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driver side front axle seal replacement

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102K views 21 replies 9 participants last post by  Terrobelone  
J
#1 ·
I have a driver front axle seal leaking on my 2008 silverado and just kind of need some advice. I've looked at it several times and the more i look at it it seems that I cam change it without taking the whole driver side suspension apart. does anyone have any idea if this is possible?
I can buy the seal for around $12, I just dont want to start on it and find out that it is more then I can handle alone. Not to mention if I do it myself it will save me about $150.
 
D
#5 ·
i am a master tech at a chevrolet dealer and YES you can do it without taking the whole suspension apart ....

jack the truck as high as possible
remove the front wheels
remove the front strut assembly 3x 18mm nuts on top and 2x 15mm bolts from the bottom and pry the lower arm down to get it out of there , now you have enough room to unbolt the 6x 15mm bolts and move the axle out of the way
no once you have enough clearance take block of wood and hammer and knock the stub shaft out of the differential housing its only held in with a snap ring
now pry out the old seal and tap in the new one
re-assemble and congratulate yourself for saving some $$$$$
dont forget to top off the fluid once its back on the ground and level
 
J
#8 ·
Okay so I was just thinking about how this is done, and just want to makesure that the strut assembly doesn't fly apart in my face when I do this. Is this something that can happen or will it stay together doing it this way?

DOHCtorDrew said:
i am a master tech at a chevrolet dealer and YES you can do it without taking the whole suspension apart ....

jack the truck as high as possible
remove the front wheels
remove the front strut assembly 3x 18mm nuts on top and 2x 15mm bolts from the bottom and pry the lower arm down to get it out of there , now you have enough room to unbolt the 6x 15mm bolts and move the axle out of the way
no once you have enough clearance take block of wood and hammer and knock the stub shaft out of the differential housing its only held in with a snap ring
now pry out the old seal and tap in the new one
re-assemble and congratulate yourself for saving some $$$$
dont forget to top off the fluid once its back on the ground and
level
Click to expand...
 
J
#10 ·
Well I decided sence I was on vacation this week that I would tackle the seal tonight. Lets just say that after about 10 minutes in I had to make a 30 minute trip to my father in-laws bolt bin. The first thing I did was twist off the heads of the 2-15mm bolts at the bottom of the strut. Had to drive them out and just got 2 3/8 bolts to replace them. Now to finish the job and go to bed.
 
J
#12 ·
Well I've been looking at a leveling kit for awhile now ,just waiting to hit 100,000 miles so I'm out of warranty first. The leveling kits say to pull the bolts and discard the clips the bolt screw into and use some 3/8 bolts in place so I just figure if they are good enough for it with a leveling spacer then they should work just fine. So far so good.
 
C
#16 ·
DOHCtorDrew said:
i am a master tech at a chevrolet dealer and YES you can do it without taking the whole suspension apart ....

jack the truck as high as possible
remove the front wheels
remove the front strut assembly 3x 18mm nuts on top and 2x 15mm bolts from the bottom and pry the lower arm down to get it out of there , now you have enough room to unbolt the 6x 15mm bolts and move the axle out of the way
no once you have enough clearance take block of wood and hammer and knock the stub shaft out of the differential housing its only held in with a snap ring
now pry out the old seal and tap in the new one
re-assemble and congratulate yourself for saving some $$$$$
dont forget to top off the fluid once its back on the ground and level
Click to expand...
Is this procedure identical for the LML Duramaxs? I have a 2012 2500HD with 19xxx miles, and both fron axle seals are beginning to leak. Although under warranty, I would prefer to swap the seals personally.
 
#20 ·
I've searched for about 30 minutes, here and Google.. and I'm in the same boat as few others I suppose. I've never changed the front seals on my truck, but experiencing some leakage... ironically, seems to be more severe on the pass side, which seems not as common. Without pulling the seals and measuring them, I'm unsure of the seal diameter. Rock Auto has a few sizes, but like a lot of their descriptions- they're not always accurate or explanatory. Are all 99-06 K1500's the same seal? Excluding the HD's? thanks for any clarification....
 
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