truck rear axle oil leak

[Clip]

hey all, have a question about my rear axle on the power wagon. this is just general knowledge, though.

i go to take my rear drums off of the truck, get the axle shaft out, and i proceed to take the gaskets/oil seal off. once i took this gasket set off, about 1/4 cup of oil leaked out. looked pretty thick and a deep red/gold in color. is this just regular gear oil, and should i top everything off after i get the brakes done on the back?

 

[Aaron J Williams]

Not knowing what year your power wagon is, it's hard to say for sure what it uses in the diff, but every dodge I have worked on had gear lube in it. After you top it off then you must lift one side of the axle up as far as you can so the gear lube flows down the axle tube to the wheel bearings. Wait 5 minutes with the diff tilted and then lower it and tilt it the other way so gear lube flows to the other side wheel bearings.If you don't pre-lube the bearings they will fry when you drive the truck. It's easier to rock the diff. before you put the tires back on. Whenever I do work on an axle that has gear lubed wheelbearings I always smear some bearing grease around the bearings before I put them back in just to make sure they have some lube right away, and to keep the bearings from binding up when I set the bearing preload.

 

[Clip]

gear lube = thick oil, like redline mt90?

 

[Aaron J Williams]

I use 80W90 but Redline MT90 will work just fine. I think synthetic in the diff is overkill but if you can afford it, go for it.I use synthetic in mud trucks.

 

[Clip]

i'm definitely not gonna put redline in there, just using that as an example. id probably go with a valvoline oil or something of the sort.

and its a 1941, by the way. the bearings use regular bearing grease, i'm cleaning and repacking all of them while doing the brakes.

 

[Aaron J Williams]

Disregard the whole lift the diff thing then. It looked from the pic like the wheel bearings were lubed by gear oil like a semi truck.

1941? :aigo:
Got pics? That thing must be a monster!

 

[Clip]

yeah lemme search. a 5.83 rear end, its somewhat of a beast

heres a few. ive got some better ones but they need to be resized on the home comp.
http://www.supramania.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10360&d=1159842934

http://www.supramania.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9871&d=1158465300

 

[fandffan]

What make is that? I may have some NOS brake shoes for you.

 

[Aaron J Williams]

That thing is TUFF!
That would be so fun to drag through the mud:evil2:

 

[Nick M]

Gear lube is usually mineral oil based. There are many good synthetics now, just like engine oil.

Yes, you need to refill what spilled out.

 

[Clip]

fandf, its a 1941 dodge power wagon. half ton truck, 11 inch brakes in the front and 14 inch brakes in the back

to everyone else, thanks for helping. finally gave up and called up my uncle, the previous owner. he said there shouldnt be gear oil in there, but it'd occasionally get in there from the diff. it'll be fine just cleaning everything and repacking the bearings, so away i go!

update: got 3 of 4 wheels done and the master cylinder rebuilt. look out inspection station, here i come!