04 4x4 Front Axle Seals Leaking

[ybnaford]

Right before my hunting trip last week I did the normal routine service and noticed while under the truck that the axle seals were leaking on both sides. I did not want to see that, but being an 04 with about 150k miles I guess it was inevitable. My questions are: Is the front axle pretty easy to remove without dropping out the entire front end? And, is breaking down the axle to get to the outer seals easy to do as well? I have done just about everything there is for a shade tree mechanic to do on routine replacement items but have never taken out an IFS axle to be serviced. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[psuedopimp]

i was wondering as well....my 2001 tahoe has a leaky passenger side....doesn't look as bad as yours but it needs to be addressed.

[truckdude239]

It has to come out and be taken apart i believe

[1978steven]

You can do it without pulling the diff, and honestly im not sure if it makes it any easier of a job just by pulling the diff. Those snap rings that hold the axles in are very tough.

Here's how I did mine:
Pull the cv's, next you'll have to beat the axle shafts outward to get the snap rings to release and remove them from the housing. At each end of the shafts are machined groves that a spring tensioned snap rings holds them in place in the carrier and are very difficult to get them release tension. The drivers side for me was slightly easier to get out then the passenger side but both are a pain the butt to get released. On the passenger side you might end up having to take the tube off the center section as I did. The whole job is a royal pain....
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