Small gear oil leak on rear dif...

[FullForceRam]

Hello,
I'm pretty handy with tools but I feel this might be something better left for the pros.
08' Ram 1500 2WD with 5.7 Hemi, automatic w/ 277,000 miles on it.

I noticed a small couple of drips on the garage floor yesterday morning after driving home from a 200 mile trip the day before. I looked around and there appears to be gear oil coming from the input shaft of the driveline at the rear dif location. It's not coming from the dif cover but rather at the input shaft area.

This morning I didn't see any drops of gear oil on the floor and I did check the level and it appears to be fine, but I would like to get this repaired ASAP.

Is this something that would be better left to an automotive shop to R&R? or is this something that I can perform at home in the garage?

Thanks.
-Sam

 

[Smokeybear01]

You can definitely do this at home if you're comfortable taking the rear U-joint loose and can get the big nut off. There's a rubber 'O'ring type seal with a thin metal housing that you will destroy when you remove unless you have the right puller, but it won't matter because you will just be throwing it away anyhow. Then clean up the opening without letting any dirt inside and tap the new seal in with a wood block and light hammer blows to seat it. Put it all back together and you're good to go. Lots of vids on Utube if you want to watch someone do one before you tackle yours. The part is really inexpensive if you take it into the shop, the labor will kill you. Good luck,

 

[GTyankee]

First lower the level of your differential fluid or just empty it out, it is up to you.

Then Mark the housing next to the big nut with something, good tape, chalk or something.
Then as you loosen the big nut, count the number of turns until the nut comes off.
The number will not be in whole turns, the last turn will be a partial turn, you need to mark that spot too.

Before you start, using a torque wrench, find out what the torque is set at currently.

Then clean out the area, inside & out

Then insert the new Pinion Seal, i suggest watching a Youtube video(s) before doing the job. You install the pinion seal a certain way.
When you are threading the big nut onto the pinion gear threads, turn the nut until you are close to the number of turns that it took to remove it, maybe stop one turn short of the full amount of turns.
Take the torque wrench & check what the foot pounds are, hopefully it will be short of the measurement before you first started.
If it is tighten the nut a quarter turn & check with the torque wrench again, do the same process until you reach or are close to the number of turns needed to take the nut off & use the torque wrench again.

What you are trying to do is get the same number of turns, without going even 1/4 pound over the original torque measurement.

As i mentioned watch a couple videos before you begin & you will know what to do