The front main seal is probably one of the easiest to replace.

But the pulley bolt torque is something like 200ft/lbs

I removed the serp belt, then took my old belt (usta' be my spare) and slid it down thru' an 18" piece of 1-1/2" pipe (loop sticking out each end)

Then I slid an end over pulley, pulled it tight like a necktie and put visegrip on other end.
(it became the strap wrench from hell)

I turned engine with crank bolt until pipe hit frame, then put my 'lil 3' friend over my 1/2" breaker bar and pulled, the bolt broke loose.

pulley slides off easilly.

Reverse for re-assembly.

luck,greg

 

My front main was leaking too, I used my finger and rubbed RTV around it, no more leak for 2 years.

I too did the first oil change to get my baseline.
Truck had 152,change when I bought it.
Changed the oil, ran it to 155,000, changed it and then I was set.
Now I change it every 5,000 miles and I dont worry about the "100's" , "5" or "0" third place from the left and it gets changed.

 

I think I'll try the RTV remedy. If that won't do it, it's nice to know it's relatively cheap and easy to fix the right way.
On the subject of oil changes, it turns out that I have no idea what type of oil the PO was running in it. Went through the service records in the glove box, and found nothing but tire rotation type stuff. I can't get ahold of him to ask, and the oil supply is migrating from the pan to the driveway.
So anyway, I've seen a lot of swearing by synthetic fluids, but I'm a little apprehensive to throw in synthetic at 101K miles. I did this to a VW, and things starting clogging up. But if you just went through a few oil changes early and often, then stabilize at the normal interval, would that effectively do a slow flush on the system?
Also, (and I know this is a bit of a loaded question) what oil does everyone recommend for the old beasts?

 

The best oil for these trucks is diesel oil, I use and recommend Shell Rotella 15w-40 and NAPA, WIX or Purolator oil filters, stay away from Fram adn other lesser filters.

You can switch to full syn if you want, no worries there, but I would save the money.
These things take 7 qts of oil, 2 one gallon jugs of Rotella at Wal-Mart is $24 and then you have a quart left over.
If they have them buy a Mopar oil filter for your truck, it is made by Purolator and its like $4.
Make sure you grease all the u-joints and slip joints too.
Read the tech section for oil change tips on these things.

 

You guys are full of good advice. Thanks.
So I'm assuming you guys do all your own fluid changes? I'm perfectly capable of this, but I'm usually strapped for time, and hit up a local lube joint which owned by friends of the in-laws. It gives me the heebie-jeebies sometimes, but it's just so much easier.
Funny you should mention the grease gun, I just picked one up for the u-joints and everything else, along with a little device to help with topping off gearbox/tranny/diff oil. I also got a new air filter on order. Little by little, I'm determined to make this a well-kept truck.
Since I've already hijacked my own thread, here's another unrelated question.
For things like the transfer case, am I running any risk by just topping off a little with some all-puprose GL4/GL5 stuff? Or do I need to drain it and start all over with something new? I'm just not sure how mixing different weights might effect things like gearboxes.

 

Dont worry about mixing gear lubes.
You can use the quick lube if you want, they have the pneumatic gun for gear lube, but all they will carry is the lighter 80w-90, which is what it came with, but the heavier lube will quiet down the driveline.

I usually do things one day off at a time.
Do all driveline fluids one day, then the transmission fluid the next, then...that way I am not pressed for time and I dont spend all day working on it because I get impatient and then start to half *** it and force the square peg into the round hole.

 

Ah, yes. The ol' square peg dilemma. I'm quite familiar with it. It often begs one to utilize the bigger hammer theory.
Good to hear that about the gear oil. The levels all seems fine, but I've got some on hand, so it's nice to know I can use it.
I stocked up on the Rotella T at Wally World, and picked up a Mobile 1 oil filter, as well as a new air filter. Also have a new set of plugs and wires on hand. Will dink around with these projects tomorrow morning while the carpet guy works on my office.
I'm pretty excited about the project I got done tonight, which was slapping in a new ScanGauge. Came across it on the forums here, and just had to have one. It was dark when I finished, so I'll make a new thread with some pictures tomorrow.