LP2A carrier diff grease seals

[Big D]

Good evening carrier experts,

I’m looking for some advice on an issue with my carrier.

I am in the process of doing a few overdue jobs on my LP2A carrier in preparation for a couple of shows starting in Easter. The diaphragm in the fuel pump is shot so I am replacing that. The steering box is also leaking a bit so I will repair that. I am also replacing the rear sprockets. The old ones were well worn and I had some NOS ones to replace them with. At the same time, I wanted to check the rear brake shoes and drums and adjust them correctly. The brakes have not been right since I got the carrier and the adjustments I was making with the shoes on were not improving them.

I did the driver side first. Inspection with the drum off showed the brake shoes and drum were fine and after some tweaking, I am now happy with the adjustment on these now, subject to some testing with the engine running before I fit the tracks again.

I made a start on the other side as well but I’ve noticed that there is oil through the hub area, which has come through from the axle shaft. I’m not sure how long this has been going on. There is no sign of any leakage at the hub and the gasket and sealant on the axle end was obviously doing a good job keeping the oil in the hub area.

I presume the grease seal in the axle housing at the diff end is the culprit, although the manual I have on that is not clear.

Is that the only seal between the diff and the hub? There is not copious amounts of oil in the hub area but enough to make a mess with the grease. I guess there are bigger issues than this but still.....

If this is the problem seal, how big a job is it to drop the axle out and replace this?

I don’t have a lot of time between now and the shows, but now would be the time to do it, while I have the tracks off.

My choice of location in the shed is not ideal, so I would need to make some more space if I’m going to do it.