Rear Axle Oil Seal Replacement - how hard?

I have a '73 Bronco and have oil dripping down the inside of my LR wheel. From a Haynes manual it looks like I have the semi-floating type axle on there (I don't see a way to remove the axle without pulling the wheels). How difficult is it to pull the axle and replace the seals? I'm very much more a handyman than mechanic, but for the $500 I'm being quoted from the shop can also be pretty inventive. I've done some things to other vehicles - put leaf springs on, brake pads, a tie rod end once, but nothing involving too many moving parts. I'm concerned about 1) Any special tools necessary, 2) Any serious problems I can cause by not knowing what I'm doing, and 3) anything else

Would love to get some feedback on this.

Don

Hi Don..,

It's pretty straight forward....nothing complicated. With your abilities you should be fine.

Remove the wheel..., remove the drum.., 4 bolts hold the bearing plate. Pull the axle. (put 1 bolt in to hold brake backing plate in place.)

R&R the seal. ----After you've done one....you could do another in 15 min. --1 banana job--

BUT FIRST..., are you/they sure it's gear oil..., not brake fluid...?

If it's brake fluid....then it's wheel cyl. repair time.

& $500 ...!!

I'm in the wrong business..! :lol:

Thanks! And yeah, it's gear oil, and yeah they said $500

EDIT: Wow, not real easy to find these seals. Had to go to NAPA 2 towns over to get one. Guess I'll only be able to do one side :-(

Well, SUPER easy getting that axle off. Any work-arounds to the "special slide hammer type puller" referenced in the Haynes manual to get the old seal out? I tried a little with a screwdriver but the old seal is in there pretty good.

You should be able to pop it out with a screwdriver no problem, dont worry about being rough your not reusing it anyway

What yardtape said....

But try not to scratch into the seals seat.

Was looking out for the scratching/burring. Hopefully I didn't do that, at least I didn't feel anything, but I had to put some major hurt on the old seal to get it out.

Now to torque the nuts, put on the wheel, and if nothing goes wrong in the next week or so find something to spend that extra $490 on ;-)

And lest I forget, THANK YOU! Great response to my questions!

Well, that didn't work. It's leaking like a sieve. Looking at the old seal it has 9568 on it. Looking at the NAPA site the correct seal looks different than what I got (which was in an open package, though looked like the old seal to me). It was supposed to be NAPA part number 13738 b/c my glove box label says 2780 axle, but looked more like part 15142. From Google searches part 9568 (old seal) seems to be for earlier models with the 9" axle. Seeing as how I don't even know how many owners this bronc has had, how can I identify the axle so I get the correct seal? Anything else could have gone wrong, apart from scratching the housing?

I'm glad it's so easy to replace, and glad that it's parked in the street rather than spilling that oil on my driveway

EDIT: I don't know if this photo helps or not...

"Anything else could have gone wrong, apart from scratching the housing?"

Naw.....You're OK....just wrong seal. Sounds like they gave you the H/D (large bearing) axle seal.

Sorry..., I assumed the haynes book called that out....Your glove box tag is correct, it appears.

Again with the wheel & drum off...a 10"x 2" drum is a small bearing axle.

That bearing plate you took off....measure the distance between bolt centers along the top. (3 5/16") measure top to bottom bolt (2") & should take a 3/8" bolt. This is the standard or small bearing axle..2780# axle.

You could take the axle with you & slip it on to be sure of the fit.

Also remember to wet the axle seal with new gear oil, they could tear if they are dry.

we need some DIY guides on here.. that would be Really helpful =)