Front diff pinion seal: How bad is it?

[GhostSignal]

The pinion seal on the front differential of my 2001 Explorer is leaking. I browsed through a few threads detailing the job, but it's hard to get a feel for how difficult it really is. I have some experience in very general vehicle maintainence (oil changes, belt changes, fluid changes) but the walkthroughs make this sound like an expert job requiring precision instruments and exact measurements.

I'm just wondering if anyone out there could give me a more layman's take on how difficult the job really is?

 

[Birdy]

If you only want to replace the pinion seal it's nothin. Just yank the yolk off and pry it out. You're not taking anything apart inside.

 

[griz700rocket]

It's not bad. Just mark everything as you take it off and put it back exactly like it was. Especially the nut holding the yolk on, it puts the preload on the pinion bearing and needs to be reinstalled and torqued to where it was or just slightly tighter.