Front diff leak....

I was changing my oil and noticed a leak on the drivers side CV shaft. What do I need to do to fix it? I am pretty sure I need to do the needle bearing also.

 

Hold onto the end of cv going into diff and push up and down. If theres much play id replace bearing if not just pop a new seal in.

 

There are some threads out there on this. This job isn't too bad, I just had to do it. You will have to separate your lower ball joint, I used the four bolts right on the bottom. Once you have the steering knuckle free, you can rotate it out of the way and remove the CV shaft. I bought an OEM output shaft seal, and I have not had any issues in 10k miles. The dust cover inside the hub is a little tough to remove without destroying it so I ended up buying a new one. You will need a 35mm socket for the castle nut on the end of the CV shaft. It is pretty straight forward.

 

Yes, you need a new seal and make sure it's an OEM seal, or you'll be replacing it again relatively shortly. It's a pretty straight forward job.

 

I guess I will just go ahead and order the needle bearing. There is a little bit of play up and down.....

 

Anyone have the part number for the oem seal as I will order the rest from east coast

 

I don't know it off hand but if you share your trucks specs and info I can Google it for you.

 

Ecgs has oem seal available. Replace that needle bearing with the ecgs removal tool and bushing

 

It's an 04 tacoma 4x4 3.4

 

I will just order it all from ecgs.....I see all the parts now in their site.

 

Good recommendation and good choice.

 

I have icons also do I need to remove them to get the CV out....and do they come out easy with a pry bar or do i need a slide hammer?

 

Youl need to remove cos to give yourself some room.

1 or better yet 2 pry bars usually does the trick.

And i believe the axle nut is 36mm not the 35mm posted above. Thats size listed in write ups and size i used.

 

I have a 35 and 36 mm and air tools so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

Hey I'm actually about to do the same thing!
Do you think you could take some pictures and make a small write up?
Or at least report back and explain some tricks/struggles you encountered.
THanks

 

There is a good video on the east coast gears site for the bearing and many write ups on the CV itself. One is 4x4 wire.com. Someone else might be able to post the links here...I don't know how...

 

Well I caught hell with everything. Had to modify the tool for the needle bearing. Caught hell pressing the new one in even with a race kit. When I put the CV axle back in it was a very tight fit....not sure if that is normal. The seal came out easy and back in easy. No leaks as of yet.....think I broke my fingertip however.....

 

Oh yea the tool has to be ground a little to fit in easily...

You lube up the cv before putting back in? Should be a nice fit with no slop yeah.

 

I ground the shit out of it.......it was a bitch. Yeah lubed it up....just harder than I figured sliding the CV in....no slop whatsoever. Drove fine. Still have humming but now I know it's from my tires ....

 

My passenger side just started leaking badly.

I have replaced it twice in the last week with an OEM seal each time. I cannot for the life of me figure out why it continues to leak!

I am able to wiggle the CV shaft up and down slightly in the differential tube, but I can do this on both sides (driver side not leaking), so I am wondering if I can rule out a bad bearing.

The only thing I did not do was lube the CV before I stuffed it back into the differential, is it possible that this is the problem?

Also, I have been told the seating depth of the seal is 5.5 mm, but I am not sure if this is measured from the end of the differential tube, or the recess inside the differential tube.

Does anyone have any advice on this? I am about to take it to a mechanic, which I would really, really rather not do.

Any advice guys?