Pinion seal question

[fireguyfire]

I’ve got the axles out of my 1940 half ton as I’m going through the brakes and replacing the axle seals.

I will replace the pinion seal as well and my truck is currently up on my lift.

Do you guys feel it’s easier to replace the pinion seal in place, or remove the diff and replace the seal on a bench?

Obviously I need to decide that before I reinstall the axles if it’s better to pull the diff.

[kencombs]

Lots of work and unnecessary handling of a heavy piece to save very little actual seal replacement time.  Since you have a lift, replacing the seal in place will probably take under an hour.

[Merle Coggins]

I agree. No need to remove the diff unless you suspect other internal issues. Remove the nut… pull the flange… remove the seal… reassemble in reverse order. Easy peasy… ? (easy for me to say, your experience may differ) 

[fireguyfire]

Excellent, that makes life easy.

I’ve always done it that way on muscle cars but wanted to confirm that makes sense to do it that way on these old girls.

[JBNeal]

On several trucks I revived that had sat outside for years, I disassembled the rear axles to inspect the bearings and races.  Each time I found rust and galling, so each axle saw a major overhaul.