you fix that??

 

[wahlstrom1]

1. SEE BELOW - VVVVVV


2. How much do you have? 1/8-3/16" isn't a lot, but it shouldn't be flopping around

3. I have 261,xxxkms on my front ones.....had stock rear ones until 200km, but changed with my driveshaft upgrade. If you can rotate the caps in the yokes, or with the shaft removed you can feel hard spot's through out the U joints travel (flex) then replace them.

4. Remove the vibration dampener on the lower left side of the case to get to the drain hole.

5. A proper locking diff is nice, but a rebuild is cheap and you can pack the clutchs better then stock to make it grab harder, check out the tech library for instructions.

6. Do a thorough check of all steering components, as it could be many things. Ball joints, tie rods, loose pitman arm, loose steering box, loose rag joint etc...

7. Spray glue it to the roof? I've never run across that one so I'll let someone else give ya some help there.

-andrew

 

[Bray D]

1. Remove driveshaft, remove yoke, replace seal and reinstall yoke/shaft.

2. How much do you have? 1/8-3/16" isn't a lot, but it shouldn't be flopping around

Wrong. Its not that easy. The pinion nut (holds the flange on) needs to be torqued to allow a certain amount of pinion bearing preload, measure with a beam style IN-LB torque wrench.

To correctly replace the seal you need to remove the driveshaft, remove diff cover, remove axle shafts, remove the carrier, remove flange, remove seal, remove pinion, replace crush sleeve, reinstall seal / flange and pinion with a new locking pinion nut - checking the pinion bearing preload as you torque the pinion nut, reinstall carrier, quick pattern check so you can sleep better, reinstall axleshafts, reinstall cover and driveshaft.

Not just a simple seal replacement. If you don't have proper pinion bearing preload you WILL fry a gearset, most likely when you least expect it, going 70mph down the highway.

There also should be little to no movement in the pinion; up and down or side to side.

If this is a trail only truck then sure, do as wahlstrom said and you'll probably be alright. If you put any kind of miles on you truck like I do, you're better off doing it properly. Replacing differential components isn't something to take lightly.

 

[wahlstrom1]

Thanks for clearing that up, I tend to get over simplified doing these things, as I work on Heavy trucks.

When I read carrier bearing, I'm thinking about the driveshaft steady bearing. There will be movement there, but the rubber should be in good shape only allowing a small amount of movement.

-andrew

 

[Bray D]

Ah I see, you may be right about the carrier bearing. When he said he could move his d-shaft up and down I immediately thought of the pinion bearings. We'll let the OP come back in to clear things up.

 

[wahlstrom1]

For sure, IIRC excab of his vintage should have the 2 piece driveshaft, then again so should mine

 

[97ranger4x4]

Is there a drain plug for the transfer case? I didn't see one so I guess that means I have to suck the fluid out the fill hole, correct?

There should be a rubber Vibration thingy that is about 5" in diameter. It is on the back of the transfer case. Take the four bolts off, and the drain plug is right behind it. Make sure the fill plug will come off before you drain the fluid though!

 

[HRTKD]

My Ranger is not a daily driver. It gets maybe 500 miles on it a year just tooling around town and no freeways. I'm spoiled as my daily driver is a Nissan Titan with all the bells and whistles that were never options in '91.

The status of my Ranger may change as I'm considering turning it into a trail only rig.

Yes, I have the two piece drive shaft. I didn't realize that until I read it here a couple weeks ago and confirmed that myself this weekend when I was under there replacing a starter. The carrier bearing has a good amount of movement and it doesn't look too great either. But, this being my first vehicle with a carrier bearing I don't have anything to compare it to. The movement at the differentials seems to be OK. No leaks in the front drive train (knocking on wood).

It sounds like replacing the differential seal is a big job. I'll hold off on that and consider doing it if I get a locking differential. The local parts store doesn't have the seals anyhow.

Thanks for the clues on the transfer case drain plug. I doubt the fluid in it has been changed - ever.