New Rear End

[Pappa John]

I went to the dealership yesterday to get the driver side seal on the rear axle replaced under warranty. Ther passenger side was replaced in July '08 with 32,000 on the odometer. The truck is now at 52,500.

I pick the truck up at 1:00 and go on my merry way. At 5:00 I notice the smell of gear oil. I look at the axle and sure enough the seal is leaking again. I go back to the dealership and the head mechanic takes one look and says, "You're gettin' a new axle." All I could say was "Ok," and "This is covered under warranty right?"

I'm just glad it happend at 52,500 miles and not 62,500.

[IZVERG]

^Nice!

[AlabamaWill]

This is not sounding good for me, my driver side axle seal is leaking too and have 98000mi on it. Nissan wants $425 to fix it.

[Pappa John]

WOW, that sounds a little steep!

[AlabamaWill]

Nissan said that they would have to cut something off the axle in order to get to the bearing and seal. I have a dana rear axle with locker, I think

[Pappa John]

Did they say what they were going to cut off? The dealership here said it was a very straight forward procedure with unbolting and bolting back up. All of the literature I found on the internet never mentioned cutting.

I could be wrong, but it looks like you unbolt the wheel, take off the brake assembly and the backing plate. The seal and bearing should be right there. Most sites used a bearing puller, but one site stated since the bearing and spacer are trashed already just knock a flat head screw driver in between the housing and the seal with a hammer and pry it out.

The sites that used pullers said you can use the old seal to drive teh new one into place so you don't damage it with the hammer.

Every site said allow at least 3 hours and be sure to use either a plastic mallet or a leather mallet. I have never heard of a leather mallet.

Good luck with either way you go!

[sami]

Nissan said that they would have to cut something off the axle in order to get to the bearing and seal. I have a dana rear axle with locker, I think

Your dealer is trying to screw you

[AlabamaWill]

Ok, I will be visiting new dealers to find a better price. Maybe Ill just drive it back home and have my mechanic do it, he wants $250. It just suck that Im in Houston Tx and my mechanic is in Decatur AL.

[Pappa John]

$250 sounds more like what it should cost.

[mcm4090]

It's not hard. You could do it in your drive way.