Had my truck in the dealership on Saturday, for a oil change and tire rotation.
Service writer came and said the truck was ready. He then said my right rear axle seal was leaking and would need to be fixed in the coming weeks. He said that I should have both seals replaced at the same time. He quoted me a price of $296.00 for both seals. My truck has 48,000 miles on it. Has anyone else with the new F150 had their rear axle seals replaced? Should I have both replaced or just the one that is leaking? Thank-You!

 

Axle seals, while on a more simple scale, aren't really too common to go out, especially in a truck with that mileage. It's not likely that the other seal is going bad but, they'll have the diff out and everything to do the leaking one anyway so......it's just one of those things that "while it's apart", ya know. So no, not necessary but at the same time, they've already got it apart. Ask what the difference in price is if you just do the one side and make your decision off of that.

 

Agreed. If it's not much of a price difference then go for it, but if he's charging you a bunch for a seal that doesn't REALLY need to be replaced then just fix the one that needs fixing.

 

Ford is known for shotty axle seals. I had brand new vehicles coming in for heir first oil changes and their axle seals were already seeping. Let alone the hundreds of other trucks that I had recommended doing the seals on. They will not have the 'diff out' They simply drop the cover, unbolt the pin, drop the c-clip and slide the axle out. Just because ones going bad doesnt mean the other is, but we are talking ford here. When I did mine I just changed the one that was pissing fluid. . .

 

Is there a seal in the front where the drive shaft enters that can go bad?
Today I noticed some fluid spraying all around the underside from the end of the gas tank back and I can't figure where it's coming from. There is no noise or problems with the drive shaft or differential. Could it be a bad seal on the front of the rear end?

 

That would be the pinion seal, another seal that tends to leak.

 

My right rear seal started leaking at 37K. On my '97, I never had a problem in 149K miles. Quoted at around $250 to do both and they were going to have the truck all day. Ford wanted something like $27/quart for the gear oil. I bought the seals for $7 each, used Royal Purple @ $9.99/quart and did both myself. Easy, easy , easy job. I had it done in 5 hours and I screwed around a lot.... There's a tutorial on here from Quintin that helped immensely. You'd be surprised how easy it was to do. Since the gear oil is so messy and not cheap, I'd think about doing both.
Good luck.