Honestly if you live in an area where it isnt 20 or 30 degrees for the next 4 months I'd just invest a Saturday into it. Wakeup at 6am worst case you finish at 6pm, learn a bunch, spend 700 dollars on brand new tools instead of making someone else's dreams come true and you get the same result.

But that's just me. Anytime something goes wrong with mine or my girlfriends car I go invest in the tools to fix it. Nice tools. Not crap ones.

This is exactly what I've been doing. Engine and transmission has over 330k mi on original. My leak is fairly small. I'm starting to suspect my flex plate has a small crack now due to the noise in the area. My plan is to drop in a JDM motor with new transmission. The truck still runs strong, takes me all over the place. Going to keep bandaiding it until it's time for a complete overhaul so I can do everything all at once. Even then, that could be another 100k mi more miles knowing how dependable these motors are.

I subscribe to this as well. What do you consider nice tools? I've been buying most of my tools via Amazon. Some of the companies I've bought several tools from are Milwaukee, Dewalt, Gear Wrench and OTC. I will not buy Snap-on or Matco because the price point on them is way too high. I can get so much more for my money by staying clear of the Box Truck Brands. And, so far I've done very well with the tool manufacturers I've chosen. Tools are a great investment but I'd never suggest somebody mortgage their house or give up their first born for a tool box full of Snap-on or Matco tools.

This reminded me of this picture.

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I subscribe to the theory if it its seriously broke don't fix it. A few leaks in the rust belt help keep my engine compartment from rusting out.

Bump a grade of oil up.. instead of 5W, use 10W.. Will locus stop or slow the leak down probably. However, if your in the north colder climate. Your engine may not start because your oil is way too thick and your starter cant turn it over.

From what I read, locus is only good if your engine is super extremely worn and if very cold of winter not good for your engine because it can starve your components from oil until it the block warms up thus speeding up wear instead of slowing it down.

Lots of old tricks of swelling seals, However, that is short lived. A seal can only last so long. But valid points as the seal is already worn. So at this point what does it truely matter.

OP what kind of oil do you use? Synthetic, conventional or blended?

I like gear wrench, milwaukee, makita, older dewalt, otc. If you have a little extra $$$ for those often used items like ratchets SK Tools is a good mid point between snapon/matco/mac and gearwrench/otc. I do however use my matco ratchets with craftsman sockets lol

Sorry for the slight thread hijack but that's some funny shit. The fact that mechanics don't get this is sort of sad. The box truck driver is making a living from selling tools shop to shop. If he's making a comfortable living doing this, what does that tell you about the profit margin on Snap-on tools? I'd rather have Amazon as my middle man and get tools at a fraction of the cost even though they don't have the prestigious Snap-on name. Yes, Snap-on makes nice tools but I can't bring myself to pay those prices. I look at the reviews to make an informed decision on the tools I've purchased and so far I've been very satisfied.

I've had really good luck with my Tekton impact sockets, large 1/2" ratchet and 1/2" torque wrench. I also buy mostly Milwaukee cordless stuff with very good luck. Most of my wrenches are gear wrench and craftsman, also good stuff.

I do own a couple Matco and Snap on tools, they are very high quality but they are overkill for most DIYers.

I guess it's not that bad, but it's getting worse. A few years ago it was a drip. Now it's more like a very small puddle.. I bought a bottle of the at-205 to try.

ATP works and works well. If the leaks bad ignore the directions and dump the whole can in. Then get in your rig and drive for a few hours at highway speed. I've had the rear main seal sitting in my garage for over a year. Right after I put my dual cases in my rear main decided to start leaking. Pulling duals is a major PIA so I bought some ATP as a stop loss so I could at least wheel for the summer. After a few days the leak slowed way the hell down. I added another can at my next oil change and that pretty much stopped it completely.

I'm usually a big skeptic when it comes to stop leak but ATP works. Whatever they use swells the seal enough to stop the leak and does zero damage to any other part of the engine. I've got about 12000 in mine since first pouring the ATP in.

I do pretty much all of my service and repairs myself, but the 4wd auto tranny in this intimidates me..

Since you already do your own wrenching...the you are already half way there in doing your own rear main seal! Do your research, watch Tim's videos, recruit an experienced friend to help. A transmission jack will be a big help on this one.

If you know anyone with a motorcycle who does their own routine maintenance they may have a motorcycle jack which can double as a trans jack if the vehicle is on jackstands (not a tall lift).

I use a 1/2 ton hydraulic table from harbor freight. I find that as the safest way to pull the transfer case [ if 4wd] and transmission. Would have to be on cement though so you can roll the table around. I pull the gas tank and the differentials housing with the table as well.

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Aweeee man! Haha I'm totally with ya. I have a 3/8 and 1/2 complete gearwrench impact socket set that comes with standard and metric of all sizes (within reason) short and deep. For general sockets I've got a large amount of husky brand. But I like to buy more specialty tools like pullers, I've got a kit to test for head gaskets etc etc etc I build differentials for Weller Remanufacturing (semi trucks) and for that I use harbor freight impact sockets and I actually warranty mine out far less than the guys that use snap on and mac. Buying quite frankly overpriced tools isnt for me. I'm glad you share the same opinion. Makita Milwaukee and otc are three other brands I'm a fan of as well. Dewalts impacts have recently surprised me. As a side note snap on actually doesnt make most of its tools it just buys the right to sell them from other manufacturers and puts the snap on logo on it. The impact I use at work is either a Air Cat or a Sioux. Sioux is actually the real manufacturer of the pneumatic snapon guns.