I recently replaced my front axle seals. Both sides were leaking before being replaced and now it seems like both sides are leaking just as bad or possibly even worse. Any ideas what else I can try. It’s a 2001 8.1l with 4:10 gears and 140,000 miles
Well?
When you replace seals for rotating components, and the seals still leak, then you have to look at the bearings for those rotating components.
Tester
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Oh yeah 2 more things. Hubs have not been replaced yet and when I go over bumps no matter how big or small I hear metal “clacking”. Could bad hubs cause a pretty good leak from axle seals. And the second thing is my torsion bars are cranked causing the front to be slightly lifted. Would that be a cause?
Yes. New hub assemblies and seals should be replaced.
You need to tell us what “Cranked” means???
They were bent in an accident, or you adjusted them to get a little lift out of them.
Yosemite
I’m sorry. I just adjusted them to give the truck a small lift
Which seal is doing the leaking? Is it the o-ring sort of by the wheel speed sensor? If so, when installing a new one from what I see, you are supposed to clean all contaminates and corrosion from the steering knuckle bore, hub, and bearing first. Then you are supposed to lubricate the steering knuckle bore with wheel bearing grease. Then install the o-ring. Miss any steps?
Sorry, I haven’t logged in for a while. Never fixed the problem. 40 more problems came up so I got rid of the truck. Thank you for responding
Well, at least you experienced fewer problems than most owners of 17 year old GM vehicles…
Oh I don’t know about that. I wrote down everything I replaced over the years of having that trucks. It was 3 and a half note book pages long front and back. But that engine was fantastic. It had only 143,000 miles and ran like brand new. It was the rest of the truck that was falling apart. And when I started to replace parts I’ve already replaced before, well, that’s when the wife made me give up on it and trade it I’m for a new Highlander
Thanks for the follow-up. Good for you, sounds like a good, practical decision. Hope you enjoy your new Highlander. In days of yore your old truck would be in some teenagers driveway undergoing some sort of restoration, usually involving headers, but these days, maybe just being recycled for the parts.