Rear axle hub seal leak

[Bigdaddy]

I have a slight oil leak on the cap on the rear axle hub cap. I cannot find the torque for the cap bolts. It is not much of a leak, but is shows up on the wheel liner. Or does the plastic gasket need to be replaced?

[Bigdaddy]

I have a slight oil leak on the cap on the rear axle hub cap. I cannot find the torque for the cap bolts. It is not much of a leak, but is shows up on the wheel liner. Or does the plastic gasket need to be replaced?

[Gary RVRoamer]

Rear axle seal leaks are unfortunately not all that unusual on the axles that Workhorse uses. Both sides have failed on my 2002 and I've seen several others reported here. The seal needs to be replaced.

[wa7hra]

Yes, the rear seal leak seems to be common even though I have not had the problem. However, when I had my rear brake rotors turned and saw the replacement seal WH furnished, I was truly surprised. In recent years I have used red RTV to seal the axel cap as have many of the manufacturers. I wonder what WH had for a reason to use this paper thin plastic seal.

[oemtech]

It's not WCC per si... the problem belongs to Dana the manufacturer of the rear end. But, WCC gets to fix it just like GM or Ford.

[DriVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by oemtech:
It's not WCC per se... </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Good post Oemy!

[troth]

I'm waiting for someone to post the hub bolt torque. If they're grade 8 bolts like many rear hubs, you can crank 90 lbs. easily and that may be enough to stop the bleeding.

[Bigdaddy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by troth:
I'm waiting for someone to post the hub bolt torque. If they're grade 8 bolts like many rear hubs, you can crank 90 lbs. easily and that may be enough to stop the bleeding.
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>Hard to tell as they are studs. Cannot see the grading on the nuts.

[Fix it Dave]

I noticed this problem yesterday on my 2005 workhorse while pumping poo. Saw the oil drip on the outside tire. Removed the hub cap and saw the source of the oil. The leak seems to be small. Took 27,000 mile for me to notice it. Checked the oil level in the rear end and found it to be OK. Put the big wrench on the hub studs and turned each on about 1/16 of a turn, not much, just enough to make sure that they were all really tight. I will watch for a few months and see if this fixed the problem. It would seem I am not alone with this minor problem. Thanks to all of you who took time to comment on this problem.

See follow up entry. This did not solve the problem.

[FrontRangeRVer]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Bigdaddy:
Or does the plastic gasket need to be replaced? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The "plastic gasket" is junk. The Workhorse Dealer near us removed and threw away the leaking plastic gasket, and ran a bead of silicone around where the gasket went, installed cap and end of repair....that was last year.

Lots of posts about the rear axle seal leaks in this forum....lots by me also.

[Fix it Dave]

I just replaced the cracked plastic real axel hub seal on my 22,000 lbs 2005 chassis. It was cracked and leaking. I tightened the axel hub nuts to 140 ft. lbs. What is the correct torque for these nuts?
Hey Workhorse monitor,
this question has been asked several times. Please find the answer and post for us wrench turners.
Thanks,
Fix it Dave

Just came back from 500 mile trip. No more oil driping down my rear tire. I mace my own gasket by hammer cutting a gasket from gasket material from Auto Zone.