Rear axle seal leak (general question) on a Tacoma

[mtnbike28]

My parking brake hung and I drove about 8 miles with it dragging... when I noticed it/stopped, it smelled hot and was hot to touch (no smoke) the other side was a normal cool.

Today I was fixing the parking brake and found the axle seal leaking...

my question:
Any chance I will get lucky and the seal is still good and all the leak was just when it was dragging and hot?

I replaced the pads (I had a used spare set) and cleaned the drum and plates... just wondering if I might get lucky, or should I just order the seal.

Second question. With 170,000 miles and I have to replace the seal... should I do the bearing too, or wait to see what they look like?

Thanks.

 

[scrubber3]

If it is leaking, it will only continue to leak. With 170,000 miles you should go ahead and replace the bearings. Since you are at it, the best thing to do would be replace the seal and bearing on the other side. I will bet when you check the other side, it will be leaking too.

 

[mtnbike28]

Thanks...

I did check the other side.... no problems.

The more I thought about it, I think I heated the bearing when the brake was locked... the local dealership quoted me $275 for the seal and bearing.... so I said yes! I will let y'all know what it was when I pick it up!

Really cool thing, the service manager is/was a member on Expo and understood how my truck is built, ie not a mudder on 35s like most trucks around here!

Thanks for the response!

 

[Rocket Ship]

Yeah, hot brakes will often result in a cooked bearing. Well, really it's the grease that gets cooked, then the bearing fails in short order.