Front axle leak

[10G]

Hopped under the front this morning to remove the shims on the left swivel hub in pursuit of eliminating the darn death wobbles.

Took out the bolts from the underside swivel hub bearing and diff oil started leaking out. I'm not a mechanic, but I'm pretty sure that's not right.

I don't reckon those bearings have a hard life, but could the swivel hub bearing be stuffed now coz the diff oil has mixed in with the bearing's grease?

Patrolapart have a number of rebuild kits, not sure which one to get. I also want to replace my front wheel bearings.

I thought this kit would replace all my swivel hub bearings & seals:
https://patrolapart.com.au/product/nissan-patrol-front-swivel-axle-rebuild-kit-gu-y61

And this kit would (x2) would do for my wheel bearings:
https://patrolapart.com.au/product/nissan-patrol-front-wheel-bearing-kit-gq-gu-japanese-bearings

Then there's this kit which is much more expensive, but only seems to have a diff gasket as extra. This kits lists the bearings as Koyo whereas the cheaper kit doesn't list a name for the bearings.
https://patrolapart.com.au/product/nissan-patrol-gu-genuine-front-axle-swivel-hub-rebuild-kit

Does that look like all I'd need? and are the Koyo bearings worth the extra money?

Thanks for any help.

[tryan277]

Hi 10G
With diff oil in the swivel hub these seals are the ones that have failed/leaking.
https://patrolapart.com.au/product/nissan-patrol-genuine-front-inner-axle-oil-seal-gq-gu
Cause of failure. 1. Worn out. 2. Pressure build up in diff due to heat...breather blocked?
Are the swivel bearings stuffed? Probably not.. if no indication of water getting into them, then with oil or grease.... at least they have some sort of lubrication. As you say, and I agree they do not have a hard life.
Close inspection of the bearing is required if you are not sure of the history of the vehicle.
All the bearings supplied by Patrolapart in the different kits are quality name bearings. So no problem there.
Link to a thread on CV and Swivel Hub rebuild
http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?28969-DIY-CV-and-Swivel-Hub-Rebuild-Thread
I'm in the middle of replacing the driver side wheel bearings and inner axel seal. Yep its leaking.. so is the passengers side..
Bought a bearing kit from Frankston Bearings for about the same price as Patrolapart, and again quality bearings.
The hardest part of trying to fix this problem is getting the axel back in without damaging the inner-axle-oil-seal.

Cheers
Trevor

[mudski]

It’s just a simple axle seal leak. Nothing more really. The lower bearing will be fine. Probably better than ever with the extra lubricant. Just replace the axle seal, clean out the lower bearing and repack with grease.


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[10G]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice.

Think I'll get the mechanic to replace both sides & replace the wheel bearings as well. They got 170,000 ks on 'em & I like to replace things before they tell me they need to be.

[MudRunnerTD]

If you're having a full swivel hub rebuild it will feel like a new car.

[10G]

No, think I'll just do the seal and bearings, the swivel hub bearings should still be OK i reckon.

[10G]

Hey if I'm replacing the front inner axle seals, do I have to remove the swivel hubs?

I'm trying to work out what seals, gaskets etc I need to get.

Also, what's a good grease to get for the bearings and what sealant should I get???

Thanks folks.

[Ben-e-boy]

Hey if I'm replacing the front inner axle seals, do I have to remove the swivel hubs?

I'm trying to work out what seals, gaskets etc I need to get.

Also, what's a good grease to get for the bearings and what sealant should I get???

Thanks folks.

Technically no. But I don't get the logic of doing half a job for the sake of 2 bearings. Get a full wheel bearing and swivel hub kit with Japanese bearings and do the job once and do it right.

You shouldn't need a sealant. Just good clean mating faces and good gaskets.

Good high temp grease for wheel bearings and High pressure grease for CV's. The manual should give a good example of what to use

[10G]

Technically no. But I don't get the logic of doing half a job for the sake of 2 bearings. Get a full wheel bearing and swivel hub kit with Japanese bearings and do the job once and do it right.

You shouldn't need a sealant. Just good clean mating faces and good gaskets.

Good high temp grease for wheel bearings and High pressure grease for CV's. The manual should give a good example of what to use

Thanks mate, I'll consider it, I guess the truck is now 7 years old, with 170,000. I guess if I did it all I know that part of the vehicle should be mickey mouse for at least another 5 years.