I just noticed that my 2011 F150 4x4 has a front pinion seal leak. Has anyone on here replaced their front seal? If so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

There have been several horror stories on this forum about incorrectly installing pinion seals. I'd take it to a knowledgeable professional if you can find one. I think I would take mine to the local 4x4 shop.

 

I had my front pinion bearings/seal replaced at 50K under warranty. Just had the front and side and rear pinion seals replaced 2 months ago at the Ford dealer.

 

I'm well over my warranty so that is not an option. I have all the stuff to do it, just worried about all the preload stuff and crush bearing.

 

There are some good videos available on line about how to disassemble and reassemble the rear diff. But, I don't know how it differs from the front diff if any . As far as just replacing the pinion seal, I don't know how to do it properly. I've read on this forum about marking the position of the pinion nut and tighten it to the same position after installing the new seal but I don't know if this is the proper way or not?? If the preload on the pinion bearings is not correct, there is a chance you could ruin the ring and pinion gears.

I've seen one video on line of a guy replacing the pinion seal in the rear and you do not want to do it the way he did when it comes to tightening the pinion nut.

 

Ford charged me:

Front pinion seal replacement: $221.39
Rear pinion seal replacement: $170.71
Front side seal replacement: $286.40

I would have loved to save the labor costs on this and do it myself, but can't afford down time if I didn't have the tools or mucked something up.