peterwells
Active Member
- Joined
- May 13, 2005
- Posts
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There are a few YouTube videos on this job, however I wanted to share the "other" things I ran across that might make the job smoother for the next guy...
i - You'll only need the oil with the friction modifier if you have a limited slip diff, the regular is a few dollars cheaper.
ii - If you're going to work with the rear of the car on jackstands you'll want to drain the differential oil before when the car is level, the drain is in the rear of the differential so if the rear of the car is raised you'll not get a complete drain.
iii - You'll need a 12mm 12 point socket for the four bolts to disconnect the drive shaft from the hub.
iv - The only fastener that was tight was the nut holding the hub on the differential input shaft (btw I'm in Houston so no salt on roads, corrosion, etc), I didn't have the space to get a lot of leverage but my wheezing old impact wrench did the trick. I found a 1 1/8" socket fit nicely.
v - People talk about counting turns on the nut holding the hub to get it back to the same position. I mark it but also take some calipers and measure from the end of the shaft to the face of the nut. I find it tricky to count turns with impact wrenches. I also take pictures so I can count threads. Belt and braces.
vi - You'll need a large puller to pull the hub off, it's a tight fit on the splines.
vii - You'll want some sort of drift that allows you to drive the new seal in evenly, I found a pipe coupling at Home Depot that did the job, take your new seal and go hunting before starting the job.
viii - I had to drop the rear torsion bar to get the drive shaft clear, just four nuts and if the rear suspension is unloaded it comes off easily.
It's not a tough job, but I wouldn't attempt it without the right tools.
Car is a 2008 EL Expedition, 200k miles.
Peter
i - You'll only need the oil with the friction modifier if you have a limited slip diff, the regular is a few dollars cheaper.
ii - If you're going to work with the rear of the car on jackstands you'll want to drain the differential oil before when the car is level, the drain is in the rear of the differential so if the rear of the car is raised you'll not get a complete drain.
iii - You'll need a 12mm 12 point socket for the four bolts to disconnect the drive shaft from the hub.
iv - The only fastener that was tight was the nut holding the hub on the differential input shaft (btw I'm in Houston so no salt on roads, corrosion, etc), I didn't have the space to get a lot of leverage but my wheezing old impact wrench did the trick. I found a 1 1/8" socket fit nicely.
v - People talk about counting turns on the nut holding the hub to get it back to the same position. I mark it but also take some calipers and measure from the end of the shaft to the face of the nut. I find it tricky to count turns with impact wrenches. I also take pictures so I can count threads. Belt and braces.
vi - You'll need a large puller to pull the hub off, it's a tight fit on the splines.
vii - You'll want some sort of drift that allows you to drive the new seal in evenly, I found a pipe coupling at Home Depot that did the job, take your new seal and go hunting before starting the job.
viii - I had to drop the rear torsion bar to get the drive shaft clear, just four nuts and if the rear suspension is unloaded it comes off easily.
It's not a tough job, but I wouldn't attempt it without the right tools.
Car is a 2008 EL Expedition, 200k miles.
Peter
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