Pinion bearing question

[Black'03LevelII]

My pinion seal on the rear axle is leaking. (leaves a slight puddle after awhile) Went to change out the other day, and found that the yoke moves quite a bit. So I'm thinking the bearing is bad, the question is: Does the bearing and race all come out the nose of the diff. or does it have to come out from inside? I need to get this fixed ASAP so I won't have to keep putting fluid in it. Thanks for the help!

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Sounds like the nut has come loose.

There are 2 pinion bearings, an inner and an outer (behind the seal) that might need to be replaced (won't know until you remove them to check them out) and you will definitely need a new crush sleeve and pinion seal.

You need to remove the carrier and the pinion to change both bearings and races on the pinion along with a press and bearing puller to get the one bearing off the pinion.

Have you ever played around with diffs before? Do you have a beam type inch lb torque wrench to check bearing preload? If not this might best be left to someone more familiar with differential work.

 

[Black'03LevelII]

I was afraid to hear that. Well I guess I'll start looking around to see if I can find someone that will work on it, and hopefully won't kill me on pricing.

Thanks for the answers though.

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

Finding a good used unit might be more cost effective than paying for a rebuild.