Crazy Leak from the Rear end overnight

That can't be good. Sorry man.

 

It looks like a crack between the weld on traction bar bracket and the axle housing. Dealer probably wont do anything for you unless you want to buy a new rear axle housing and remove the traction bars.

 

Clean it good and watch it every 2 hours and see where is starting to leak from.

 

Clean all the oil off. Check fluid level. If all good and no cracks found, drive it and see where it's coming from.

 

Looks like the axle housing, they aren't very thick and something "tacked on" with that much force applied isn't going to last long.

 

Just needs more welding rod.

 

my installer is in Ft. Worth and I'm not gonna do that drive... about 40 miles. instead I'll take it to my independent shop for evaluation before the dealer can make their story.. that shop is about 4-5 miles past the dealer, 15 miles total. i don't have time myself but need a clear diagnosis before anything else.

 

Good luck dood

 

Looks like the u-bolt is pressed against the bead on the seam, could it have cracked open? Sounds silly, but since its not a load bearing or hot part, if it where properly cleaned, something like JB Weld would seal the leak. But I’d suggest taking that bar off too.

 

Hey @St.Germain, dumb question but did you drive through some rain? With no odor to the fluid that pretty well rules out grease, brake fluid, and oil, and in some of your more recent pics I noticed the underside of the composite bed was wet too. Kinda looks like you might have had water in your bed and it just leaked out over night

P.S. also, the traction bar normally leaks the grease out because the grease zerks are not sealed, theyre open to the environment. Ive been regreasing every 1k since I discovered that

 

If out in the bush, and trying to get to safety, that would be an option for sure. Day to day, I’d get it TIG welded to make sure it doesn’t get warped in the process. Someone who doesn’t know might get trigger happy on MIG.

 

Some nice person drilled my steel tank on my 1st Gen for a couple cups of gasoline one night, I used epoxy paste to fix it instead of paying the hundreds of dollars it would have cost to replace it. Lasted 8-years without leaking. Some of the adhesives we have available these days are better than welding in many ways.

For instance, you cant weld a gas tank with gas in it! Can you TIG weld a differential filled with oil? I dont know. One issue is that glue wont add structural strength to torn metal, so it does have its limits.

 

You got me thinking Brother Taco. I’m going to stash several tubes of JB Weld in the emergency pack!

Devcon is good stuff too.

 

A bar of ivory soap, too! Soap wont dissolve in gasoline, so you can whittle a plug out of it if your gas tank is ruptured. I learned that from a fisherman in Baja when our van hit a sharp rock and punctured a tank.

 

The crack area would have to be thoroughly cleaned, as for any process to “stick.” Sorry OP if that is the case. :0(

 

Now that is TW’s Trick of the Week!

 

looks like the weld burned thru the diff case, why was a weld put there in the first place, I thought traction bars are completely bolt on

 

^^^ Old WWII Army trick.

 

Tragedy. Rear axle housing is compromised due to poor welding of a poorly thought out/ unecessary mod.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gDIv-byz7cQ