The seal where the driveshaft yoke goes into the pumpkin is leaking. What are the tricks to replacing it? If I remove the yoke does it mean I have to relash the gears? Or can I just mark the nut and then retorque to specs?

 

I need to know this too. Mine is leaking as well and as soon as I get my truck running again I need to fix it. Bump Bump....

 

To do it properly, you should really remove the third member so that you can reset the pinion bearing preload (7.8-11.3in-lbs). Barring that, I'd mark the nut and then tighten a little (maybe 1/8 turn) beyond where it was when you removed it.

 

So in order to set the gears up properly you need to chalk the ring teeth in order to determine the best torque right? Sounds like a serious PIA.

If I'm going that far into the rear what else should I do? My axle seals look good but if I'm pulling the axles should they be replaced anyway?

 

Took me a couple times, but I got mine. Just match mark and make sure you don't crush the sleeve. Some say use RTV, some don't. I did the last time and it held great. I din't adjust preload at all.

 

Nah, you torque it until it takes that amount of force to turn the pinion. That is why you need to remove the diff from the housing to check. Having the dead weight of the axles, tires, etc. is gonna dramatically increase the amount of torque needed to rotate the pinion.