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Clicking/Leaking Front End?!

4K views 8 replies 8 participants last post by  shell2038 
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#1 · (Edited)
OK, so my 97 Ram was leaking a lil something out of the front driver side wheel area. Like sitting over night there would be maybe 2-3 drips on the ground the next day. I got under and looked but had no idea what would be leaking from that area??? It smelled like grease but was in more of an oil form. Well it stopped leaking a few days after I noticed so I was like OK, either it's OK now or whatever was leaking is out of whatever it was leaking and this aint good. Yeah, yesterday it started making a clicking sound out of that area. It kind of sounds like you have a screw in your tire. If it helps, the sound does go away when I turn hard to the right but gets worse when I turn left. What could be leaking from that area?!?! I'm at a loss on this one!! Here's some pics to show you exactly what I'm talking about. What you're looking at is the driver side axle area, right behind the wheel:




 
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#5 ·
yes i just replaced mine wheel seal and might as well do the u joints to at the same time
if its the drivers side you will have to takre the cover off the housing to change the seals


but dont let it go to long or you may get a groove in the shaft from the bad seal thats what happened to mine ....... a real pain in the axle
 
#6 ·
Clicking & Leak

The clicking is the first sign that the UV-joint is shot. And judging from the red rust on the UV-joint I would bet on it. Try wiggling the drive axle in four different directions. It should not wiggle at all. Replaced mine twice, once at 85,000 and again at 148,000, most cannot be lubed. Local mechanic (non-dealership) replaced them for $65 each time.

The axle seal is leaking, suggest you have a mechanic replace it at the same time.
 
#7 ·
I can tell you now that it looks like your getting ready to lose that front axle shaft u-joint real soon . See all the red rust in your first photo. And that is what may be causing that axle shaft leak . Have done this job several times , worse part is getting the wheel hub assembly off . Last two that I have done , had to replace the wheel hub /bearing assembly . While your there should go ahead and replace that seal .
 
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