I took off my passenger rear tire to change the brake shoes on my 92 f150 Nite and the whole area was coated with what appeared to be axle grease (just a guess though?), it has the consistency of petroleum jelly. Can anyone tell me why this happened and what I need to replace.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Couold very well be an axle seal. The gear oil mixes with brake dust to make a kind of paste. If you have rear end know how the axle seal job is not real hard. If you are not comfortable with removing the diff. cover and freeing up the axle without scrambling the rear end then get it done by someone.