B8200 4wd HST boot/seal front differential

[CDKenn]

Greetings - as I about to wrap up my week long service of all points
on my "new" used B8200 and attachments I looked closer at someone's efforts to tie wire
a piece of rubber around the plastic tube on the driveshaft and then to the input hub of the front differential. I have seen there should be a boot with clamps at each end. Clamped ON the hub on on the tube? So is there a seal
in the diff. hub to be replaced? Or is oil to go there for lubrication and gravity return to hub? I have a service manual for a 7200 that shows splitting the forward frame on the way to an engine removal.
Thanks CD

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Yes there is a seal in there, front and rear, and no it should not have fluid flooding the shaft!

 

[MMudd]

My B7100 front differential @ driveshaft boot/housing had gear oil in it when I removed rubber boot. Probably my seal is leaking some. I actually put some gear oil back in there when I re installed thinking it would help lubricate the U joint and splines and oil would seek its own level eventually in this area. Oil would have to travel up the tube higher than differential level and past the seal to leak out. I also replaced seal at top side of tube. I did not see where it would cause any problems. Is this a bad idea?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I wouldn't say it's a bad Idea, it's certainly not going to hurt anything.
It's not going to do a lot of lubing, but if nothing else it might cut down on the amount of rust that sets in on the parts.