axleshaft seal

Hey guys. new on here. here is my question:
I have a 2003 Tacoma 2wd. I know that one of the seals on my axle is bad (passenger side). Thing is, I had the inner oil seal and wheel bearing replaced a while ago. How should I check to see if it is bad again? I know how to pull the axleshaft out, but am wondering if it could be the outer axleshaft seal. does the outer axleshaft seal keep fluid in, or is it there more to keep contaminants out? if it is there to keep crud out, then it would seem as though the inner seal is bad again. my manual says that i would have to have a shop replace the inner seal/wheel bearing. when i had this done at the shop last time, they said they had to replace the bearing with the seal, no way around it. is this true? also, when i pull the axle out, does the inner seal and bearing come with it? or is the inner seal left in the axle tube? thanks for any help/advice.

 

moving on up

 

seriously? no ideas at all?

 

The outer keeps dirt out, and the inner keeps oil in.

 

that is what i kind of assumed. so does the inner seal come out with the axleshaft as an assembly, or does it remain in the axle tube? if it comes out with the axle/ bearing assembly, is it truly necessary to replace the bearing with the new inner oil seal? and is this something i really need to take to a shop b/c i lack a press? sorry for all the questions, but it seems stupid to me to have to replace a fairly new bearing because of a bad oil seal. most bearings only need to be greased to provide maintenance for many, many miles.

 

sounds like you had bad luck with a bearing cuz the two main causes for a seal to fail are extremely old age and a bad bearing(the bearing gets loose and starts to wobble which damages the bearing). . . or it was improperly installed

 

Removal - Inspection - Install in reverse order of removal

doesnt say anything about replacing the bearing... and the inner seal does not come out with the axle shaft, it's part of the axle housing.

looks to me like this may be a job for a shop.
how long ago was the bearing and seal changed? if not long you could maybe get the problem fixed for cheap/free if it was due to improper installation.

 

If you can pull the axle out, the seal is just a little ways down in the axle tube. Not a big job, especially if you haven't got a bunch of oil on the brake shoes.

 

will a regular seal puller or a long screwdriver do the trick? or do i need a sst? what all do i need to do to drive the new one in? the manual says nothing about the inner seal. thanks for all the help.

 

You can pull it out with a seal puller, or a screwdriver, either one will work. We set 'em back in with a seal driver, but a big socket will work too. It's a real basic set-up, so no SST's are needed.