rear end seal?

[The Good Humor Man]

On my 69 GH truck, the rear end is leaking right where the shaft enters the rear end. Not a small leak, a pretty good one.
Is there a seal in there that can easily be replaced, and are they readily available?
Thanks

[FORDification]

Yes, there's a seal there and yes they're readily available...but no, it's not an easy replacement....well, not a 10-minute job, anyway. You'll have to remove the pinion nut that holds the drive flange on, which won't be easy since that nut is really torqued on there. Then the drive flange will have to be pulled, the old seal removed and the new seal tapped into place.

However, when you go to reinstall the drive flange, the one thing to keep in mind is typically 9' Ford rearends are set up with crush sleeves for pinion bearing preload. Once you remove the pinion nut, you have removed that preload. When replacing the pinion seal, you should pull the pinion support assembly, disassemble, and either replace the crush sleeve or install a crush sleeve eliminator and re-assemble with the new seal, then torque the nut to spec. Then inspect the pinion preload with an in/lb torque wrench to ensure it's within specs.

[willowbilly3]

Keith, I think the 65 manual I have gives a factory procedure for reinstalling and the torque to set a used crush sleeve. I posted that info a few years back for someone, I'll see if I can find it again.

[FORDification]

Yep, I've known people who have marked the position of the nut, mark the yoke in relation to the pinion and then pull the yoke, replace the seal and reinstall the yoke, crank it down with an impact wrench....and have had no problems. While it's certainly possible, I'd still suggest using a new crush sleeve to ensure proper preload. But I'd definitely like to see the instructions for re-using a crush sleeve.

[The Good Humor Man]

Thanks guys, sounds like a job I should leave to the mechanic... I am good at the simple things, but this sounds like something that I would regret starting on. That is why I asked, if it was a simple job, I would have attempted to do it myself.