Front Axle Seals
 

I’ve heard many horror stories about front axle seals going from perfectly fine to leaking like a fire hose almost over night. I can attest to this from personal experience.

Two weekends ago I installed new axles, hubs, rotors, and calipers at all four corners (photos in the “What did you do” sticky thread). On the passenger side, a seal that was leaking miraculously sealed itself and stoped leaking with the new axle, but on the drivers side, a seal that was perfectly fine decided to give up the ghost (even though I was very careful inserting the new axle, used lots of diff oil for lubrication, etc).

Anyway, read all the stories of guys going through two, sometimes three seals on a single axle before getting the leak to stop. Some say avoid ****Part, others say go OEM only, still others say it doesn’t matter as everything is aftermarket now anyway.

Picked some on eBay, rolled the dice, and installed the new seal on the drivers side on Sunday. Bought two and was going to do both sides, but as a now well-seasoned Rover owner, I opted to leave the now non-leaking passenger side alone (if it ain’t leaking, don’t touch it). So far, after 200+ miles, both sides are looking good, even after topping up the front diff.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...d5fa23505.jpeg

Drivers side seal leaking and throwing oil everywhere.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...abe07972f.jpeg

Drivers side tire. Pulled both wheels off to clean them but only replaced drivers side seal.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...761475287.jpeg

Drivers side post seal replacement.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...a7e2183ed.jpeg

Passenger side. Still not leaking again.

Seals:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Axle-Shaft-S...72.m2749.l2649

Your running the tires I want....


You should always replace the axle seal if you disturb it. That's my opinion though. I have one barely showing some leakage on my rig, so I ordered a LR genuine seal...28.00 BUCKS!! holy $hit. I still haven't changed it yet.

I am not suggesting it in your case, but be aware that worn CV joints or seriously worn wheel bearings can cause the half shaft to wobble and wear the front axle seals very fast to total failure. IMO, always use Corteco seals which are genuine LR equipment.

Corteco: Who we are

You can recognise them by the distinctive red logo.

Sorry for the threadjack, but I have a small leak on the front passenger side, how does one tell if it is just the seal or if I need a new hub? No other issues. Seals are cheap, hub not so cheap fix.

Mechanic tells me he would replace both the hub and the seal but I see a lot of guys just change the seal.

He uses only genuine OEM hubs at around $500 per.

Dave

I see you are local, as an FYI:

LRDirect sells brit part hubs with a 2 year warranty for $64.93 + Shipping

LRDirect sells the OEM hubs with a 2 year warranty for $145.57 + Shipping

Atlantic British sells the OEM hubs for $299 + Shipping

TAY100060

You can do this work yourself and save a ton of money.

Thanks for that, FND, appreciated...

I guess at that price it is probably worth just replacing the whole hub even if the seal is the only issue?

I presume you don't know if it is also a hub problem until you have it off the axel?

Ultimately, your call. You can get new O rings for cheap but, yes you have to take everything off. My thoughts are might as well replace the whole hub which includes the ABS sensors.

Also, if you can't do the work yourself, ask your shop if they will allow you to drop your own parts off for install. If they are not, I know a place in Snoqualmie that might allow you. PM me if you are interested so we don't hijack this thread too much more.

Nah, you can check without disassembling anything. Jack one wheel up a bit, grab the tire at 12 and 6 o'clock, and try to rock the wheel up and down. If there is any play, you need hubs.

Well, the axle seal is inboard from the CV boot, whereas the hub is outboard. Probably a good 8+ inches apart. If it's the axle seal, you'll see oil on the boot, pooling around the lower ball joint, and generally spraying everywhere.

Regardless of whether the hub is shot (and allowing the axle to move eccentrically), if there's an axle leak, the seal is shot.

i just changed one of my front wheel bearings in south florida hot sunny humid day around 100deg 100% humidity on sandy asfault and it was not pleasant lol and I used my Ridgid impact driver... whew.. I did have new seals to put in but i could not easily get the one out so a left it for now.. to dang hot... also it seems to have some plastic feeling sleeve in there but I couldn't tell and couldn't easily remove it...did I say it was too hot!? oh and the PO rigged the new abs sensor plug just 2 leads sticking into 2 connectors... the new abs sensor was impossible to plug in so I cut the water barrier off of it and manually stuck each sensor lead into the connector ( the actually discovery wiring harnes plug was damaged or rotted away) ... ill have to repair that sometime when it cools down... im going to have to speay that liquid rubber sealant on it and wrap with electrical tape...