'14 Ram 2500 Axle Seals Leaking
My '14 2500 has 120,000 miles. This summer before a big trip pulling my 5th wheel out west I found both outer axle seals leaking. I replaced them along with the parking brake shoes and have pulled o...
Forum Discussion
SidecarFlip wrote:
First off, fill the fluid to where you can touch it with your second finger in the fill hole. Don't have to be at the fill hole edge, the axles, as you drive, will convey the lubricant to the ends. Not a big deal to fill to the bottom edge of the fill hole.
Got it.
SidecarFlip wrote:
Secondly, remove the vent hose entirely (from the axle fitting) and probe the fitting to make sure it's not blocked...If it's clear, take the hose and the end breather fitting (if it has one) and clean it out with solvent and compressed air and reinstall it but make sure the end is facing to the rear of the truck and is mounted up as high as possible, preferably in a sheltered spot. If the hose isn't long enough, rep-lace it. It's ordinary vacuum hose.
That was my plan.
SidecarFlip wrote:
Third, when the hubs are off, check the journals on the axle housing for gouges and use fine emery paper to polish the journal surface all around and remove any rust or gunk. OEM and aftermarket seals won't cut into the journal surface as a rule, so a sleeve seal like a Chicago rawhide CR seals is rarely needed.
Will do that again this time.
SidecarFlip wrote:
In as much as you've done this before I don't have to tell you to set the preload correctly and fill the hub cavity with lube when reinstalling, I presume you already know that (and the correct pre load torque spec as well as the number of clicks to back the prevailing torque nut off, once you pre load and spin the hub...A very remote possibility would be too little prevailing torque on the bearing pack, causing the hub assembly to wobble in use but I presume you are competent enough to pre load properly.
I did not set pre-load on the retaining nut which could be the issue. When did I the repair I found others saying they did this by measuring the thread depth of the hub nut and then put it back in the same depth when the seal was replaced.
After searching again I did find references to pre-loading the nut to 22 ft-lbs while turning the hubg, then backing off 30 degrees to install the retainer key. I'll definitely follow this on the next repair.
KJ
