I googled around a bit and I'm not the only one with the problem. I PB blasted the bolt, tried a breaker bar and torched it all with no success. The bolt was already a bit mangled by the PO so I'm assuming he was having trouble as well. The problem is there is an axle seal leak. I replaced the seal and o-ring but it is still leaking, although a lot less. I noticed a tiny bit of play in the wheel bearing when I pulled the axle off so I'm assuming that's ultimately the issue? That or possibly the axle housing. I know I should have changed out the bearing when I did the seal but I just wasn't comfortable doing it without a press. So all that being said I want to at least make sure I have I have enough gear oil in there until I resolve the axle seal leak. My plan was to drain it (I'm assuming I can get the drain plug out although I haven't tried) and fill through the breather valve (which is brand new, guessing PO was trying to TS the axle leak). My question is how much gear oil should I add? The manual says check the level via the fill plug but I obviously can't to that so I was hoping I could just add X liters and call it good. Does anyone know approximately how much oil I should be adding if its drained?
I just changed the gear oil in my diff about 2 weeks ago. It took in about 2 quarts of 75w-90 oil. I also encountered a stubborn fill plug (also a bit rounded off from PO). Used a breaker bar with no luck, but then I brought out the impact gun and it zipped right off.
Awesome, that's exactly what I needed to know! I'll see if I can find a buddy with an impact gun. Did you replace the bolt or just keep it?
I would go to other measures to get that stuck bolt off - like vice grips, heat with torch, weld on a new nut, etc and then replace it with the offroad style allen-key magnetic fill and drain plugs. Also, always remove the fill plug before the drain plug just in case
Something like this? Perkolator I'm assuming the impact wrench is a bad idea b/c I risk cracking the axle housing?
I called my local dealer and I'm getting quoted 5 bucks for 90341-18021. I'm gonna pick up two tomorrow and try to take down that fill plug over the weekend.
The one in the preview of the video is the exact type I got. I got mine years ago for my 4wd truck because I was worried rocks would round off the corners and jack up the drain plug. Bought them from InchWormGear, but they're out of business now - pretty sure they're just a Trail Gear drain plug, which are around $6-7/ea and still available from many vendors
I dunno about that one, but I suppose it's possible. I would get a nice tight fitting 6pt socket, breaker bar and the longest cheater pipe you've got. Might even hit it with a torch first to heat cycle it, perhaps that will loosen it.
I've used a Jack and the weight of the truck to pop mine... Put socket/ratchet or breaker bar on bolt, and jack up the handle (i may have used a 2x4 or something between the jack and handle to get in close to The axle and keep the ratchet squared up and inline with The axle). The socket needs to fit tight and b as shallow as possible, so it doesn't rotate off that slim bolt head. Worth a shot? Might work with vise grips too? Not popping loose?...add some weight to the bed, lol.
A little more involved, but if you can get the drain plug out...you can always pull an axle and fill through there. Or use it as your overflow point if filling through the breather.
Well I got it out.Torched the crap out of the bolt and borrowed a neighbors impact wrench and it came right off. The best part is I pull the bolt out and what must have been a liter of gear oil poured out. I'm guessing PO filled it to the top via the breather. That might explain my rear axle oil seal leak... Thanks everybody for the advice!
