Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hey guys, just noticed the front drivers side swivel housing on my GQ is leaking oil, so it will prob need to have the seal and ball felts replaced.

Anyone know first hand of how much they think i'd be up for to get them replaced?
Or has anyone replaced them thereselves....hard or easy job at all?

Not that hard to do just takes a lot of time. Grab a manual & have a look. I've heard of places charging $700+ to do them.

to do properly will take half a day or so. You should also repack your cv's, wheel bearings and trunions while your there. Check break pads too.

nastytroll wrote:to do properly will take half a day or so. You should also repack your cv's, wheel bearings and trunions while your there. Check break pads too.

Exactly, its a great opportunity to give the front diff the full service..

The seal kits are available on Ebay from Roodogs.

Its a simple job but a filthy job...
No "special tools" what so ever. Grab an old sheet and line everything up as you go. Even the Gregorys manual goes into this from memory.

You should do both sides while your at it.

yeah I did hear somewhere that if you are going to do it you might as well do both sides and repack the wheel bearings, etc.

I plan to do it at the end of next week, it wont be dangerous if I leave it that long or anything will it???

just messy. You will need heaps of rags and degreaser

if its only leaking a bit of oil just replace the axel seals (inside the diff housing) that will stop the oil leak. if your getting water in the hub then replace the rest of it. good luck with it

striga22 wrote:if its only leaking a bit of oil just replace the axel seals (inside the diff housing) that will stop the oil leak. if your getting water in the hub then replace the rest of it. good luck with it

But to get to the axle seals you need to pull everything else off so you might as well replace it all while you're in there, full kit to do both sides for around $200 from memory. Plus if you've got diff oil leaking through your hubs you'll most likely find they've washed away some of the grease from your bearings so you'll need to repack or replace these too.

As others have mentioned its not a hard job just takes a while and is very messy. Do yourself a favour and get a hub nut socket...

diesel_mav wrote:

striga22 wrote:if its only leaking a bit of oil just replace the axel seals (inside the diff housing) that will stop the oil leak. if your getting water in the hub then replace the rest of it. good luck with it

But to get to the axle seals you need to pull everything else off so you might as well replace it all while you're in there, full kit to do both sides for around $200 from memory. Plus if you've got diff oil leaking through your hubs you'll most likely find they've washed away some of the grease from your bearings so you'll need to repack or replace these too.

As others have mentioned its not a hard job just takes a while and is very messy. Do yourself a favour and get a hub nut socket...

Invest in the hub socket for sure.

Be careful when you put the axles back in not to put too much weight on the new axle seals, especially on the long side or the new ones will leak straight away.

If you are replacing Wheel bearings too then the big race can be a pit of a bitch to get out.

The axle seal can be a bugger to get out too. When putting in the new axle seals try and not wreck them putting them in. they need to go in straight. I used a 50 x 50 square peice of wood that i then rounded off to make it exactly the same diameter as the seal to use to install the seal. It is right inside the swivel hub and you will know what i mean when you get to it. It can be a bugger.

When you go shopping for the Swivel Hub kit off ebay, dont just buy the cheapest one. I did this and regretted it. It turned out that the cheaper kit was missing some of the seals. When quizzed the guy that was selling them out of WA said that he sold heaps of them to the mining companies and had never replaced that seal before and that is why is was not in the kit.

I ended up wrapping his kit back up and sending it back. Compare the photos and count the pieces in the pics. You DO need everything in the pics. He was a dick head.

I ended up buying the Terrain Tamer kit. Do This!

At the end of the day, at this stage you only have an axle seal leak, it is a road worthy item for sure and could cause some long term problems if left like it is. The oil that you see is Diff oil. (replace this with Lemslip - Expensive and Bloody thick) but is not a real big deal.

If you can, heat the new diff oil up before installing it, it will make it much much easier to get it in even with a McNaught pump as the viscosity will be much thinner.

Good luck.

Look'n 4 Mud wrote: I ended up buying the Terrain Tamer kit. Do This!

I bought the TT kit too and it had everything included....

170 bucks from Repco does both sides. Get urself a big tub from super creep and a bug drum of kerosine and a brush. It makes light work of the old grease. Make sure u only put the specified amount of grease in the hub cos in the case of patrols u really can have too much. Also u might need a bearing clamp to remove the king pin bearings cos they cab be a prick sometimes. And be super carefull when fitting new axle seal cos even. Slight dent or nik in it and all ur hard work will be for nothing and they will leak same day. Good luck!

thanks guys foor all the info!
got her all sorted today, all degreased and clean, looks good!
at first, before I started, I was thinkin great...I've prob bent the axle maybe thats why its leaking....turns out whoever had the vehicle before me replaced the axle seal but put it in backwards!
whoops!

whats the best way to get the large bearing race out? i don't have a bearing puller but am thinking of investing in a kit of sorts. what do i need?

ausoops wrote:whats the best way to get the large bearing race out? i don't have a bearing puller but am thinking of investing in a kit of sorts. what do i need?

It was a bitch mate. if i had the choice i would have taken it somewhere and got them to pop it out for ya. I used a cold chisel and patience!!! Ya gotta get it out though but there is very little lip to grab, even with a press. Get someone to do it for ya.

ausoops wrote:whats the best way to get the large bearing race out? i don't have a bearing puller but am thinking of investing in a kit of sorts. what do i need?

which bearings? Wheel or king pin. King pin outer race u can remove with a punch from inside the ball if u have seals under the races punch them out into the ball the. Remove the outer race. Then straighten the seal out before replacing the outer race. Wheel bearing outer race, go to super creep and buy a bearing clamp and use a block of wood to hit the stub axle while suspending the bearing clamp in a vice or as I'
did between two bricks.

Look'n 4 Mud wrote:

ausoops wrote:whats the best way to get the large bearing race out? i don't have a bearing puller but am thinking of investing in a kit of sorts. what do i need?

It was a bitch mate. if i had the choice i would have taken it somewhere and got them to pop it out for ya. I used a cold chisel and patience!!! Ya gotta get it out though but there is very little lip to grab, even with a press. Get someone to do it for ya.

as suggested above. get someone to do it for ya.
it is a bitch

Look'n 4 Mud wrote: Be careful when you put the axles back in not to put too much weight on the new axle seals, especially on the long side or the new ones will leak straight away.

X2, it's impossible not to put weight on the long side to get the axle in the diff.
I've done a few of these and what I do is put the seal on the axle first, then get the axle just sitting in the diff which leaves just enough room to knock the seal in with a long series pin punch.
On the long side I put two seals in, there is enough depth to hold two seals in the axle tube.

sudso wrote:

Look'n 4 Mud wrote: Be careful when you put the axles back in not to put too much weight on the new axle seals, especially on the long side or the new ones will leak straight away.

X2, it's impossible not to put weight on the long side to get the axle in the diff.
I've done a few of these and what I do is put the seal on the axle first, then get the axle just sitting in the diff which leaves just enough room to knock the seal in with a long series pin punch.
On the long side I put two seals in, there is enough depth to hold two seals in the axle tube.

Thats a very handy tip sudso