Axle Seal Question

Hey guys. I bought an E-locker axle off CL about 2 months ago, and the axle seals were leaking so i pulled the shafts out and noticed that there is only an ABS ring on one side. Is that normal? I feel like it wouldn't make much sense to put 2 inspection ports on the axle housing if only one side had an abs ring. I got the axle super cheap, so I'm fine with fixing it, I just need to know if It's only a matter of getting the right seals (as I would assume they are different diameters), or if I need to press everything off the ringless axle shaft and get a ring for it. Thanks for any help

 

Somebody did something janky with that one side. Instead of an ABS gear, they put another retainer in it's place.

You need to know this repair is screwed up by many professional shops, machine shops and DIYers. I've got a video for you and I suggest you watch it to learn all the nuances of this repair.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/AVhSDnw2ugo

 

Thanks for the link. I watched that video a while back when i was researching. I had a feeling there was some jankyness in there. But luckily my truck wasn't originally a TRD, I just swapped in a trd axle so since my truck didn't have ABS originally, it shouldn't be a problem right?

 

The problem is once your seals start leaking oil into the bearings, you may as well replace the bearings and the seals all at once since the bearings can be messed up from oil displacing the grease in them. Here's a reasonably priced kit for everything you need.

http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/01-0...ra-ultimate-rear-wheel-bearing-kit-w-abs.html

You can always try to just replace the seals and see if that does the trick if you don't mind doing it twice if it starts leaking again - remember your brake shoes will be affected if they get sprayed with gear oil. There's a right way and a wrong way to install the axle seals too, @Timmah! has a great video and here's some more information:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/new-axle-seals-leaking.459642/page-2

 

My truck is a non abs trd and when I changed my bearings and axle seals the axles had abs rings. Toyota told me they are basically there as spacers. Looks like in the picture that only one axle bearing has been replaced. The one with the abs ring has original bearing

 

Well, if you now have an ABS rearend and no sensors to plug in, what are you going to use to plug the ABS sensor holes on the ends of the axle housing? I guess you could just go to a PickNPull and cut some sensors off a wrecked rig and plug them in your axle housing so no contaminants get in there.

 

If you're referring to the holes on top of the outer part of the axle housing, those come pre capped, so I'm all good there.

I totally feel man. I know I need to replace the bearings too but im broke as hell right now. I bought new brake pads and I'm gonna just hope for the best. If they start leaking again, yea I'll have to just redo it, but for right now its worth the risk.

Appreciate all the help guys. I'm gonna throw it back together tomorrow and see how it holds up.

 

Check frequently for leaks - from what I've heard is after you've fixed a seal you usually won't get a catastrophic leak right away, possibly just a slow one that you can catch before your brake shoes get slicked up.

 

I did the seal/bearing job a few months ago on my 01 DC. My truck doesn't have ABS but had those ABS rings on the axle. I second that they're just spacers at that point. I don't see why your set up with those double retainer collars wouldn't work. If you press them off, they should be re-usable, at least in the outside position where the seal doesn't meet up with the ring. I reused the ABS rings and 2 of the collar rings. Put the new rings in the position where they meet the axle seal. Just my experience.

 

So when ordering an axle seal and bearing (like from Low Range Offroad) would you then order the kit designed for the ABS rear end or not?

I'm replacing my axle seals and bearings right now and I have the same issue.
I don't have abs, there are ABS rings on my axle ( at least the drivers side so far) and the abs inspection port has a cap over it.

 

In order to get the bearing to line up right in the housing you need the abs kit otherwise you need to engineer something to take its place.

 

I think you can just press a second retainer on to the correct distance so the seal rides on it. Measure the thickness of the ABS tone ring and leave that gap in between retainers.

 

That was my engineering caveat - exactly you'd be all set if you could do it. I don't know if you'd want a gap since the engineers had a c clip holding everything in place. I don't know enough about the forces at hand to say either way.

 

good call, I figure it takes about 10 tons to seat the retainers on and all the inner one is doing is providing a seal surface for the axle seal to ride on, so it'll probably stay put.

However, if anyone wants to buy some extra OEM tone rings just to be on the safe side, I have a couple brand new ones laying around.

 

yeah after looking at it, I think I should've ordered the ABS kit due to the fact that I have an ABS diff. without the ABS installed.

I think i can make it work by simply reinstalling one of the old retainers in the same place it was before i pulled it.
The outer most retainer gets held in place (or stopped) by the retainer clip.
the retainer closer to the abs ring is pressed to its specific location and has no clip to maintain its factory location. I guess I can re-install the old abs ring and retainer just like how it was. Ill probably use the new retainer in this location due to the fact that its new and actually serves the purpose of holding the diff oil in the axle housing. The old retainer shows no signs of wear but being i can install it next to the bearing and hold it in place with a clip.

 

Can’t you install the old axle shafts ?

 

I don't have any experience running this setup, but after doing the job myself, I think this would work just fine. The ABS rings aren't terribly expensive, so if time isn't an issue and you want the peace of mind of knowing it's "correct", you could just order the ABS rings. I still think you'd be fine without it.